Should ornamental rocks or other ornaments be used?

Let taste be your guide when coming to decide whether ornamental rocks or other ornaments be used. Today many aquarium stores feature rocks of all types, as well as glass chunks. Many of these have sharp edges, but there is little reason to believe that the fishes ever cut themselves on them. Mineral or lime-bearing rocks, of course, should be avoided.

When in doubt as to the danger of a particular rock or type of rock, test it first, placing it in a tank with a few inexpensive fishes for about two weeks. Rocks serve no particular purpose in the community aquarium (unless it’s a community of African cichlids), but many of them are decorative and can be arranged into caves, grottoes, ledges and walls within which or on which some fishes will spawn.

Almost the same could be said of other aquarium ornaments. Bamboo huts, castles, bridges, figurines, frogs, treasure chests, turtles, etc., are available. If you like them and their material and style does no harm, use them to beautify your aquarium.

A word of caution: be sure that all the rocks and ornaments used are set well into the gravel. Do not leave areas under which dirt can drift and accumulate beyond reach. Make sure that such areas do not exist in the ornament itself. And beware of the ornament that has narrow, closed-end passageways. A fish is quite likely to swim up into it and, being unable either to turn or proceed, to die there. Not only will you lose the fish, but its body is likely to be hidden and can pollute the water before being discovered. Many seashells fall into this category.

Coral as well as seashells is composed of lime. A small piece or two of coral or a few small shells probably do no harm. In excess, they certainly tend to make the water hard, if it is originally of the soft, slightly acid type. Coral and seashells should be boiled and scrubbed thoroughly with a stiff brush before use.

Aquarium Ornaments

Aquarium ornaments are used to decorate the tank for yourself, not so much for the benefit of the fish. The ornaments can come in all sorts of shapes and sizes, both small and big, caricature or traditional, complicated or very simple. You have the option to create them yourself or to buy one of the thousands of models that can be found in pet stores.

You can’t use ornaments in every tank though, as some fish don’t enjoy their presence. For example, Oscar fish prefer their tank to be ornament and plant free. In other cases, they are needed by fish to hide behind or under them. Traditionally, most ornaments will look like ships or castles and they can be used by small fish to hide from bigger ones. Another advantage is that fish can play inside them.

You can buy ornaments for aquariums from most fish or pet stores. You can find both cheap and expensive ornaments in these shops. You can find ornaments that are quite detailed and made to look like they’re branches that have weeds attached. In some cases, fish will need their aquarium to look like their home in the wild, and proper ornaments can be important in their case.

Having amphibians inside the aquarium means that an ornament that looks like a waterfall and has a small bathing pool on the bottom might be nice to have, as they will bath in it. Make sure the aquarium has plenty of greenery inside if you have amphibians in it, so it looks like it’s their home.

It’s not hard finding the right ornaments for your tank and they’re easy to put inside. If you can, make sure that the ornaments fit with the natural habitat of the fish you have inside. If you have a goldfish it doesn’t matter, but for other types of fish it does. In the aquarium of a goldfish you can use all types of ornaments, no matter how funny.