Bland Tank

[tetraman]

I have a 30 gallon tank with only 1 plastic plant and a few rocks I got from a nearby stream. I'm a kid, and my parents aren't willing to buy anything now, so what could I find outside to spice things up?

 

[jayjay]

Well you can't use terristerial plants, so some wood and some rocks.

 

[tetraman]

Yeah. If you put in rocks that were partially out of the water they're covered in bugs that the fish like to eat.

 

[raptorrex]

Yeah. If you put in rocks that were partially out of the water they're covered in bugs that the fish like to eat.

lol dont think thats the thing guy.

you need to be careful with the things you pick from "the stream" rocks and wood need boiled and checked after they have been soaked, to ensure they aint leaching harmful stiff into you tank.

 

[Ant]

When i first had my tank, i used some rocks and wood.
What i did was place the rocks and wood in a bowl full of water, and then added a steraliser for an hour. Rinsed the rocks and wood in clean water, then add to tank.

 

[sammy86]

you can find bogwood on the shore, but you have to soak it to get rid of the 'bad stuff' in it (behold my fantastic vocabulary lol)

but that looks nice!

 

[jayjay]

Bogwood tanins do you mean by 'bad stuff'? If so they are actually good for soft, acidic water, fish.

The 'things' that are living on the wood/rocks though, need to be cleaned off one way or another.

 

[Egmel]

There's a guy on ebay who sells very reasonable mopani wood (under £5 inc P&P) so maybe you could offer to do extra jobs around the house/garden to earn some money and buy some.

Else some members have spare cuttings of plants that they might be willing to send you. There is a swap thead http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=132256 and some people are just glad to have stuff taken off their hands and for it not go to waste!