Any aquarist wants his aquarium to look beautiful and interesting, but at the same time preserve its natural environment. Often you don’t need to invent something new, but just add something that is often found in nature. One of these “highlights” for decoration can be aquarium stones. They perfectly complement the interior, and due to their unusual shape they make the design unique in its own way. In nature, stones in water serve as a completely natural part of the habitat. Fish spawn in them, and sometimes they simply hide from predators.
Decorative background
Although the background for the fish does not play any role, it emphasizes the beauty of underwater inhabitants, highlights the decorative design and visually enlarges the water space.
Foam and film are used to create a decorative background.
You can find out more about backgrounds for aquariums in another article.
Styrofoam
Foam plastic is used to create a background because it is an inexpensive material from which it is not difficult to make decorations for an aquarium with your own hands. To create a background that resembles a rocky surface, foam is cut to the size of the glass, fired until it bubbles, and coated with a cement base. Once dry, place in the back.
Another option for using polystyrene foam, besides firing it, is to carve certain designs on it. Then you can also cover it with cement or non-toxic and safe paint.
Film
Most often, breeders choose black colors or underwater landscapes as a background in the interior. The color depends on the style of decoration and the presence or absence of artificial decorations. The color black is associated with the darkness of the deep sea. Films with designs of underwater plants, reefs, and corals also increase the volume of the tank and highlight the fish.
Films are sold in pet stores. They also print films to order with individual designs. After purchasing the film, it is important to properly glue it to the glass walls of the aquarium. Do this carefully, smoothing out any bubbles that form. PVC film is considered the most reliable. Its service life is several decades.
How to create a design for the “population”?
Depending on what animals and plants will live in the jar, additional conditions for its design are formed. If they are not taken into account, the population will be uncomfortable, and in some cases this inconvenience will develop into a threat to their life and health.
For example, the environment for a red-eared slider should take into account its need for free space. A spacious room, ¾ of which is covered with water, will become a home for the reptile, where it will enjoy living. In this case, the land should have a gentle entrance into the water so that it is convenient for the turtle to descend and ascend. It is best if it is a rough stone or soil, but it should not loosen and slide into the water.
The nuances of decorating a jar for a betta fish are based more on its color and preferences, which, although not life-threatening, are still desirable. It is better not to choose bright plain backgrounds for jars with this fish, otherwise it will get lost among the catchy colors. As an addition, you can purchase driftwood from a mango tree, which saturates the water with humic substances.
Stones
The simplest means of decoration are stones. They, like decorations for the aquarium, are bought in specialized stores or collected when going out into nature. Choose smooth rocks without sharp edges or cracks that could injure the fish. You also need to pay attention to the composition of the stone. It should not contain limestone. Long-term release of alkali into the water will harm underwater inhabitants. To test a stone for the presence of alkali, you will need vinegar. If vinegar applied to a stone begins to hiss and foam, then the stone is not suitable.
If you do collect stones in nature, then the first thing you should do is disinfect them. Disinfection is carried out using boiling water. To begin with, wash the stones and remove dirt from cracks and crevices with a brush. Then they put it in water and boil for 15 minutes to destroy all bacteria and viruses that are dangerous to fish.
Stones are not only used to line the bottom, but are also used to decorate the aquarium. From them you can make stone structures with your own hands: caves, grottoes or slides.
You can learn more about choosing stones for an aquarium in this article.
Decorating an aquarium with your own hands: soil, driftwood, accents
In what style should it be decorated?
Sequence of actions when decorating an aquarium
The sequence is:
- Preparing stones and driftwood.
- Setting the background.
- Equipment installation.
- Placing stones, driftwood and grottoes in the tank.
- Backfilling the soil.
- Planting. Sometimes this is done with a small amount of water (according to the rules for starting plants, they are planted a few days after pouring water, but if there are a lot of them and among them there are small ones and ground cover, it is very difficult to plant them in an aquarium full of water).
- Filling with water.
These are the basic principles of designing an aquarium. Of course, it’s not easy to make your aquarium a masterpiece of aquadesign on your own, but that’s not the main thing. It is important that you like him and enjoy looking at him.
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Arranging the picture
Basic principles of design:
Priming
Stones
Granite, quartz, gneiss, sandstone and many other stones are used in aquariums. Before placing them in the tank, they are cleaned with a brush and then scalded with boiling water. Usually a group of stones looks more natural than one large boulder.
In shrimp tanks, the most popular are large pieces of sandstone with many small caves, and in cichlid tanks, flat stones are often used, which are placed on top of each other, building grottoes and caves.
It is better to tie the stones together or glue them with silicone, since large cichlids can knock them over.
If the aquarium is intended more for beauty, you can decorate it in the Japanese Iwagumi style, creating a garden from an odd number of stones of different sizes standing or lying on the bottom.
driftwood
Other types of decorations and coverings
Back wall of the aquarium
Decorating an aquarium with plants
Wooden decorative elements
Wooden accessories are purchased at the store. But you can make the decor of an aquarium with your own hands. Not all branches, driftwood and sticks found outside are suitable for decorating an aquarium.
- Pay attention to the type of wood, if possible. Coniferous species are not suitable. In the water, they begin to secrete resinous enzymes that negatively affect fish. Also avoid branches from oak trees. Tannins are released from them.
- Choose only healthy branches. Even a small lesion on the bark will cause infection and rapid rotting of the tree.
- Before making decorations for an aquarium from branches, they are boiled for a long time in salted water and then soaked.
Houses, grottoes, and shelters are built from branches. Driftwood and branches look beautiful without excessive decoration. We wrote more about the use of driftwood in an aquarium separately.
Exclusive water architectures
Small-form architecture can be replaced with twigs and tree roots found in the forest. True connoisseurs of exclusive jewelry carve from wood various caves, ships, holes, as well as various inhabitants of the water kingdom. Aquarium decorations in the form of natural trees look great. Viewers are presented with a panorama of the dragon's fairy-tale world, among scattered colored treasures near a wooden chest and a sunken ship. Such shelters will become a favorite place for domestic inhabitants.
When making crafts, the material is soaked in salt water for 30 minutes. Then the future workpiece must be boiled and cleared of bark. You need to cut a hole on the side that will serve as an entrance. The edges are burned over fire and cleaned of loose particles. Then the aquarium decoration should lie in boiled water for 7 days. Only after all the procedures is the wood placed on the bottom of the aquarium, secured with silicone glue or decorative stones. Do not use rotting wood. Particles of such material will get into the aquarium water and negatively affect the health of the inhabitants. It is not recommended to use oak. Its substances emit organic acids that are harmful to fish. Due to the resin content, aquarium decorations should not be made from coniferous trees.
Waterfall
The waterfall gives the aquarium a special beauty.
Waterfalls are divided into 2 types:
- Waterfall above the surface. It also performs a useful function - with the help of a flow of water, the water is aerated, that is, filled with oxygen. The sound of flowing water has a calming effect on a person.
- Underwater waterfall. This is just a decorated imitation of a waterfall, but it does not lose its beauty because of this. An underwater waterfall uses sand and a compressor.
Grotto
Grottoes are essential for an aquarium; fish use them as shelters and places to rest. Grottoes can be purchased, but they are not difficult to make with your own hands. Almost any material is suitable for production. It can be stones, shells, wood, ceramics, clay. With the help of safe and non-toxic glue and the selected material, the mainsail of various shapes is glued together. The grottoes look good among the algae thickets.
Fish compatibility
Walnut design items will appeal to many residents of the pond. These include:
- crayfish;
- shrimps;
- loricarid catfish;
- battles;
- cichlids: tropheus, ramiresi, etroplus;
- Panaki;
- Ancistrus.
The above species of fish and shellfish will be delighted with shelters and houses made of nut fruits. Coconut in an aquarium is a useful and beautiful design element of natural origin. With it, the underwater world will become more well-groomed, and will delight not only the inhabitants of the reservoir, but also aquarists.
General decorating rules
Sometimes aquarists get so carried away with decoration, forgetting that fish will live among this decor. The decor should first of all be comfortable for pets, and only then beautiful.
Therefore, when decorating, observe some design nuances and fundamental principles:
- Don't use too much decoration. Pisces need room to swim.
- It is advisable to place the decor in the back of the aquarium, and not in the central part.
- Using decoration, it is good to hide devices for fish life, for example, a filter, compressor, aerator.
Clay crafts
If possible, you can make a grotto from red clay. This method is the most labor-intensive of all, because the clay must be fired, otherwise the product will simply break.
So, first you need to build a cave of a suitable shape. For example, in the form of a pot with a broken side or just a rectangular house. To make it spherical, you can use a balloon: inflate it to the desired size, cover it with a layer of clay (not too thin), let it dry and carefully deflate the ball, being careful not to crumple the edges of the clay sphere.
Then the product must be dried. This can be done in the sun or in the microwave. After this, firing is required. If there is a workshop with a muffle furnace nearby, then you can go there. If not, then you will have to use an oven preheated to 220 degrees. It is better to leave the door ajar. Firing takes about an hour, after which the temperature gradually decreases over 15-20 minutes . If you turn off the oven immediately, the clay will become brittle.
After firing, you can place the product next to the fish. If you decide to paint it, you need to make sure that the paints are non-toxic and will not poison the water. It is advisable to additionally burn purchased shards to kill microbes.
The clay grotto is the most labor-intensive of all, because the clay must be fired, otherwise the product will simply break.
