Thoughts on tank adornments.

[alexkharden]

In addition to the sand and LR, does anyone put anything else into their tanks? Seashells, little pretend scuba men, broken pottery, etc... You know, to provide additional hiding places for critters, more places for algae/bacteria, aquascaping, and the like?

 

[chimmike]

not really. Pottery could contain lead. the fake plastic stuff becomes algae magnets. Shells become clutter.

I mean, it's your tank, do what you want!

Most folks here are striving to recreate a certain oceanic biotope.

 

[g_langley]

You may need a few spare shells if you get hermit crabs, but other thank that keep it looking natural. IMO Scuba men are for Goldfish tanks

 

[donut0079]

I personally would not want something unnatural but I've seen pictures of people placing encrusting corals like cyphastrea over objects like skull liquor bottles that turned out pretty neat.

 

[billdogg]

check out PaulB's thread.

If you like it, then (within reason) put it in. As mentioned, there can be problems with various objects.

I try to keep mine as natural as possible.

 

[alexkharden]

That does sound pretty cool looking, and functional. I didn't know that about the lead, I'm glad you said something. I don't intend on putting a bunch of stuff other than LR in there, but if I find something cool I might consider it. I get stupid ideas too, sometimes, like setting up a tank to look like Bikini Bottom, lol.

 

[Sk8r]

Try real corals. They start slow, but once they take off, they'll take the rocks: they have motion and color and look like---um---a real reef. Problem with any 'cute' stuff you put in, given about a month it'll algae-over or crust with coralline and start looking exactly like a rock.

 

[alexkharden]

That's a really good point, unless I want to take all the time and effort to continually clean it, which I don't, lol.

 

[Sk8r]

Coral is, if you pick a stony like hammer, or a softie like mushrooms and zoas and such, prolific and easier than fish. It doesn't jump, and it warns you (by contracting) when the water's not right. You do need appropriate light for a given class---Reef LEDS, T5 reef, or Metal Halide for stony, with calcium powder (kalk) in your topoff water (which automates that supplementation: stony coral eats calcium for its skeleton) ---or for softies, any of the light types but a little gentler than you'd use for stony. No supplementation, but run carbon, because they spit at each other when annoyed and carbon absorbs it. The types don't get along well together, but both grow. Several varieties of softie have gotten to the status of crabgrass, they grow so well: green star polyp, discosoma (common purple) mushrooms, and xenia. They can take a tank once they get onto the rockwork. Most people prefer something a little easier to control.

 

[Fishmas]

From my freshwater days and having young kids they liked the lfs decorations. The stuff is cheap and fades [you know where the dye is going]. Pottery/ceramic stuff crumbles and fades. For the money/time invested in a reef system. Big gamble to add these toxins.

If you are a gambler have you ever thought of garden gnome?

 

[alexkharden]

Lol, not much of a gambler, and I think I've decided my adornments will be all natural.

 

[illmatik]

I put a seashell on my sandbed for decoration and it ended up becoming my firefish's hiding spot/home