make shift hides and decorations.

I reacently moved my em up to a ten gallon from a five galon tank and things are looking a lil bate inside. Anyone have any suggestions to spruce it up a bit? I have no moneu and when I do its going to have to go to more substrate.

You could put in some plants. (Live or plastic.) I prefer live Potho plants myself.

Thank you for the idea.will see if there is any around my house

No money makes it kinda difficult. You could accidentally break some cups or dishes to make new hides. But, if you need more substrate, that should be your primary goal. Decorations can wait untill later. That being said, thrift stores and $1 stores have cheaper fake plants than pet stores.

I never even thought bout doller store. That's a great idea.

I have also decided to go to the local river and get some drift wood for my tank.is there a proper way to go about sanatizing the prices of wood I get to insure that no bugs or parasites get into the tank throught the wood?

You could soak the drift wood in very hot water. You also could put it in the oven for 10-15 min. Another option is to put it in the microwave. Most people do combinations of these.

Sounds good. Thanks

Scorpion19981000 wrote:

You could soak the drift wood in very hot water. You also could put it in the oven for 10-15 min. Another option is to put it in the microwave. Most people do combinations of these.

Drift wood is awesome, especially some bark pieces you can find already curved perfectly for hides.
I scrubbed mine with a toothbrush under HOT water, followed by a couple of minutes in the microwave. Be careful, though not to "overcook" the wood - your microwave will smell like a smokehouse for weeks!

Heckboy wrote:

Be careful, though not to "overcook" the wood - your microwave will smell like a smokehouse for weeks!

+1.

I ended up boiling the wood. Stunk up the pan but not bad

shebeen wrote:

...thrift stores and $1 stores have cheaper fake plants than pet stores.

+1
I might add they also have a much nicer and wider variety, depending on the store.

jahines1 wrote:

I never even thought bout doller store. That's a great idea.

Another thing about dollar stores (and I only bring this up now because it's pertinent to my own situation) - you can go to the craft section and get cheap bags of river stones that are perfect for creating false bottom setups, and are a fifth to a tenth of the price for the same rocks in wal-mart/pet shops.