Aquarium decorations....yea or nay?

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I have a huge castle, a volcano, and fake plants. But I went with things that have more earthy colors (aside from the blue gravel.) I got the most realistic plants I could find. I say yay for decorations, but as long as they're not tacky or ridiculous colors.
 
I have always thought that it would be cool to go with the roman thing, but set it up so the colloseum is really realistic and 3 feet tall. with other decorations the same.
 
Yeah I can see that being nice looking, but if I did that I'd want to do it with marine, so I can pretend it is Atlantis. ;)
 
I know some people think it's tacky but I really like decor. 2 of my bettas are in asian themed tanks, 3 of my tanks are done with corals and shipwrecks and such, and 1 is all the spongebob characters and houses. Okay I wouldn't have done spongebob if I didn't have kids but still, it's neat. What I personally think is tacky is colored rock substrate and tank backrounds with pictures of fish on them.... :)
 
In some cases i like colored rocks, most i do not. the background on mine has a picture of really thick common aquarium plants and a couple mollys on it. You cant see the fish on it though and it really just makes for a good backdrop. doesnt really pull your focus away at all and is much less noticable than a white wall.
 
I find the background can make a big difference in how real everything looks. Real plants and a cheap printed background make an aquarium look kind of artificial. But, a 3d foam / resin / fiberglass internal background and plastic plants can look pretty good, which is what I'm using. Live plants have they're pros of course, but if you don't want the hassle of live plants, some plastic plants look pretty good. They'll never look as good as real plants, and I realize that, but they also don't have the problems of live plants. And with a good background fake plants can look a lot better.
 
I agree with almost everyone's sentiments that it is entirely about what you like...

Personally, I do not like anything that isn't natural looking in a tank. My personal preference is live plants... Yes, they require TLC, but imo they are at least half the enjoyment of the hobby for me (if not more than half). I have planted tanks with fish in them... not fish tanks with live plants, if you get what I mean. For me it is all about chasing the elusive perfect aquascape, and I have yet to even come close. Tanks like the ones I linked below (from aquascapingworld.com & aquaticplantcentral.com) rival or surpass reef tanks in their aestetics in my opinion. They also take a LOT of work, patience, and knowledge.

1_takashi_amano_01.jpg


reeceaquarium5lgoriginate5_original.jpg
 
I really do not have the time, patience or knowledge to sustain a tank like that... lol
 
I have a fake rock and a couple of fake plants. My tank is a 10g half moon and the distortion make it seem as it fills the tank, but there is still loads of swimming room.
 
I started with the fake decor before too..greek ruins and plastic plants. But when I started reading more about live plants, the more I got into it, and now that I am really into live decors, I personally do not want to go back to fake decors. I got rocks, DW and live plants now too. Same as fort, if only I could achieve something at least 10% or so like those pics, I am happy. And yes, it became planted with fish, not fish with plants.
 
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