Affordable Decor & Plastic Plants...

[ArtesiaWells]

Does anyone know where, online, we can pick up decor (rock caves, logs, etc.) plus plastic aquatic plants on the cheap side? We need to begin decorating our re-established 60 gallon, and we have the natural-looking gravel in there now...and need to begin putting plants and rocks and things; we want to go with as much of the "natural" approach as possible, so I would like to begin building up the back with lots of heavy plants...don't know the best way to do this though...

 

[ocean]

You might try looking first at a pet store. The Petco here have a clearance section and usually you can get a good deal on decor and sometime fake plants. I know Petsolutions and Dr. Foster and Smith did have free shipping if you spent over $49.

 

[Andrew McFadden]

I bought a bunch of fake plant at a hobby store. You can look on Craigslist aswell. Here in Ohio there is someone that makes all kinds of stuff and is always posting it on there.

 

[ArtesiaWells]

You might try looking first at a pet store. The Petco here have a clearance section and usually you can get a good deal on decor and sometime fake plants. I know Petsolutions and Dr. Foster and Smith did have free shipping if you spent over $49.

Ocean,

Of course we looked first at a pet store; that's where we have always bought our stuff! It's just that we're in a little bit of a bind now with cash (I can't even afford to buy new media for the AquaClear filter yet!) and because they're so expensive (the plants and decor) at the local Petco and Petsmart here, we were hoping to find a place online maybe that sold them by bulk at wholesale prices...

 

[ArtesiaWells]

I bought a bunch of fake plant at a hobby store. You can look on Craigslist aswell. Here in Ohio there is someone that makes all kinds of stuff and is always posting it on there.

Thanks Andrew...

My wife was considering doing the DYI thing with the plants, buying them at Michael's or Hobby Lobby and then making the plastic anchors herself with empty soda bottles (somewhere online has the details) but then I read that plastic plants not designed for a fish tank shouldn't go anywhere near the water as they can give off toxins, so I am hesitant to proceed...I'd rather get plants specifically made for tanks, like from PenPlax and Tetra, but we need them like super cheap...

 

[Alyxx]

Try EBay! I found loads of plastic plants super super cheap there.
All of the plastic plants in the attached pic came from eBay and I got all of those for under $20.



View attachment 102834

 

[siva]

Allpet.com

 

[ArtesiaWells]

Thanks You Guys...

I checked out allpets.com; I'll check it out again -- the reason I don't really wanna go with anything off ebay is incase the plants or decor were already used in a tank that may have been just as infected as mine...always a chance you take, even if you can boil them to remove the infection...

We actually went out and got some tall plants for one of the corners of the tank to begin "building up" the background -- two tall green of the same kind and a green/red that looks stunning kind of poking between them by the intake pipe of one of the HOB's -- but I really don't know how else we're going to decorate this tank from this point...I wanted to do a lot of plants in back, like you see in show tanks (but plastic) and add log and wood "cave" decorations in front of them so it's a natural aquascape, but my wife wants to do the "chintzy" decor like the Asian temples and bridges and such because we're going to attempt fancy goldfish again. Trying to make these two themes work is going to be a challenge, but the biggest challenge is going to be how to arrange these decorations and plants so the tank looks "filled in" and "lush" yet with plenty of room for the fish to swim...

 

[Alyxx]

I didn't buy used plants on eBay, I got brand new ones from wholesalers. eBay isn't just for used stuff anymore!

 

[ArtesiaWells]

I will check out ebay, indeed -- I suppose what I meant was, I didn't want to take the chance of a piece of decor being already used in a (potentially) diseased tank...

 

[Alyxx]

Me either, which Is why I went with only new items. I just looked for the most reputable of the Chinese wholesalers, selling reputable brands. I picked up two lots of 10 items for about $9 with free shipping.

 

[ArtesiaWells]

Me either, which Is why I went with only new items. I just looked for the most reputable of the Chinese wholesalers, selling reputable brands. I picked up two lots of 10 items for about $9 with free shipping.

Wow...that is cheap...

 

[Alyxx]

$9 each, that is. Plus a couple individual extras of ones I liked. In all I didn't spend more than $25 for the whole haul, and it averaged out to maybe a dollar a plant, with lots of different sizes. As you can see from the picture it packs a 20 gallon. Not a bad deal.

 

[ArtesiaWells]

I'll check on there again and report back -- thanks!