favorite scape items…

[Magnum Man64 178]

I like my tanks to mostly look natural, and while not all ornaments are of nature, or look natural ( like the pagodas on my hillstream tank ) the pagodas offer good surfaces for algae to grow on ( as food for the fish in that tank ), but also structure… they are large resin pieces designed to place in gardens or flower beds…

in several of my tanks I have resin hollow logs, the ones I use are designed for use with reptiles… they are open on the bottom, so in my south American tetra tank, 2 of them are vertical, and are slid around the under gravel lift tubes to hide them that tank also has 2 horizontal on the bottom as caves, and while some tetras like the sailfins like to use them a lot, they are mostly used by the tetras to sleep in… most all my tanks, have at least one piece of “real” driftwood but the resin ones end up looking great, longer than the natural wood, but don’t offer anything in the way of water treatment ( tannins )

I’ve been buying resin “stump” pots for plants, for a long time, and have 3-4 different styles / sizes, all look like tree stumps but hold plants, lately I’ve bought some smaller ones ( 4 inch ), and like them, as they are easy to place, and move the plants around from…

and recently I’ve been buying these ceramic cichlid caves, that look like they were formed from molten rock, I have a pile of 5 of them in my African tank, and as a pile, they are hollow caves, but the pile creates caves between them, with enough space and privacy, that I have multiple species living in that “rock pile”

I’d be interested to hear about your favorite functional ornaments, and how you use them…

a few pictures…

this is one of the two pagodas in my hillstream tank, they are constantly used by the fish…

this is 2 of the styles of stump pots I use… the 1st contains a large coffeefola, and is in the same tank as the pagodas…. the 2nd ( actually 2 ), is in my 3 season porch tank, and contains a sword and a cryp…

this is one of many of my hollow logs… this one in my south American tetra tank…

and this is one of my cichlid caves, with some needle leaved java fern stuck on top…

 

[Jennet43 101]

I like it. I too have bought some scape ornaments, but probably much smaller than yours on the whole, as my tank is tiny compared to most of yours. I do like to add interest, so as well as a large natural wood tree stump, I will be adding some of the decs along with a few natural stones along the way. In between, I will be testing the water to ensure there is not too much of a change.

Probably most will go in before the fish and alongside some plants, but not much sure how much longer I can hold out before getting fish.

 

[Back in the fold17 2]

You do have an eye for decorating ! I love your aquariums and I see that you still have that Kissing Gourami . I wish I had your skill at aquascaping . All I can ever think to do is lay rocks on the bottom . But . . . . being challenged that way I do keep my eyes open for unusual , pretty and weird rocks .
Also , I am not against manufactured ornaments at all . Some are works of art . @Fishmanic has his fisherman that is pretty cool even if he replaced his nice bamboo fly rod with a Zebco .

 

[GaryE24 22]

I edited a book for a guy who had a chapter on aquascaping, with diagrams of sightlines and perspective tricks. It royally messed me up because he was talking big tanks (he was writing on a group of larger Cichlids) and I have smaller tanks. I keep trying to play with those tricks, but I'm not great at it. I see how it should work, but doing it is another issue. It's a good thing hardly anyone ever visits my fishroom to see my version.

Your versions photograph well. I just pile up rocks and wood and try to grow plants.

 

[Back in the fold17 2]

I keep trying to play with those tricks, but I'm not great at it.

I think aquascaping is a talent . A guy either has an eye for it or he doesn’t . Like interior decorating , you know how or you don’t .

 

[Uberhoust]

I try to get most of my decorations from the bush around us. It links my fish keeping to my hikes and dog walks. I have bit of knowledge about the geology and flora in the area which helps me ensure I am not adding something bad to the tank. My favorite thing to find is a partially rotted out stump or branch, hollow it out, cut it in half. Sometimes I put them on the substrate to make a cave, in the past I would put them over the intake to hide it.