Christmas Gifts for Aquarium Owners
Fish Tank Supplies and Do-It-Yourself Decorations as Presents
Nov 11, 2008
There is a wide variety of inexpensive gifts for an aquarium enthusiast. These presents can be aquarium equipment, decorations, consumables, personal fish-related items and do-it-yourself gifts.
Aquarium Equipment as Christmas Gifts
Activated charcoal in filters loses its purification and needs to be replaced. Some filters, like under gravel filters, have replacement charcoal cartridges and other filters use charcoal chips placed in cheesecloth.
An air pump will start to get noisy as it gets old and it is inexpensive to replace. An excellent gift is a battery operated pump that can be used to keep air in the aquarium during a power failure.
Aquarium Decorations as Christmas Gifts
Aquarium background scenery paper or plastic sheets are available at pet stores. They can be taped to the outside of the rear glass pane. Scenery paper can be textured or printed with a picture. Three-dimensional plastic scenery sheets are available. The most popular one is a rock wall.
Pet shops offer an array of in-tank decorations such as sunken chests, scuba divers, ship wrecks, sunken cities, castles, archways, hollow logs, and plastic fish on a string. Some decorations have moving parts that are powered by an air hose and aquarium pump.
For ceramic and plastic decorations, buy them from a pet store because they have been tested for fish safety.
There are decorative items that can be added to the substrate. A bag of polished rocks or a bag of glass marbles makes a dramatic change to the bottom of an aquarium.
There is a company that makes small strings of waterproof Christmas lights that can be hung inside the aquarium. Regular indoor Christmas lights could be used outside of the tank providing they are not near water.
Aquarium Consumables as Christmas Gifts
Fish food is an excellent choice for a gift. There are non-perishable food varieties such as flakes, pellets or freeze-dried.
There are many types of fish medication that should be on hand in case of an emergency. Choose a broad spectrum medication because they treat a variety of diseases.
Personal Fish-Related Items as Christmas Gifts
- Fridge magnets come in wide variety of freshwater and saltwater species
- Jigsaw puzzles of aquarium scenes or pictures of fish
- Posters or artwork related to fish and aquariums
- Mobiles that are decorated with fish shapes
- Computer-generated fish tanks and computer games
- Books on general aquarium care, treatment of diseases, equipment and breeding
- Pet store gift certificates.
Do-it-Yourself Aquarium Christmas Gifts
If giving fish food as a Christmas present, put it in a clean container and add a bow. The container can be decorative (like a vase) or functional (like a food storage container) so it can be reused once it’s empty.
Driftwood is very expensive to buy in a pet store but driftwood from a freshwater beach can be treated at home for use in an aquarium.
- Soak the driftwood in heavily salted water for two weeks in order to disinfect it.
- Remove the driftwood from the salted water and soak in fresh water for a minimum of two weeks. Change the water every three days. Soaking the wood longer is better because it helps the driftwood become waterlogged.
- The log is ready to use. If the log still floats in the aquarium, place a rock on it or weigh it down by attaching marbles or small rocks in a net bag.
- For an added touch, the owner can attach live plants to the log with elastic bands. In a few months, the plant will take root in the driftwood.
All of these gift suggestions are inexpensive and solve the dilemma of what to give an aquarium owner for Christmas.
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