Betta Aquarium Makeover

I had been wanting to do a desert themed aquarium for some time now but I could never find anything at my local pet-stores of any true interest... until this past weekend at Petco. So, I decided to give Mr. Moto (my blue veil-tail betta) a Cubus aquarium makeover.

Petco now has some gravel-sand type substrate sold in-store (not just online) and it comes in really nice colors like the sienna shade that I bought. I also LOVE succulent plants so I just had to get Petco's light green desert bush, the product says it's not made for water use but... I never listen do I, hahah. For the background I cut out some skyblue colored foamboard which I already had on hand, I believe I got it from Michael's craft store. I think I might add some 1-2cm sized light colored pebbles around the base of the plant later-on, just to add a bit more interest to my design here.

If you've noticed how sparkling clean my Cubus aquarium is looking again I will also be doing another post soon which will be based on... how to remove calcium buildup.

Cat Cubus

Sometimes you can find inspiration in the oddest of items and today I found myself feeling inspired by a Japanese soap pump. I thought "how cute if this was a fish tank" (as it's really hard to find a kawaii looking aquarium on the net). So, I decided to re-create Mr. Moto's Marina Cubus into something kawaii/cute.

kawaii soap pump

What you'll need to achieve my design below is ...

Mr. Moto and Marimo

Paper (I printed out the online image I used)
Scissors
Clear Tape
Glue
Fun-Foam Board (I used white and pink)
Double-Sided Velcro Tape
Marina Cubus tank or similar (if you don't already have one)

The Background
I found the face image online and edited it to fit my aquarium however, you could always design your own or take a sheet of paper and draw your own by hand. Cut out the image to fit the backside of your aquarium, place it on the outside of the tank and adhere it with some clear tape. If you can't laminate your paper background then be careful not to get it wet.

The Foreground
I thought it'd be cute to create and cut out animal ears with some white fun-foam board that matched my background. I then cut out two pink triangles and glued them inside the ear cutout. I then adhered the ears to the tank using some double-sided velcro tape at the top of the tank and the bottom backside of my ear cutouts.

I love how the Cubus light looks like it's the cats tail. I think this came out looking really cute and I hope you enjoy it to! BTW, aquarium filter and gravel is optional but I personally prefer it.