Making Your Aquarium Look Like Home

For some people, the best part of setting up an aquarium is putting in all the goodies! Aquariums are not just a home for your fish — they're actually considered a piece of furniture. So what would you like to do to dress it up and make it home sweet home for your fish?

Decorating your aquarium gives you a chance to personalize your aquarium and make it a part of your home, office or room. It is also important to consider the needs of your fish when decorating. Your fish need to feel safe and secure in this new environment. This generally means giving them an environment with plenty of plants that they can swim through and hide in, and rocks, driftwood or ornaments that they can hide behind.

When decorating your tank consider the type of fish you are keeping and how they live. For example, you might not be happy with a tank of herbivores such as African Cichlids, Silver Dollars and Pacus if you heavily decorated it with live plants. Your fish may treat the plants as dinner and might never get the look that you want.

Another example would be decorating a tank for African Cichlids. These fish are very territorial and can be aggressive when they don't have their own area in the tank. Decorate with rocks and make caves and other hiding places to make these fish happiest.

Plants
Plants are usually the first decorative items people think about adding. While plants add a pleasing touch to the aquarium, they are indeed a necessity for tropical aquariums. They provide a place for the fish to hide and feel secure.

You can choose between artificial plants or live plants. Plastic plants are easy to care for, they do not need any special water conditions, and are available in a variety of colors and styles.

Live plants can help make a beautiful, natural aquarium. Live plants also can improve the water chemistry as they absorb nitrates and carbon dioxide. Live plants require the proper lighting to thrive. You should be careful using live plants with certain plant eating species of fish who might view the plants as their dinner.

Ornaments
Ornaments are fun ways to personalize an aquarium, while also providing a place for your fish to hide. Action ornaments attach to an air pump which makes them move. When decorating your aquarium, avoid expensive fish loss and use only objects that are packaged as safe for aquariums. Rocks, stones, shells, metal objects or driftwood found outside the home may release toxic chemicals and dirt into the water.

Decorative gravel
Decorative gravel is available in different sizes and colors. Decorative gravel serves the same purpose and is used the same way as natural colored aquarium gravel.