FOWLR Decoration Ideas

[Stuart60611]

Well, now that my tank is ich and nuisance algae free and my fish are all doing very well, I decided it is time to spice things up a bit. I decided to add some hopefully non-tacky tank decorations to add some interest. So far, I have added a cool animal skull and some barnacle clusters. I am also considering adding a beer bottle or glass old-style coke bottle (since pretty much any diver will tell you that they always see such bottles in areas where they dive). I have some fake corals, but I really do not like the way they look (kind of cheasy and fake). I was also considering some fake marine silk macro algae made by Seagarden (do not want to risk infesting the display with real macro and have a foxface). I know Recty went with the Roman look, but that is not for me. Curious if anyone else has any suggestions?

[namxas]

At AoP in Long Beach, they have a kind of "pier" type motif. The beer bottle on the bottom and a fake pier piling with some rope around it as it it were lashed together...maybe a bit of "board" on it too, IIRC. Aslo, there's some giant kelp strands as well (also probably fake).

It's a very interesting look.

PS...I'm not a fan of the fake roman column look either, but I see it all the time on the SH site.

[Stuart60611]

At AoP in Long Beach, they have a kind of "pier" type motif. The beer bottle on the bottom and a fake pier piling with some rope around it as it it were lashed together...maybe a bit of "board" on it too, IIRC. Aslo, there's some giant kelp strands as well (also probably fake).

It's a very interesting look.

PS...I'm not a fan of the fake roman column look either, but I see it all the time on the SH site.


That is an interesting idea. I did a little googling and was unable to either find any type of a pier decoration or artificial kelp, but that is something to consider if I can find something that can work.

[agreeive?fish]

how about a WWII look with ship hulls and crashed airplanes, iam actually consideing doing this to one of my fowlr...not the cheasy pre made ones but iam concidering model kits and building my own

[Stuart60611]

how about a WWII look with ship hulls and crashed airplanes, iam actually consideing doing this to one of my fowlr...not the cheasy pre made ones but iam concidering model kits and building my own

That is also a good idea. They actually do have some pretty good looking aquarium ornaments along those lines. The only thing that I do not like about it is that I would prefer something that at least approximates the scale of the tank. Obviously, none of us have a tank large enough to house a crashed plane. :fun4:

[agreeive?fish]

That is also a good idea. They actually do have some pretty good looking aquarium ornaments along those lines. The only thing that I do not like about it is that I would prefer something that at least approximates the scale of the tank. Obviously, none of us have a tank large enough to house a crashed plane. :fun4:


no but i want one big enough to house a sunken ship and a crashed airplane(the real sized ones)

[smootie]

I've been thinking about getting the Seagarden silk plants, too, but no one around here sells them - I hafta order online. If you decide to get them, can you report back on how realistic they look?

[Stuart60611]

I've been thinking about getting the Seagarden silk plants, too, but no one around here sells them - I hafta order online. If you decide to get them, can you report back on how realistic they look?

Sure, no problem. FYI, if you have one, Petsmart carries them.

[Stuart60611]

Well, please excuse the poor photography, but here is my first artificial decoration attempt. Although a bit cheezy, it actually came out a bit better than I expected. From left to right: the plant is a silk Seagarden replica of acetabularia calyculus (marine macro algae), barnacle cluster, tiger skull (center), absolute vodka bottle, and several sea shells (far right). My goal here was just to break up the rock a little bit and to add some interest while at the same time keep the fish the main focus and not overwhelm the display with fake decorations. I also only wanted to add a few easy to clean items which would not be difficult to remove without upseting my aquascaping. Not sure whether I will keep this arrangement, but kind of fun for now.

128733

128734

128735

[iamwrasseman]

what about bleached corals as they do look impressive when clean white . you would need at least two sets so you can remove and bleach and still have some in your tank .
just throwing it out there ?

[Stuart60611]

what about bleached corals as they do look impressive when clean white . you would need at least two sets so you can remove and bleach and still have some in your tank .
just throwing it out there ?


I have thought about that also. The ony drawbacks I see is they can be pretty expensive and break easily. However, I agree that they can look pretty good in some systems. Something I definitely may consider.

[Stuart60611]

Well, today I hit a nice LFS and got some new decorations. I think it turned out much better than before. From left to right: plate coral (on ground on far left), grape caulerpra algae, red sponge, barnacle cluster, plaster clam, abolute vodka bottle, sps coral, and some hermit shells. The plaster clam will over time become more colored like the rocks.

http://img197.imageshack.us/img197/1978/1000801ru.th.jpg (http://img197.imageshack.us/i/1000801ru.jpg/)
Uploaded with ImageShack.us (http://imageshack.us)

http://img145.imageshack.us/img145/9332/1000803z.th.jpg (http://img145.imageshack.us/i/1000803z.jpg/)
Uploaded with ImageShack.us (http://imageshack.us)

http://img651.imageshack.us/img651/493/1000804f.th.jpg (http://img651.imageshack.us/i/1000804f.jpg/)
Uploaded with ImageShack.us (http://imageshack.us)


http://img203.imageshack.us/img203/8238/1000805i.th.jpg (http://img203.imageshack.us/i/1000805i.jpg/)
Uploaded with ImageShack.us (http://imageshack.us)

http://img833.imageshack.us/img833/5685/1000806x.th.jpg (http://img833.imageshack.us/i/1000806x.jpg/)
Uploaded with ImageShack.us (http://imageshack.us)

http://img40.imageshack.us/img40/1276/1000809ge.th.jpg (http://img40.imageshack.us/i/1000809ge.jpg/)
Uploaded with ImageShack.us (http://imageshack.us)