• An underwater castle is one aquascape idea.aquarium image by FotoWorx from Fotolia.com
  
  Designing your aquascape environment is one of the great joys of having a fish tank in your home. You can change the setting as the seasons pass to reflect the decor of your home or you can make it a fun conversational piece with miniature models. A wide variety of options are open to you within the traditional nautical themes of shipwrecks and pirates to the modern use of rocks and glass.
  
  

Choose Appropriately Sized Objects

• Aquascapes create a pleasant home for fishtropical fish, coral red blue underwater reef image by alma_sacra from Fotolia.com
  
  Add appropriately sized objects that not only fit into your aquarium but still allow your fish plenty of room to swim. Some species of fish will enjoy having areas in which to hide, but most will need room to actually swim and grow. Your objects should take up no more than 1/3 of the available space inside your aquarium.
  
  

Use Safe Materials

• You can use ocean rocks in your aquarium, but you must clean them first.rocks on the beach image by Vladislav Gajic from Fotolia.com
  
  Many first-time aquarium owners bring back shells and other rocks from vacations without properly cleaning them. Items taken from natural bodies of water such as lakes and oceans have bacteria and live organisms on them that will infect your fish and grow in a home aquarium. Using these items is a great idea to add realism to your aquascape, but you must dry and clean these carefully. First dry them in sunlight, then brush or scrub them with water. After you have cleaned them, soak them in a bucket of water to leach out the remaining contaminants.
  
  

Stick With Store-Bought Decor

• Store-bought decor is safest for fish.meeka image by Henryk Olszewski from Fotolia.com
  
  The safest option for adding decor to your fish tank is to buy items manufactured for aquariums. These plastic molded items may sometimes look cheesy, but they are made especially for your tank. They will not leach toxins into the water and disrupt the balance of the water and endanger your fish. With a little hunting, you will find what you are looking for from sunken submarines that emit bubbles to castle turrets your fish can swim through.
  
  

Put Faux Plants in Your Tank

• It is true that live plants are a great way to add a new level of realism to your aquascape, but they are difficult to maintain. Therefore, it is always recommended that you begin with artificial plants, which are easier to clean and move around without harming the overall environment for your fish.