play dough in fish tank?

As others have said, clay/playdough is a no go. Plastic toys I wouldn't recommend either, some plastics aren't safe and other toys may have sharp bits or have holes where fish could get stuck. Also, it'll all look pretty nasty when it's got a coating of algae! It's easier to find decor from aquatic stores which is aquarium-safe - although still avoid ones with small holes!

The woman at petco wasn't quite right, it's not pH levels you need to wait for, pH is the least of your worries right now. Read up on the nitrogen cycle, fishkeeping is a bit of a science and Neons are particularly fragile. If you skip the cycle, as soon as they're added they'll keel over from new tank syndrome.

In the grand scheme of things, a 20g isn't the biggest tank in the world! It may seem big for a first tank, and it is a good size for a starter set up. Sit it next to a 55g, or a 75g, or a 100g, it starts to look decidedly cramped, beware of MTS, also known as multiple tank syndrome! It takes over us all.

Great tank for neons. 20 gallons is absolutely perfect for a shoal. Black gravel I suggest. Unfortunately, the salts in play-doh will leach out and harm the fish. Clay would soften and become slip, and dissolve into the water. Colored non-dry clay has chemicals in it and the dye can hurt the fish. What you could have them do is draw and color a backdrop to put outside on the back of the tank, or make some clay decorations of their fish to put in front of the tank with the fishs' names carved into them or something. There's plenty of creative things they could do as well, such as theme the tank to a specific area, like the Amazon or other South American theme, where your tetras come from using decorations from the pet shop that are fish-safe.

unlike the clay you see in the fish stores play dough contains some chemicals that will harm your fish

if you plan to buy neon tetras you will be fine if you add water purifier to the water just before you put the fish in (many brands on sale at local fish stores)

simply follow directions on the bottle (aproxamitly 1 cap full per 5 gallon of water is the normal)

float the fish in the baggies they came in your aquarium for at least 1/2 hour add a little water from your tank and allow to float for another 15-20 minutes ( this makes sure that the temperature in the baggie and the tank are the same and that your fish do not go into shock

as for decorations you can find many thiongs that will be good in your tank such as rocks from the local river simply boil for 10 minutes them before you place them in your tank

this will also work for a kids project as they can help find the rocks and decide how to place them in the tank

irecomend that you try to find all types and sizes to build hiding places for your fish and caves for them to swim through

You might want to try a heat gun and food grade plastic. You won't use the play-dough in the tank, but you could form it into the shape you want the food grade plastic to take. Look on youtube for vacuum forming ideas.

Play-dough is non-toxic to mammals - but the coloring and the salts - bad news for fish.

Now, don't give up. You can make items for you tank that are not as difficult as vacuum forming.

One, got to your local ceramics shop. Look at the ggreen-ware they have. They will instruct you on how to clean it and get it fired. Then you can put food safe glazes on it and fire it one last time.

You'll save nothing doing it this way, but you will have unique pieces.

Cycle your tank properly before introducting the fish. http://www.firsttankguide.net/

ABSOLUTELY NOT. Have you ever tasted playdough? Its a salt base. Killing any fish instantly. It also has a flour base. It will coat the fish's gills and they won't be able to get any oxygen should they live through the salt.

Clay would be okay if it was a ceramic clay, glazed and fired. Any other clay is either a plastic chemical base or would make the water cloudy.

Tetra's are freshwater tropical fish.

There housed in a school of 6

You cant put clay in the tank cause all that salt. you cant mix salt with a freshwater tank and also you will be puting toxics in your tank.

Just get cheap decor such as " rocks ( 1.97$ for a small bag ) " and you can go to petsmart petco and they have cheap plants for 99cents or a couple dollars.

study books to them and function them draw or shade an interest to do with the tale. do all of the reducing or regardless of earlier hand to have each little thing they have a no longer uncomplicated time with so u can pass from tale to interest. have run around time and quiet time besides as learn time. draw a circle or triangle for the youngsters and notice in the event that they are in a position to try this. discuss with the youngster's librarian in college or on the library and notice in the event that they have ideas for u to do with them. have exciting with them. coach the youngsters to look after the fish. pre degree the foodstuff and function a diverse baby feed the fish daily. save a catalogue so u do no longer pass every person. get some exciting info concerning to the fish to share. save it straight forward like this could be a gold fish it lives approximately _ years. the colors that's presented in are ... then study a narrative approximately gold fish to tie it in and function a shade web site for them to do yet another day u can intro yet another style of fish. or communicate concerning to the mermaid floating in there. or the treasure chest or flora. save it straight forward. stable luck

you can try moon sand in a small small bucket and keep it in there for a day to see what ever happens. if not i would recammend your kids to just pick out an object in petco to put in the fish tank. also get some plants. don't over crowd you tank. every in of a fish counts as a gallon. get all kinds of tetras like glo light tetras and long fin danios. good luck!!