Artificial decor

Reefer87 · Apr 14, 2020

So I notice on a lot of photos I see of reef or reg saltwater aquariums no one really ever puts any decorations in their tanks. I was looking around for some cool decorations but now I’m wondering if There is a reason why no one puts anything but rocks and coral? I’d really like to have a couple cool decorations in my tank in addition to my rocks and corals. But if there is something I should know please tell me before I impulse buy!

Lasse · Apr 14, 2020

It depends of what you mean with decorations. Because I want my tank to look natural - I do not put toys in the aquarium but I use artificial 3 d backgrounds in order to hide my pumps and other equipments. I want it look like a part of nature in my living room.

Sincerely Lasse

Copingwithpods · Apr 14, 2020

From what I've heard it's that saltwater will degrade what ever sealer was used over time potentially leaching chemicals. As the paints and materials of these decorations aren't really known even the best sealers can still give way. Hermit crabs, urchins and even snails can slowly degrade them over time and even chew straight down into them exposing the paints or materials underneath to the water. How long this would take or if it's even of any concern is unknown to me but worth looking into.

Reefer87 · Apr 14, 2020

Good points, that’s why I asked! Yes I did want some cool ruins to hide in the rocks but if it’s going to hurt my fish I won’t do it.

Copingwithpods · Apr 14, 2020

Reefer87 said:
Good points, that’s why I asked! Yes I did want some cool ruins to hide in the rocks but if it’s going to hurt my fish I won’t do it.

By no means should you let this discourage you from achieving what you want to do. Just research your purchases and make sure you know what your putting in your tank. There are many plastics, paints and sealers that are perfectly reef/fish safe.

Sebastiancrab · Apr 14, 2020

Thanks Reefer for asking this. I asked my LFS the same question and they said no problem. I bought a decorative piece of coral on an acrylic base from TJMaxx for my new 29 gallon. My beef with the manufacturers is that most things are made for men and boys. I would love some new creative things for women. This are missing a marketing opportunity! If there is something you have picked out, call the manufacturer and ask. The people in customer service know their inventory.

xxkenny90xx · Apr 14, 2020

I've seen it done a few times successfully. Actually in my first saltwater tank I had a large bridge decoration. Most of us just want our tanks to look like the natural ocean.

Sebastiancrab · Apr 14, 2020

Elaine123 said:
Thanks Reefer for asking this. I asked my LFS the same question and they said no problem. I bought a decorative piece of coral on an acrylic base from TJMaxx for my new 29 gallon. My beef with the manufacturers is that most things are made for men and boys. I would love some new creative things for women. This are missing a marketing opportunity! If there is something you have picked out, call the manufacturer and ask. The people in customer service know their inventory.

What size tank do you have and what is in it? I have not bought anything yet.

JoshO · Apr 14, 2020

I personally love the natural look, but I've seen some awesome displays with decorations, in particular skulls! I'm sure you'll be able to find some decorations that are inert and don't degrade over time, if they aren't out there then it may be a niche you could earn a bomb from!

ZipAdeeZoa · Apr 14, 2020

I remeber a thread form a while back where someone had a glass bottle in their tank and I thought that a cool idea because I love to see what nature does to man made structures as it takes them back. I've seen some creative things done to like encrusting corals on skulls, a ship wreck thats allowed to be completely covered in gsp. My parents were both big scuba divers and I always admired the collection of artifacts they found from various wrecks (Nova scotia is ship graveyard) and always thought one of those would make an interesting focal point in a tank.

Personal preference at the end of the day as long as your cautious with the quality of the piece you select.

ZipAdeeZoa · Apr 14, 2020

Lasse said:
It depends of what you mean with decorations. Because I want my tank to look natural - I do not put toys in the aquarium but I use artificial 3 d backgrounds in order to hide my pumps and other equipments. I want it look like a part of nature in my living room.

Sincerely Lasse

As someone who spends a fair bit of time on the bottom of the ocean I can unfortunately make an argument that a random tire or a few beer bottles would make a home tank even closer to whats out there.

skydirt · Apr 14, 2020

i think Jake Adams has a fish only tank with artificial decor in it. Check out Reef builders

Blknovass · Apr 14, 2020

In my reef tank I use a terra-cotta pot for a hiding spot my clown loves to hang out in it.

Sebastiancrab · Apr 14, 2020

Blknovass said:
In my reef tank I use a terra-cotta pot for a hiding spot my clown loves to hang out in it.

Picture please!

jaxteller007 · Apr 14, 2020

One thing to be careful is fish can get stuck in them. We originally had a pistol shrimp/watchman goby pair and in our first tank we had a big piece of artificial coral from a pet store. Well those things seem to be hollow inside and our poor pair got stuck inside. We dang near had to kill them to get them out when we took that piece out of the tank.

Blknovass · Apr 14, 2020

Elaine123 said:
Picture please!

Lower right hand corner you ca see it. Sorry for the bad pic lights are all off now.

J-Rob · Apr 14, 2020

I haven't had a tank for 15 years, but have been building a new one the last few weeks.
It's a little different now, but I went with a "Lost City of Atlantis" look.
It makes my Wife happy. :)

TracyLynn · Apr 14, 2020

My son bought my tank & set it up, he themed the tank from a video game series called “BioShock”
We had a picture blown up & laminated it’s attached to the back of the tank, on the outside. He also ordered some action figures, he researched what they were made of & determined they were safe for the tank. We’ve had the tank set up almost 4 years now & Ive taken the pieces out several times & cleaned them off. Water parameters don’t seem to be affected by the figures.
I am considering taking them out, but mostly because they take up room & Ive increased my coral collection plus the growth of several types that are growing very well.
These first 3 were when the tank was new, I forgot I even had some fake grass in there so it didn’t look so plain.

This was a couple of weeks ago.

cancun · Apr 14, 2020

That is a great question! I prefer the natural reef look myself, but I have seen many people with decorations. You can find some pretty cool and realistic ones too. I think you should do what you like, it is your tank after all. Definitely like others said research the decorations first though.

Terri Caton · Apr 15, 2020

There’s nothing wrong with it. Only the purists will say that. In my experience the best company is Ocean Aquaria. Their coral is used by many large aquariums. The weight is light so you are not putting a ton of weight in to stress your tank. Hint. Don’t buy the sea fans from them. The color flakes off but that’s the only one that does. Also, another tip. Put them in the dishwasher and use Dawn dishwashing liquid only. They stay prettier longer that way before needing to be cleaned again. They even have ones that glow under blue lights! They do custom things too like the pic of the football helmet. Not crazy expensive either.

I personally have live rock and some live coral in my tank, along with artificial coral, but that's my preference. I like the movement the live coral gives it. I just did a deep clean on my tank so everything is not back together or I'd show you a pic.

Here’s the link and some gallery pics.

OCEAN AQUARIA ARTIFICIAL CORAL AQUARIUM INSERTS

Ocean Aquaria designs realistic custom artificial coral inserts & reefs for high end residential aquariums, commercial aquariums and public aquariums worldwide.

www.oceanaquaria.com

@JasonK84 has a tank with corals from this company. He likes his.

Plug and Play Artificial Coral Inserts for Custom Aquariums

Instant Reef Plug & Play (PnP) coral reefs have removable artificial coral inserts which are perfect for custom aquariums. Easy to setup, maintain and upgrade.

www.instantreef.com