Amanda

I've found out that aquarium decor is very expensive. Does anyone have any cool alternatives to store bought decor? Such as driftwood, or making your own caves, etc. from shale? I need some low cost ideas!

Andre

It is often better you natural decor but using shells are often a good idea!
depending on types of fish.

MagpieTear

Any rocks you collect can be glued together to make cave, walls, etc., with aquarium silicone. (it would probably be wise to boil or bake them first to remove any critters, molds, fungi and the like) Driftwood you collect, definitely boil well. I believe it was Jim who lost a tank of angels from a fungus that was in his driftwood. Other than sterilizing, the sky's the limit. Corkbark works well for a backdrop, inside or behind the tank. There was even a thread about using legos and another about hamster tubes here...

Lucy

I use colored poster board on 2 of my tanks. I like the solid color.

There were a few threads on here about testing any rocks with vinegar, if it bubbles (fizzes?) You shouldn't use it. I'll see if I can find it.

I hope someone else chimes in here about this, because I could be wrong.

Edit: I did a search on the forum for river rock, there are quite a few. Rather than post all the links here, go ahead and do a search. Good luck.

jdhef

Lucy is correct. Sea Shells, Coral, and rock that fizzles when vinegar is poured them all have a tendancy to raise your ph (make the water more alkyline. So depending on your ph this could be good or bad. Also, driftwood tend to lower your ph (make it more ecidic) due to the tannic acid leeching into the water.

Amanda

I've seen a lot of cool ideas such as coconut caves, PVC caves, using stones to build caves, & even using hamster equipment (I need more info on this). But none of this is very tall. Does anyone have any ideas of DIY decorations that are tall?

rileyrk190

you can silicone lava rock together. You can get a 20 pound bag for like three bucks at lowes. if you glue them into segments let them dry, then glue the segments together..you can have a really nice looking rock formation. and if you roll the segments in sand when they are wet..it will hide the silicone which kind of turns white after a while.

rileyrk190

oh, its natural lava rock in the grill section.

rileyrk190

Here is a pick of my tank with the rock.

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pepetj

Hi Amanda: Actually, I like using rocks collected from nature. But only from river banks I feel certain are quite pollutant free. What I do is that I rinse/brush the rock in tap water (I wouldn't boil/bake the thing, instead I'll run some hot water around it), then place it in one of my aquarium-use-only bucket for a few days, during which I test for pH, GH, KH. If the pH remains stable and GH and KH vary only slightly, then I consider that rock to be safe. However if you allready have Hard to Very Hard water in your tank, be careful.

In the DIY section you can find interesting ideas (like making caves from PVC pipes, coconut shells...). I bet if you put some effort, you would end not only with something original, but really good looking.

All the sand I have in my tanks come from rivers, and the gravel I look for at the LFS is the one without acrylic coating (not easy to find) since I have planted tanks. I have purchased beautiful aquarium-ready slate rocks, but they are not cheap, at least not where I live.

Pepe
Santo Domingo

Amanda

If anyone lives near Newburgh, NY - Sherwood Tiles has a HUGE pile of leftover granite pieces for free to anyone who will take them. If anyone is looking to make their own decor - this could be a good, cheap idea.

MinxMermaid

i bought a big bag of hamster tubing for $13.00 at pet co. it was enough sections for 5 tanks. ALL my bettas LOVE, LOVE their Spaceships

you can anchor them down with a little gravel or you can let a piece float. they LOVE to get in them either way. also we keep our eye out for little caves and things on sale and just add slowly. they love to get inside stuff.

GOOD LUCK!!

Awsome22

Hello,
I have no idea what type of budget your on but I believe its seacorals.com that has some decor fairly cheap, of course some of it is fairly expensive but it might be worth the look?




Ok some of its quite cheesy too :-P but no sense not looking might like somthing?
http://store.seacorals.net/blrirecasc.html

MinxMermaid

ouch! some of that looks too sharp for bettas!

BigJoe

Java moss 2.50 at petco.... cross stitching material 3.00 at wal-mart... use your imagination... you could mimic a piece of driftwood... might take a few months for it to grow in all the way... depending on the size you could also use clay pots... small vases... regular housing bricks... if it is really big i thought about cinder blocks... not sure if it would be safe... but sounds like a cool idea even if it was like a junkyard themed hardscape ur fish would probably love it... i might try this if i can ever get a big tank in my budget... maybe a clean side and a junk side on a 75-125 gallon...

Awsome22

TYhat is very true now that you mention it it looks sharp for a lot of fish..... so... thats why its cheap........

MinxMermaid

look at this thread for some inexpensive decor and how they like the tubes

A day of MTS

also, before i found some affordable decor, i just put a glass on its side in the tank so royal had something to get inside of.

mrsmuffin

I have a small glass vase that I siliconed flat marbles to to make a little cave. You can buy the vase and the flat marbles at Dollar Tree for $1 each...