Aquarium Decoration, Buy Fish Tank Artificial Corals & Plants Online
Aquarium decoration comes in many different forms from artificial ornaments through to replica live rock and corals. When choosing the decor for your aquarium you need to take into account what type(s) of fish your going to be housing in your aquarium and what type of decor best suits this choice. Care must always be taken as some rocks and gravels will alter the water chemistry and alter ph levels.
Aquarium decoration always starts with the fish tank background. These usually come in two forms – either a vinyl type background which goes on the outside or a structured background which is usually siliconed to the inside of the aquarium. For the outside vinyl types a great product to use is the seaview background glue which sticks the background to the tank without bubbles or horrible water mark. Structured backgrounds make a fantastic feature and Juwel have an excellent range such as Rock types, Root types and other realistic looking backdrops.
When choosing an aquarium substrate, most gravels and sands will work fine with the majority of livestock. However there are a few exceptions such as coral sand and coral gravel which will raise the pH and hardness of the water so these should only be used with either marine tanks or other high pH aquariums such as Lake Malawi cichlid set-ups. If choosing a planted aquarium, a good substrate should be laid down underneath the gravel first which will help feed and condition the plants – this means less replacement plants in the long run and a worth while investment.
Bogwood and Mopani wood adds a natural look to an aquarium and works well with live plants. Its always advisable to pre-soak your bog wood for a few days before entering into the aquarium.
There is a huge selection of small air driven ornament which you can rig up to an airpump for an underwater feature, themed ornaments such as Sponge Bob Square Pants ornaments and your usual skull and crossbones, divers etc. There are also a selection of large ornaments now available such as shipwrecks, airplanes, helicopters etc which due to their size are intended as a central feature for the aquarium.
Most aquarium rocks are inert and can be added to most aquariums such as Slate, Lava rock, Spaghetti rock etc. Some rocks do alter the water chemistry such as Ocean rock which is great if your after obtaining a higher pH and carbonate hardness. An aquarium full of ocean rock for Lake Malawi aquariums is just simply stunning. If your local water is naturally low in pH and kH levels, then by adding a few pieces of ocean rock, will help raise the pH levels and kH levels and also prevent any unwelcome pH crashes.
Artificial plants are fine to use in any fish tank and can be used with or without live plants. Usuall in the form of silk replica plants or artificial plastic plants – both of which make any aquarium much more interesting.