decorations pros and cons

[wezel815]

ok im new to the community and ive been searching around for articles like mine and am pleased and overwhelmed by all my new knowledge. anyways...
while removing all my tanks decorations today for its cleaning i noticed how many fish i really had.... not good their overcrowded. but why?
i like to see my fish so id buy some and they'd eventually hide only to be seen when they wanted to. id buy more. vicious circle
so after cleaning my tank i left all the decorations out. fish swam in circles looked happy. ill see how it goes tomorrow when i wake up!!

my question/concern is what are the pros and cons of actually having decorations. are they needed? life or death? or just for us humans to be amused mostly. from absolutely no decorations to almost to many. wheres the safe zone for the fishes sake

[Gemini]

Hi! Welcome to the Forum! :19:
I'm not an expert by any means but from what I have been reading decorations are more than just for human visual pleasure. They provide hiding spots etc. for your fish. Read through this article:
http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/aquariumdecoration/aquariumdecoration.php
I'm sure there will be a lot more knowledgeable people coming to help you out!

[angelcakes]

hello and welcome:19:
decorations are an important factor in a fish tank due to some breeds of fish like to hide eg catfish loaches, and some are nocturnal and like the dark,natural looking decoration is good such as sinking wood,caves,and also bushy plants,they can also make a tank look very decorative,