Decorating your freshwater fish aquarium can be interesting, as you have a variety of accessories to choose from. There are many types of beads, colorful plants and even miniature pagodas. While decorating your tank keep in mind that whatever you put into the tank will affect your aquarium environment and could harm your fish.
You should plan your aquarium decorations before you get the fish to their tank. Here are some tips for decorating freshwater fish aquariums:
Wallpaper: Many stores sell wallpaper sheets that can be placed on the rear external side of the aquarium. This can give your fish a feeling of depth and also block off the background which may consist of a plain wall or even a tangle of wires.
Plants: Place the big and bushy plants on the rear or the sides of your freshwater fish aquarium, after this you can place the small plants in front of them or in the middle as center piece.
Log: If your aquarium contains different sizes of fish, it is better to give a hollow log so that the small fish can take refuge when they shy away or want to flee away from the large fish.
Glass/plastic: Be careful when you buy decorations made up of plastic or glass as they could release harmful chemicals into your aquarium water and so harm your fish. Some items made of plastic, glass and ceramic do not release such chemicals.
Wood: Be careful not to place any piece of wood outside in your aquarium. A piece of wood found on the beach could release substances like tannins, which turn the water color into a yellow tea color and change the water's pH as well. If you find an interesting piece of wood which you want to use as a decoration in your freshwater fish aquarium, you can boil it in water first to kill the dangerous bacteria present in or on the wood. Boiling the wood piece also makes it sink.
Shell: Even sea shells found on the sea shore contain harmful substances and should be cleaned before you decide to place them in your fish tank. There can be minute inhabitants inside the shell. Before you place them in the aquarium check inside the shell thoroughly and rinse them properly. For precaution purposes, keep checking the water pH and the buffering level of the water within few days of placing the shells in the water.