# Cheaper Alternatives?



## emeraldsky (Oct 4, 2011)

I'm hoping to start a lovely sorority in my 50g tank and while I have enough to get the stuff I have to have, like heater and all that, I may be coming up a bit short on decorations/plants.

So I'm hoping there may be some cheaper alternatives, like I've seen people use coffee mugs and Terracotta pots, instead though pet store caves and stuff and I like the look of those, I've even heard of PVC pipe? Are there any other things I could use? 

Also, how would one determine something is fish safe? I have a figurine I'd love to put in my tank but it wasn't originally made for fish so I dont know if it could be harmful.




I'd also heard live plant were amazing for tanks, though I've never had one before. Would this be a good thing to look into and what type of plant would be good for a plant newb?


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## HatsuneMiku (Jul 29, 2011)

emeraldsky said:


> So I'm hoping there may be some cheaper alternatives, like I've seen people use coffee mugs and Terracotta pots, instead though pet store caves and stuff and I like the look of those, I've even heard of PVC pipe? Are there any other things I could use?
> 
> I've heard people use many things such as built legos .. hamster cage corners (those knob things that connect hamster tunnels).. i've used glass tea-light holders (that i turned upside down and it has 2 holes in it) .. some people use small glass vases turned sideways .. or built their own caves with rocks and aquarium silicon glue
> 
> ...


^_^ good luck


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## emeraldsky (Oct 4, 2011)

Thank you so much for all the information, I really appreciate it! 


Wow, I had no idea you could use all that stuff, I look forward to getting creative since I have a lot of room to cover X)

I definitely will be staying away from metals, I was contemplating a metal like shelf to put plants on since everything I have is short and its covered in some sort of plastic so there isnt any exposed metal or sharp edges. Decided against it though, better safe than sorry.

I was looking at the moss balls, they seem perfect to start with 
Especially since they move I guess?

I wanted to replant my bamboo in my tank since it's getting too tall for its pot but I dont think it's leaves are high enough. Oh well, guess I'll let it grow out some more


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## HatsuneMiku (Jul 29, 2011)

it's defiantly a lot of fun when you DIY your aq toys and decos ^_^ .. i can't wait to see pictures of your creations !!

my moss balls never move =( .. it might be because i don't have any water current in my tanks at all .. but they are known to float sometimes .. maybe they do when i'm not looking @[email protected]


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## emeraldsky (Oct 4, 2011)

I know, I cant wait to get it going, I hope to get everything set up today or tomorrow then get everything prepped and cycled before I got fish shopping.

Though I'm going to Petco today and it'll be my first time looking at girls so I hope none catch my eye before I get my tank set up  I'll have to get her a temporary tank then LOL



ooooo sneaky moss ball! XD
I'm still unsure if I want one or if I'll break down and get a anubia since I think those are super pretty. I'll have to set my tank up first and see how it goes


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## HatsuneMiku (Jul 29, 2011)

sounds like a good plan !! =D 

good luck at petco!! *crosses fingers for you*


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## MaggieLynn (Jun 24, 2011)

I didnt know how I would like the whole coffee cup thing but I actually think it looks kinda cool

Walmart has rainbow caves in different shapes for $2 I have 5, 4 in my sorority tank and one in two different males tanks, (one of the sorority caves isnt a rainbow walmart one) my girls love them and each one kinda takes over one as if it was their "house"

live plants can be pricey =/ it was 30 just to fill a 5 gallon for me.


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## MaggieLynn (Jun 24, 2011)

Here are my tanks with the coffee cup just so you can see if you like it or not.


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## emeraldsky (Oct 4, 2011)

@HatsuneMiku

thank you!
Im hoping to find a nice sale on plants or something thatll help with the costs X)


@MaggieLynn

that is expensive for plants, I was hoping to get fake plants and some real ones and hopefully take out the fake ones as the real ones grew some more. There's no way I can feasibly fill a 50 gallon tank of live plants right off the bat x.x

I actually really like to coffee cups, I collect tea cups myself so I might be adding those to my tank. Some of the cups are deep and I love the patterns on all of them so I think it'll look really nice c:



I love your tanks!
I hope I can find some natural looking or black substrate, I have some black gravel from my last tank but its mixed with rainbow rocks that I dont want now. Hope I dont have to go through and pick them all out LOL


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## Thunderloon (Feb 6, 2011)

When looking for neat stuff to put in aquariums keep the newborn and baby hand toys in mind for ornamentation.

I managed to snag a couple http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?field-keywords=oball&url=search-alias%3Daps&x=0&y=0 at Walmart, they sink well and I have them in some boys' tanks as a place for them to sit in the flow. Goat has passed now but his way of telling my wife to play with him was to charge around the tank a couple times then sit in the middle of his while staring at her. (infant oball)

And this would be fun to poke into the bottom and spread the rings standing around the bottom of the tank: http://www.amazon.com/garanimals-te...1Y/ref=sr_1_31?ie=UTF8&qid=1317866935&sr=8-31 I'm very tempted to get one when I set up my next sorority, just to see if girls have color preferences. I know they can see color as I constantly have fights or friendships between girls of the same color.


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## emeraldsky (Oct 4, 2011)

Oh those balls are super neat :O
I would love to have a few of those in my tank, I'll be sure to get some!


I never thought about getting different colored things such as those, I was hoping to go for a subtle toned tank so the girls can be shown off more, but it seems that colors might be better for them c:


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## HatsuneMiku (Jul 29, 2011)

ooo those balls are cool !! ..

side note .. just make sure that the holes of the caves or whatever you put in there is at least a quarter size big .. so no one gets fin snagged or stuck =D


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## MaggieLynn (Jun 24, 2011)

I wanted to get moss balls but they were expensive at my petco, I wanna say 14-17 bucks, im not sure which. Also i ended up getting ride of my live plants because this gross algae grew and so i took them out cleaned the whole tank with vinegar and aq salt and the algae is still there clouding the water =/ I would have to say in my tanks i love the all green plants with the blue cream pitcher thing. I know petsmart is where I go for plants because walmart has a scarce selection and petco is alil steep, but petco atleast mine is getting a huge selection of silk plants.
since you are starting a sorority I would say buy a cave for each female or something I have my girls in a 10 gallon and have 4 caves and a tone of plants I almost thought there was too much.


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## emeraldsky (Oct 4, 2011)

@HatsuneMiku

Most definitely!
I'm being super paranoid about this since it's my first sorority, I dont want any major mistakes D:


@MaggieLynn
I didnt see the prices of the moss balls at my petsmart when I went today, but there was one that was bigger than my fist! :O I didnt know they could get that big!
Im still iffy about getting real plants, the guy at petsmart said I shouldnt mix real and fake plants together since the bettas will chew on the fake plants and get sick. Ive never heard of that happening but I'm still pretty newbish in this.

Course he also said I could put a male in with my sorority and I know you cant do that >.>


And I do plan on getting each girl a special cave, Im actually getting a different tank too! Im getting a 40g long tank since my 50g is a taller type so Ill have more swimming area for my girls 8D


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## HatsuneMiku (Jul 29, 2011)

emeraldsky said:


> Im still iffy about getting real plants, the guy at petsmart said I shouldnt mix real and fake plants together since the bettas will chew on the fake plants and get sick. Ive never heard of that happening but I'm still pretty newbish in this.


i've never heard of a story of a betta chewing on a fake plant and getting sick .. @[email protected] .. my bettas don't eat the plants in their tanks or even see them as food .. even when i fast them .. they don't eat the plants .. 

tho one of them did take a bite out of the betta bulb plant (i duno what the official name is on those) on accident .. cus i was feeding him and one of his pellets got to close to an leaf .. and he nom the pellet and the leaf .. and there was a nice bite mark on the plant .. lol .. nothing happened to him .. he didn't even notice he had ate the plant .. he didn't spit it out or anything .. just nom nom.. i'm sure he just got a mouthful of fibers and he's like bleah yuck LOL .. now i don't feed him at that corner where the plants are .. =D


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## quyllur (Aug 17, 2011)

I don't really see how mixing live and fake plants would cause a carnivorous fish to attempt to eat plastic.... I think you're petsmart employee is just spreading misinformation. Lots of people have bettas with plastic plants without mishap, mixing in a few live ones shouldn't pose any problems.


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## emeraldsky (Oct 4, 2011)

@HatsuneMiku

Thats pretty much what I was thinking, Ive been lurking this forum nonstop for the past week trying to get as much info as I can before starting and I assumed I would have seen SOMETHING about it beforehand.

lol XD
Ill have to be careful about where in the tank I feed them c:


@quyllur
Yes thats what I was thinking ^^


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## dbockrath (Jul 29, 2011)

I have a enormous pothos in my living room window. I've read I can use cuttings from it in my aquarium. I'm not sure how to do that, though.


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## Luimeril (Dec 29, 2010)

i'm pretty cheap when it comes to anything. all my plants are second-hand, and when it comes to caves, not many of my bettas like them. for the two that did, one was a fish bowl, turned on it's side. the other, is one of these:








the thing with the blue rocks in it. it's a Renuzit Crystal Elements thing. it held scented rocks. i sterilized it, washed it at least five times with scalding water, then a few more times with aq salt and scalding water. Ichi LOVES it, and is forever swimming around in it.


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## MistersMom (Aug 9, 2011)

something i did thats super cheep was, i got a plastic cup and cut a hole in the bottom and on oppisite sides, i also am using a mug, but with the cup make surt that there are NO sharp edges because they can cut up your fins on your little cuties!!!!!!!! and i ike so scoop a tad of gravel into the mug to make it lookmore in place, like, set it in then scoop a tiny bit in there, i have gravel...  for my 10 gal) i like the way the mugs look. i also went to walmart and got little cubbys, like the shark and funky fish, for my other bettas to use for when the want to hid in something. my mister sleeps in his lastic cup everynight, i put the rim down and stuck some fake grass in it, so when he's in there he has a place to hide, any way now that im done with my novel. lol. good luck.


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## emeraldsky (Oct 4, 2011)

@dbockrath
Im sorry, I dont know how to do that either D:


@Luimeril
I have a feeling I'm going to be like that too X3
I'm raiding my house later today, and possibly a second hand shop thats downtown to find betta appropriate stuff so I can get started on sterilizing it and all that ^^


@MistersMom
Im also planning on having gravel, I have some from the first time my tank was set up and I just cant afford sand D:
Im definitely going to out cups in my tank, specifically tea cups  I hope I can find some cheap grass for cheap, I love how that looks in tanks :O


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## MistersMom (Aug 9, 2011)

look at my tanks i my album, i dont have any recent ones fo youi to see of my mug and plastic cup, but you can still see it.


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## Luimeril (Dec 29, 2010)

check second hand shops for mugs, bowls, i even used a candle holder for a cave once.... i can't find pictures of it right now, but i'm sure i have one somewhere. if you have a facebook, check out these two. they're my Renuzit cave and my bowl cave:
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1602677713358&set=a.1498800956504.2065711.1428554713&type=3
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1642004056492&set=a.1498800956504.2065711.1428554713&type=3


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## emeraldsky (Oct 4, 2011)

@MistersMom

I'm sorry, I'm not sure how to check albums, I just joined the forum 2 days ago and I'm still blindly making my way through it X)


@Luimeril
I have a bowl just like the one in the second picture! :O
Used to keep a betta in there before I knew better ^^;


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## Luimeril (Dec 29, 2010)

i got the bowl with Lulu, my huge PK gal. she wasn't tiny, but mom wanted me to hurry up, so i just grabbed a bowl and bought her with it. i used to keep my Java moss and one tiny RCS in it for a while, then thought Zidane would like it. and, he did. he'd build huge bubble nests in it.


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## emeraldsky (Oct 4, 2011)

@Luimeril
I had a male in there for awhile, but he wasnt very healthy, I ended up ungrading him to a bigger tank but it was still too small from what they are supposed to have ;A;

I'll have to bring it out for this tank though, it'll be nice getting some use out of it again and actually be able to use the bowl properly LOL


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## dbockrath (Jul 29, 2011)

I got some anachris at Petsmart last week, I think 2 bunches for about $6.00. The clerk suggested planting some and letting a few branches just float on top. I checked Buddy last night, and he was sleeping in the floating anachris. He looked so cute.


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## Myates (Aug 2, 2011)

I found see -through colored plastic 8oz cups at my local grocery store one day and picked up a couple of those. One of my boys absolutely loves them. He sleeps in them and constantly swimming up against them.
A cheap place for plants is discount pet supply, the plastic plants start around a $1, silk are very cheap too.


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## emeraldsky (Oct 4, 2011)

@dbockrath
That sounds adorable!
I hope I can get my tank set up with some as well c:


@Myates
Thank you for the link, I'll be sure to check those out!
I think I'll be going with the terracotta pots, I love the way those look!


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## quyllur (Aug 17, 2011)

I just recently set up a 20 gallon long.

I wanted to do sand so I read up and saw lots of people using play or pool filter sand for there tanks. I liked the look of the pool filter sand so I picked up a BIG bag for about $15. I did about 1.5-2 inches of sand and still have over half the bag. I personally like the look of it better than gravel and I'm going to be adding cories to my tank so it was more appropriate. (Also cheaper than acquiring enough aquarium gravel). You just need to rinse it for a bit in a bucket to get out the dust and you may have to do a water change or two once it's in the tank to get rid of any leftover cloudiness.

For plants, I was going to go mainly silk plants with a few real plants scattered. I'm doing a sorority as well so I would need a lot of plants. I discovered that compared to actually buying all of those silk plants, getting the live, low-light, low maintenance plants is actually cheaper. Plus if I want to set up more or bigger tanks in the future I can use clippings from what I've already got to get it going. For plants I got some corkscrew vallisneria, java fern, moneywort, wisteria and water sprite, and then when I picked up my girls from the breeder he gave me a clump of this floating water lettuce like plant which is doing rather well. Also, I absolutely love the look of all the different leaf shapes and whatnot and my tank looks much nicer and more natural than it would have with fake plants.

Anyway, just my two cents. Good luck with your tank, I aspire to a 50 gallon one day but I'll stick with my 20 Long for now.


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## emeraldsky (Oct 4, 2011)

@quyllur

That's an AWESOME idea :O
I was hoping to do sand as well but it was a bit out of my budget but I should be able to do pool filter sand. I'll have to look into that, thank you so much for the idea!

I'm a bit paranoid with live plants but I think I'm going to have to break down and get them. Theyll look nicer plus them growing will help too c:
I'm looking into wisteria I think, and maybe a few others, I want to keep it as simple as possible X)



I'm actually selling the 50g and picking up a 40g long. Itll look nicer and the 50g was a tall one so I couldnt see everything as well. I'm hoping the length will be better for the girls ^^


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## quyllur (Aug 17, 2011)

[No message]


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## quyllur (Aug 17, 2011)

Am I the only one who can't see my post? The words disappeared!

Just in case, I was trying to say that I really recommend Water Sprite. I've had it my tank for about 4 days and it's already grown at least 2 inches!


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## emeraldsky (Oct 4, 2011)

@quyllur
I cant see them either :O


I'll definitely consider it, thank you ^^
I'm hoping to find the most hardy plant I can though, since I dont really have a green thumb XD


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## GreenTea (Jan 31, 2011)

Walmart treats their fish (and employees) really badly...please do not support them!

I went to Joannes fabric and crafting store and got an amazing vase, 3 little pots (like terra cotta but with a pretty blue glaze and round in shape) for 6 dollars. The plants I use, I use because I haven't been able to kill them! I use amazon swords, which come in a compact version or a tall version. They have wide leaves and provide great coverage. Good luck! You can also use silk flowers and such which you can get from crafting stores.


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## emeraldsky (Oct 4, 2011)

@GreenTea
Good news, our walmart doesnt carry bettas anymore!
I'm actually getting mine from either Petco, a smaller LPS, or a breeder. Most likely Petco though, the LPS only had one female (which I'll probably get, she's AMAZING looking) and they dont know when theyll get more and I'm very unfamiliar with breeders and getting fish online.
Its weird though, our Petsmart wont carry females anymore, only males ;A;


Thats good to know, i was thinking of getting a few amazon swords c: Still looking into exactly what I want plant wise X3 I'll definitely be getting some silk plants from a craft store though, cant wait to find some fancy ones!


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## Thunderloon (Feb 6, 2011)

quyllur said:


> Am I the only one who can't see my post? The words disappeared!



I've had NoScript eat my posts before as well, since I don't use signatures or tag-lines it just rejects it and says I had nothing to say... somewhat humorous.


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## Littlebittyfish (Jan 5, 2011)

I like to make coconut caves. My fish really like the coconut caves because they're nice and dark inside. I have also made caves out of glass olive jars and other little jars like baby food jars..I clean the jars well and cover them with aquarium sealant and attach gravel or sand to the outside...you can do the same with terra cotta pots or PVC. If you can find larger river rocks you can glue them together and make little tunnels and caves. Aquarium sealant is neat stuff to have around. :-D


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## emeraldsky (Oct 4, 2011)

@Littlebittyfish

Thank you ^^
I plan on using terracotta pots, I LOVE the way they look in tanks. Just got to figure out how to break out the bottom without shattering the whole dang thing


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