Question: Axolotl Tank Decoration: Where do you get yours?

[Erzs]

Hey!

I like looking around for interesting items to put in my axolotl tanks. As I'm sure most of you do too!

So I'm wondering if there are any websites you use often and can recommend? Or pet shops! Or, if you'd just like to post up a picture of your most recent purchase because you think it's pretty cool and might inspire another axolotl owner, feel free!

Sorry if this has been posted already I did a search and didn't come up with anything. =]

 

[Kaysie]

I got most of my silk plants from the dollar store. My caves are ceramic pots. The sand is from the home-improvement store. I use PVC pipes in most of my tanks too.

 

[Ken Worthington]

Hi Erzs :happy:
This is a fantastic thread by Johnny O Farnen about tank ornaments.....I haven't tried it myself (yet!) http://www.caudata.org/forum/f1173-.../63462-do-yourself-fake-wood-cheapskates.html

I've seen a few 'gargoyles' (they fascinate me!) for sale on Ebay that are made of resin and would look great in my newt tanks. They are designed as garden decor, rather than for aquaria though, so they're not something I'd risk using, as such.
I don't know enough about sealing them with a clear matt lacquer.....ie. I don't know if an aquarium-safe lacquer would react with the resin or not, etc
However, you can find latex moulds on Ebay.....so watch this space lol.

At the moment I'm making a hide for my C orientalis tank using a Roman roof-tile that was given to me by an archaeologist friend!
I hope the little fellas appreciate that their new hide is nearly 2000 years old!

Anyway, take care

 

[Erzs]

I can't believe you have some Roman roof-tile! I'd be so tempted to do an Assassin's Creed 2 style theme with something like that lol! Would like to see the finished product! The gargoyles are cool but I'd be the same, always worried about what's going in the tank!

That DIY Fake Wood is really impressive but I doubt it's something I could do! I'd like to turn some PVC pipes like Kaysie's into something like that though! That's if I could even get hold of the pipes, which a few months ago surprisingly seemed a little tough!

I still want to copy the person who put slate at the bottom of their tank, I thought that looked pretty good and not troublesome for the little ones!

Ebay is one of the places I mostly go to. Ed told me about making a sort of hammock for his axolotls which sounds awesome, I'm hoping he'll be back soon with photos!

 

[Jennewt]

Good find, Ken. Whenever I'm in Europe, I salivate at the sight of all the orange clay roof tiles, wishing I could bring some home for my aquariums. Alas, too heavy for the luggage!

Some of my favorite decor items come from home improvement stores: natural slate tiles, black PVC pipe, clay pots. If the DIY fake wood is too elaborate, you can instead use aquarium-safe caulk to stick a layer of gravel all around the PVC to give it a natural look.