# Tank Decorations



## robert69 (Jul 16, 2005)

Hello all. I have a 135 gallon tank with 6 P's(1 Red, 2 Pirayas and 3 Terns). The tank is well decorated - driftwood, fake plants, rocks, etc. I understand how important it is to have hiding places for the fish but it is getting tougher and tougher to maintain the water quality. Alot of waste builds up underneath the decorations, etc.

I do 2 water changes(25%) + gravel vac each week. But it seems no matter how much I clean, waste still builds up underneath/on the decorations. Back in the day, I used to have a bare tank and cleaning was very easy but the fish had no hiding places. I know it would not be right to go totally bare, but I'm thinking of cutting my decorations down by 65%-75% for the sake of clean water. I will most likely leave in a couple pieces of large driftwood and maybe a few small plants.

Does anyone else face this same issue? Do you find yourself having to constantly re-arrange the decorations in order to gravel vac underneath them? Would love to get several different opinions on this subject.

Thank you!


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## shiver905 (May 27, 2009)

i had a well decorated tank, 
It got messy, now all I have is a painted black background and sand.

I like it better this way. Fish were a lil spooked for a few days but there fine now.
I would say they are more comfortable with me coming up to the tank. Overall less shy.

On top of that it adds more swim space.

It all depends on you tho.
Some people are all about how nice and natural their tank looks- Even if fish arnt it it.


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## T-wag (May 21, 2009)

i only have one piece of drift wood and some very low plants and my piranha doesnt seem to mind at all! wen i had hiding spots he didnt even use them


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## JoeDizzleMPLS (Nov 5, 2007)

add a bunch of slow growing low light plants and you won't have to worry about gravel vacs anymore, just water changes


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## notoriouslyKEN (Jul 31, 2003)

joedizzlempls said:


> add a bunch of slow growing low light plants and you won't have to worry about gravel vacs anymore, just water changes


This is what I am working with right now. I bought some Leopard Jungle Vals, Amazon Swords, Crypt. Wendtii and Dwarf Sag. I am hoping they will take over my tank and eat up all the nitrates. I still gravel vac around the plants and change about 20% a week for now, but if I could get it down to 10% a week, I'd be happy.


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## robert69 (Jul 16, 2005)

Thanks to all for your feedback. I am going to start today removing some of the decorations. My main concern was keeping the tank as natural as possible for the fish. I did like my tank bare, but the fish do need some hiding/cover.

Thanks again!


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## robert69 (Jul 16, 2005)

Just took out all of the decorations and gravel vac'd. The tank was sooooo nasty!!! I can't believe how much sh*t was underneath all those decorations I had despite doing 2 gravel vacs a week for years. The water damn near turned black it was so bad. I will never fully decorate my tank again. I only put back 25% of the original decorations(a few pieces of driftwood and a rock) so the fish have some cover. It will be much easier to maintain now.....


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## FretsOnFire00 (Sep 10, 2009)

Just my personal opinion but why have a fishtank if you dont decorate it? It just looks so unatural to see south american fish siming in an empty gravel tank. It doesnt take that much extra work to clean around decorations and you get teh satisfaction of your tank looking good. Again just my opinion.


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## robert69 (Jul 16, 2005)

The tank is not empty, it has a couple pieces of large driftwood and rocks minus all the plants I had in there. I was vacuuming around the decorations for years not realizing how much sh*t had actually accumulated underneath them. It would be a pain in the ass to have to re-arrange the decorations twice a week to gravel vac underneath them.


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## xeloR (Jan 2, 2009)

I hear you man- there is a lot of crap that can accumulate around/ under driftwood etc. I just berried the items base in my sand that way there isn’t a chance for anything to get underneath- but also add a power head to blow that *hit around. Rite now im bare other than the sand and there is nothing on the bottom at all!


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## shiver905 (May 27, 2009)

FretsOnFire00 said:


> Just my personal opinion but why have a fishtank if you dont decorate it? It just looks so unatural to see south american fish siming in an empty gravel tank. It doesnt take that much extra work to clean around decorations and you get teh satisfaction of your tank looking good. Again just my opinion.


Depends what your into. 
I used to want a very nice natural looking habitat in a aquarium.

Now its more for watching the fish.


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## philbert (Mar 8, 2007)

i think a plain tank no deco just substrate can work. i mean my rhom's tank only has 2 plants on it that give him a lil hiding spot. he is 10 inches in a 75 gallon so its not like he is really hiding just using it for cover untill someone walks by then flys toward them. i used to have a lot of rocks and plants in there, but it seemed like they were in the rhoms way. so i took them out.


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## robert69 (Jul 16, 2005)

Thanks for all the feedback, it is appreciated. Well, this morning I went downstairs to check my tank and it is SUPER CLEAR! I thought I had very clear water before, but damn! Once I removed the decorations and vacuumed every inch of the gravel, the water was filthy. Definitely going to keep the decorations to a minimum. The water is soooo clear it is almost invisible haha!


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