I need clever fish tank toys

February 20, 2006 3:40 PM

Help me find really cool or clever fish tank accessories.

I'm having difficulty googling for this. I want to find some really unique or humorous (or otherwise cool) accessories to go in a fish tank. Not interested in the typical sunken ship or treasure chest.

For example, I wish I could find like Jimmy Hoffa (or any other person) with a brick tied to his ankle to set in the bottom of the tank.

posted by BradNelson to Pets & Animals (13 answers total)

i vote you get a whole bunch of plastic sushi...

barring that, archie mcphee should be able to help.
posted by judith at 4:51 PM on February 20, 2006

That fish place

are my guys for all aquariam stuff. If they don't sell it, it probably isn't actually made to be put into fish tanks.
posted by Megafly at 5:48 PM on February 20, 2006

What about a sushi dish and some chopsticks? I really wanted to do that for my fish tank, but my fiance thought it was mean.
posted by tastybrains at 6:04 PM on February 20, 2006

We got this book for Christmas that has really great ideas and tells you exactly how to set everything up. My favorite is the one that involves silver marbles and wire kitchen whisks.
posted by chiababe at 7:02 PM on February 20, 2006

That's a really good question. Fish tanks seems to be surprisingly un-inventive, given that they are essentially underwater shadowboxes.

What I would like to do is have a city scene--a "road" in the rocks at the bottom, a (fish-friendly) automobile on the rood, and a backdrop of a city scene at night. No joy on the internets when I was looking for items for this. I am a fishtank newbie, though. (And also just a baby poster here on MeFi. Long time lurker, tonight's my second posted reply.)
posted by thebrokedown at 8:06 PM on February 20, 2006

Please note that things that are not specifically intended for aquariums may be coated in chemicals that will kill your fish. Since this stuff would be in the tank continually, the chemicals leech out continually.
posted by MrZero at 8:16 PM on February 20, 2006

Please note that things that are not specifically intended for aquariums may be coated in chemicals that will kill your fish. Since this stuff would be in the tank continually, the chemicals leech out continually.

This is true.

That being said, I've always thought about an "industrial theme." Meaning, instead of sand, rocks and tree branches, you use nuts, bolts and metal pipes.
posted by frogan at 8:56 PM on February 20, 2006

Notwithstanding the "chemicals killing your fish" part of things, hobby shops selling accessories for model trains and dollhouses have THE BEST range of things-that-look-good-in-fishtanks. We once had a siamese fighter in a small tank that was decked out in mini-louis XIV furniture.
posted by bunglin jones at 2:57 AM on February 21, 2006

Coolest thing I ever saw in a tank was a sort-of T-Rex monster. The trick was, he would only occasionally open his mouth and release 1 or 2 little bubbles. It was a tank in the barber shop I went to as a child.
posted by Goofyy at 6:42 AM on February 21, 2006

I feel your pain - there are so many things I want to do with fish tanks, but there is so much JUNK out there. Cheesy, cheesy day-glo accessories.

You could try ceramic things? Like this ceramic car planter, for example. I don't know if the paint is safe, but plain terracotta would work too, if you could find something you need in that.

You could always sculpt your aquarium floor yourself - a project I want to try but don't have the time or money myself yet. I've been digging for some links I've seen before, but I can't find them right now. Many people will sculpt the background and floor out of some kind of plaster/epoxy thing and then paint it to approximate a natural background - you might be able to do the same sort of thing and fashion a road for your car to be on.

Background is, of course, not too hard. Find a picture you like, have it blown up to the size of your fish tank, and tape it behind it.

I wish you luck, that tank idea sounds amazing!
posted by agregoli at 7:28 AM on February 21, 2006

Oh, and one key word to look for when Googling is "aquascaping."
posted by agregoli at 7:30 AM on February 21, 2006

Here is an example of someone making "rock" out of clay.
posted by agregoli at 7:39 AM on February 21, 2006

Not quite what you are looking for, but I might get these for myself.

I'll stop now!
posted by agregoli at 7:50 AM on February 21, 2006