Choosing decorations and ornaments for a new aquarium is one of the most exciting parts of setting up an underwater kingdom for your fish. However, you must consider more than just how your setup looks. After all, your aquarium should be a safe, comfortable home for your fish and other aquatic pets, not just look good! Overcrowded or improperly chosen decorations can significantly impact water flow, quality, and, ultimately, the well-being of your fish.
In this article, I explore the hidden downsides of excessive decorations and explain how you can create a balanced, safe, healthy environment for your fishy friends.
Key Takeaways
- Healthy Aquascaping: Maintaining good water quality and flow in your tank is crucial. Excessive decorations can disrupt this and result in poor fish health or even death due to oxygen deprivation and toxin accumulation.
- Decor Balance: Striking the right balance between decorative elements and open swimming space is key to ensuring your fish’s welfare, as is choosing decorations that serve a functional purpose beyond just looking good.
- Decoration Dos and Don’ts: Decorate with live plants, smooth rocks, and aquarium-safe ornaments to enhance your tank’s health and appeal. Avoid potentially toxic household items and overly sharp or heavy objects that can harm your aquatic pets.
What Are the Pitfalls of Excessive Aquarium Decorations?
We’ve all been tempted to grab just one small extra rock or cute resin ornament and pop it into the basket when perusing the shelves of the local fish store. However, too many tank decorations can be bad news for your fish.
Impaired Water Flow
Cluttering your aquarium with too many decorations can disrupt water flow. If water can’t pass freely around your fish tank and through the filtration system, stagnant areas can develop, providing a breeding ground for harmful bacteria and leading to poor water quality overall.
As water moves around your tank, it passes across colonies of beneficial bacteria living in the filter media. These bacteria process ammonia and nitrites into less harmful nitrates, making the water healthy and safe for your fish to live in.
If the water flow is disrupted, the bacteria can’t do their job, and the levels of harmful toxins in the water accumulate, quickly making your fish sick or even killing them.
Algae Growth
In a crowded tank with poor water circulation and high levels of nitrates, algae will proliferate. Although some fish species will nibble on algae, the green slime will quickly cover your decorations and tank surfaces, making your aquarium look messy.
Reduced Oxygen Levels
Restricted water flow can also hinder oxygen exchange. Like all animals, fish need to breathe oxygen to power their bodily functions. Most fish breathe dissolved oxygen from the water in their surrounding environment, although some Anabantoidei, including gouramis and betta fish, can also breathe atmospheric air via a specialized labyrinth organ.
In the wild environment, oxygen readily enters the water through the surface and is also generated by plants through photosynthesis. However, in the closed environment of your aquarium, the water surface is agitated by good water circulation. In a cluttered tank where water flow is restricted, essential surface disturbance doesn’t happen, so dissolved oxygen levels are reduced.
When that happens, eventually, your fish will suffocate and die.
Cleaning Problems
The more jumble there is in your aquarium, the harder it will be to clean it.
Organic waste and plant debris quickly accumulate around and underneath the fish tank decorations, making cleaning the substrate difficult. That ultimately leads to water pollution and overloads your biological filter media, creating a vicious circle.
In addition, poor water quality encourages algal growth. Algae use nitrates as nutrients and will quickly flourish in a dirty tank, covering all your decorations and the viewing panes in a green, slimy coating.
Fish Stress
There are many causes of stress for fish kept in a crowded tank stuffed with aquarium ornaments.
Stress is extremely dangerous to fish. It compromises the fish’s immune system, making it less effective than it should be, and that makes the creature more susceptible to diseases. Even if the fish avoid becoming sick, they certainly won’t thrive.
I once had two beautiful, fancy goldfish that lived together in the same tank for almost ten years. When one of the fish died, the other lost interest in everything. He didn’t forage for scraps, dig up my plants, or come to the surface to be fed anymore. There were no signs of disease, and the fish appeared perfectly healthy, but the stress of losing his friend ultimately led to him just wasting away until he died.
Lack of Swimming Space
In their natural habitat, fish can move away from stressors, such as aggressors or predators. Of course, that’s not possible in the confines of a crowded tank.
Some fish species, like tetras, like to live in schools, spending much of their time swimming around exploring their home. Other species are lively and need plenty of space to exercise, which they don’t have in a tank that’s crammed with stuff.
Territorial Species
Some fish species, including Bettas and many cichlids, are highly territorial, adopting a territory, patrolling it, and defending it against intruders. That might not be possible in a cramped tank with too many decorations, again leading to stress, disease outbreaks, and a failure to thrive.
Injuries To Fish
If fish are competing for territory and space, aggression can quickly become a problem, leading to injuries. In addition, fast swimming fish can collide with decorations, sustaining injuries.
Decorating With Fish Welfare and Aesthetics in Mind
So, how can you decorate your aquarium to look good to onlookers and provide a safe, healthy environment for your fish and other aquatic pets?
Consider the Needs of Your Fish
Research your fish species’ specific requirements and behaviors, and choose decorations that cater to their preferences and well-being.
Provide a mixture of open swimming spaces, hiding spots, and natural habitats to accommodate diverse fish behaviors and species.
Create a Focal Point
Choose a central decoration or theme that ties the aquarium together visually, such as a striking piece of driftwood, a beautiful dragon rock, or a dramatically twisted root as a centerpiece.
Live aquatic plants and other natural elements enhance the tank’s aesthetics while promoting water quality and fish health.
How Many Aquarium Decorations Can I Have?
The number and size of tank decorations you should have depends on several factors, including the size of your fish tank, the species of fish and invertebrates you keep, and your personal aesthetic preferences.
Here are some considerations to help you choose the appropriate number of tank decorations:
Fish Species
Some fish prefer open swimming areas, while others like plenty of hiding spots among the decorations. Research each fish species carefully to find out what each needs, and decorate your tank accordingly.
Tank Size
In smaller aquariums, avoiding overcrowding is essential so that the fish have plenty of space to swim and establish territories. Larger tanks offer more flexibility for adding decorations while still providing ample room for fish to swim.
Decoration Functionality
Before adding a decoration to your tank, consider its purpose. Everything you add to your aquarium should have a purpose beyond just aesthetics, such as providing hiding spots, resting areas, or environmental enrichment for your fish, fry, and invertebrates.
Aesthetic Appeal
While you should always prioritize fish welfare, aesthetics also play a role in creating an attractive aquarium that’s a pleasure to sit and view at the end of a long working day. Try to create a balanced arrangement of decorations that enhances the tank’s overall appearance without overwhelming the space.
Remember, the fish should always be the stars of the show, not a kitschy ornament!
Water Flow and Tank Maintenance
As discussed above, too many decorations will disrupt water flow and make tank cleaning and water changes difficult and time-consuming. Aim to create a layout that promotes efficient water circulation and allows easy aquarium maintenance access.
What Are Good Aquarium Decorations?
The shelves of every fish store are packed with various decorations and ornaments, from natural wood and rock to resin and plastic items and silk and plastic plants. With so much choice, picking out the best options is tricky.
However, good aquarium decorations should look great and be functional, providing benefits for your fish. Here are a few options to consider:
- Live plants add natural beauty to your tank and help to keep the water clean by absorbing nitrates and carbon dioxide and providing oxygen. They also provide safe hiding places for shy fish and vulnerable fry.
- Silk plants are a good alternative if you don’t want the hassle of maintaining living plants. They come in myriad shapes and colors and just need occasional cleaning to keep them looking fresh. I don’t recommend using plastic plants since they can be sharp and could injure your fish.
- Driftwood adds a natural and rustic touch to the aquarium, replicating what’s found in the natural habitats of many freshwater fish species. It offers your fish shelter and shade and provides grazing surfaces for algae-eaters. You can also use driftwood and bogwood as a substrate for attaching plants.
- Natural rocks, such as slate, lava rock, or granite, can be arranged to create caves, tunnels, and ledges for fish to explore and seek refuge. They also contribute to the biological filtration process by providing surfaces for beneficial bacteria to colonize.
- If you want to add a quirky twist to your aquascape, you might want to include ceramic or resin ornaments, such as caves, statues, castles, or sunken ships. These decorations can provide surfaces on which bacteria can grow and offer hiding places for fish to explore.
- You can use PVC pipes and clay pots to create caves and tunnels for fish. When I kept Kribensis, the fish used a partially buried clay pot as a nest.
- Aquarium backgrounds can be printed, textured, or painted on the outside of your tank to add depth and visual interest to the aquarium while hiding equipment and wires behind the tank.
Decorations To Avoid
- Don’t be tempted to decorate your fish tank with household items. The paints and adhesives used in these items often contain toxic chemicals that could harm your fish should they leach out into the water.
- Beware of using empty coconut shells in your fish tank! I thought one of these would be a great hideout for my betta fish, but a translucent oil slick appeared on the water’s surface within a few hours of putting the shell in my tank. That oily residue prevented surface agitation and proper gaseous exchange, effectively suffocating my fish.
- Avoid objects with sharp edges or points that could injure fish. Instead, opt for smooth and rounded decorations to ensure the safety of your fish.
- Don’t put excessively large or heavy decorations in your aquarium, especially if you have small or delicate fish species. Large ornaments can take up too much space, restrict swimming areas, and create territorial disputes among fish. Besides, heavy decorations can pose a risk of collapsing or damaging the tank’s glass or acrylic walls.
- Decorations with narrow openings or holes can trap fish inside, leading to stress, injury, or even death. Ensure that any decorations with openings are large enough to allow all your fish and invertebrates to enter and exit safely.
- Avoid using decorations taken from the wild environment that could decompose or rot in the aquarium, such as wood, branches, or certain types of rocks. These materials can release harmful substances into the water as they decompose, potentially poisoning your fish. Also, you have no way of knowing if the items are harboring bacteria or parasites.
Final Thoughts
Decorating your aquarium is fun and allows you to express your creative side. However, you must strike a balance between aesthetics and fish welfare.
Don’t cram too many decorations into your fish tank, as that impacts water flow through the filtration system, potentially causing water quality issues. In addition, excessive decorations impede your fish’s swimming space and cause stress to your pets when territorial disputes break out.
By all means, include your favorite ornaments in your setup, but always remember the fish should be the stars, and their well-being is paramount.
