hot glue gun
hot glue sticks
drill
masonary drill bit, 1/4"
scissors
toothbrush
scrub sponge
MONEY SAVERS:
ever see the prices of some of those decorations at the pet store? They are outrageous! Here are some things to think about doing to add alot of decor to your tank for minimal cost. It does help to have the items listed to the left...
ROCKS: I like to go outside and look around my pond and in the garden for pretty stones and rocks. You could just talk a walk down the road and keep your eyes open. Trust me you will find quit a bit more than you think, and you are getting excercise or a nice walk with the kids on top of it. Make sure that you let them soak in the bleach solution I mentioned earlier for about 15 minutes or so. Then scrub them good with the scrub sponge and a toothbrush if necessary. Rinse very well, and right there you just saved money. Maybe not much but if you get real lucky you'll find some slate! It is a very flat type of rock and you can build unique caves out of it.
PLANTS: Go to your local dollar store and look in the floral area, grab a few arrangements that have different foliage on them. I try to get ones that have more green than anything. While you are there, if you do not own a glue gun or glue sticks, get them there. I only paid $3.00 for my glue gun and the sticks are about $1.00 for 10 of them. Right there you have spent $5.00, the cost of one plant at the pet store. I cut the stem at the lowest point and arrange them to make diffent size plants. I then hot glue them together. MAKE SURE you glue over any exposed metal, you don't want your plants to rust in the tank. also make sure that you rinse these very well.
ROCKS & PLANTS: Now some of the rocks that you have can be used with your plants to hold them in the gravel. Bigger fish tend to dig them up while searching for food. If you don't have a drill or bit, use clear rubberbands or colored, (just cover the color with substrate). You can't see them in the water and not everyone has a drill handy. You may want to ask your dad, hubby, or brother. If you live close to me you can use mine!! I got lucky when I looked for rocks, I came across alot of flat rocks that I simply broke into smaller pieces. I then drilled 1/4" holes in them, rinsed off the dust and let them dry. I placed hot glue into the holes and set my plants in and... pesto! I just saved between $3-$8 per plant! never throw the scapes away, they make real nice floating plants or small ground cover for the floor of your tank, good for breeding. (See pictures below, for an example)
BACKGROUNDS: Though the backgrounds are not that expensive, it took my hubby over 2 months before he would get one. I couldn't stand looking at all those cords hanging down the back of his 29 gallon tank. There are alot of things you can use. I thought about using some left over contact paper, (NOT the sticky part on the glass), the front is plastic and would not be a problem if it got wet. If you have a floral shirt or even a solid colored one that can be cut to size, you could use that, or an old piece of paneling you may have left over from a project. I ended up using a hawaiin towel, it sure beat looking at those wires. Needless to say I made him get a background. One thing I eventually want to try is to make a collage out of the floral leaves glue the back sides together and then tape it to the back of my tank. I think that would give a tank alot of depth.
AIR PUMPS: My husband bought a $40.00 air pump for his 30 gallon tank. We were cleaning our tanks one day and I decided to hook up my $4.00 air pump for my ten gallon tank to his set up. I wanted to see the difference. Well, not much! In fact, I told him that it would have saved us $36.00, and that could have been used on fish or even another tank! So keep that in mind when you are shopping.
AIR STONES: If you don't feel like buying a fancy air stone for your bubbles just hot glue the end of tubing. then however long you want your bubbles just poke holes in that section. don't make the holes too big because too much air will escape and you wont get the full effect of the bubbles. I suggest to poke a few at a time and try it out to get the effects that you want. Use a needle or safety pin. Brad nails make bigger holes. weight the tubeing down with your substrate (gravel, sand) or rocks, caves, and the like.
For making plants that sink without glue. Here is a shell method. Just look... 
Here is a floating plant. 
All three.
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