Is your kid going through a dinosaur phase, or have you finally come to terms with the fact that dinosaurs aren’t just a “phase” for you? If so, making a dinosaur aquarium can be fun. Dinosaurs may be extinct, but they certainly live on in our imaginations.
When you think about putting dinosaurs in an aquarium, there are two main ways you can go with it. You can either go with a scene containing plastic dinosaur figures or a scene featuring dinosaur bones. I’ve found five dinosaur aquarium decor ideas that work well with either theme.
**Important**: Before you add anything to your aquarium read this first; How to make fish tank decorations safe at home. A lot of aquarists use Krylon Fusion Paint in their aquariums to seal or paint homemade decorations. Kyrlon Fusion comes in a few colours as well as clear. So go ahead & a greek Figurine, just seal it first.
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Top 5 Dinosaur Aquarium Decorations to Choose from
My list of dinosaur aquarium decorations includes plastic dinosaurs and plastic plants, a hatching baby dinosaur, and dinosaur skulls. I’ve also included some ideas on what to pair your dinosaurs with to make your theme even better.
Here are my top five dinosaur aquarium recommendations:
Dinosaur Theme Aquarium Decor Kit
This set is a cute one, especially for a kid’s tank. I like that there are three different sets from which to choose, based on your tank size:
- 8-15 gallons: Includes one giant resin dinosaur, two smaller plastic dinosaurs, and nine plastic plants. Dinosaurs are from 1.18 to 3.54 inches high, and plants are 3.75 to 10.24 inches tall.
- Jellyfish set: Includes three small plastic dinosaurs and eleven plastic plants (more colorful but no jellyfish). Dinosaurs are 0.9 to 2.95 inches tall, and plants are 2.76 to 7.48 inches tall.
- 12-20 gallons: Includes two enormous plastic dinosaurs, three small plastic dinosaurs, and eight plastic plants. Dinosaurs are 1.18 to 4.13 inches high, and plants are 2.95 to 10.24 inches tall.
I suggest either a white substrate or a neon substrate to make all the neon colors pop. Or some broken Terracotta aquarium decorations to make it look like these guys smashed them.
Baby Dinosaur Hatching
This hatching baby dinosaur is a resin ornament that doubles as an oxygen bubble aerator. Thus, his mouth opens and closes as the bubbles go through him.
When you first see this dinosaur hatchling, you probably think he’s cute and harmless. However, when he opens his mouth, you realize maybe you shouldn’t get too close after all.
If you want to place him in a rocky setting, a good match for the rock his egg is sitting upon is seiryu stone or mountain stone. Since his stone is covered with sea life, you might consider scattering his tank with plastic or dried starfish and shells. He would also look lovely in a planted tank.
This baby dinosaur is 6.1 x 3 x 2 inches, making him a cute centerpiece for a tank. However, unless you have foot-tall dinosaurs in the tank with him, he will probably look best on his own.
Triceratops Skull
A tank with a Triceratops skull has a different feel than a tank with dinosaur miniatures.
Your fish will enjoy the places this Triceratops skull gives them to hide and play. In addition, it’s enjoyable to watch them swim in and out of the nose and eye holes.
You can imagine this skull peeking out of sands and rocks in an archeology site. Using a sand substrate or surrounding the skull with rocks can make it look like a scene out of an archeology dig. My top rock suggestions to pair with this skull are:
- Petrified wood
- Dragon stone
- Quartzite
- Pumice
- Rainbow rock
The skull is not the size of a real Triceratops skull. Instead, it measures around 5 inches high, 7 inches long, and 4 inches wide. Luckily, that means it can fit comfortably in 10-gallon or larger tanks.
T-Rex Skull
If Tyrannosaurus rex is more your dinosaur style than a Triceratops, you might consider this skull instead. However, if you have a larger tank, you could even use both simultaneously.
I like that this skull is missing its lower jaw. This structure allows for more exciting fish hiding and playing options. Of course, your fish will have numerous holes through which they can swim, but the most fun to watch is when your tiny schooling fish swim beneath his teeth.
The T-rex skull looks good with the same rocks I mentioned for the Triceratops. Something else interesting that you can do is grow a plant out of a nose hole.
The T-rex skull is much longer than the Triceratops skull at 14.2 x 5.1 x 4.1 inches. However, it is similar in height and width to the Triceratops.
This skull makes me think of something totally different like a Dragon. If that’s something you might like then check out our list of 5 Dragon Fish Tank Decorations ideas.
12 Pack Dinosaur Figures
The more dinosaurs, the merrier, right? If the dinosaur-themed aquarium set at the top of this list didn’t have enough dinosaurs in it for you, you could add more with this 12 pack. Or, if you start with this 12 pack, you can have fun creating your own Jurassic Park.
Let your imagination run wild as you create mountains from rocks and lush prehistoric forests with real or fake plants. You could even pair them with a volcano for a more dramatic scene.
Some of my favorite prehistoric-looking plants to use with dinosaurs include:
- Hornwort (Ceratophyllum demersum)
- Water trumpet (Cryptocoryne wendtii)
- Tiger lotus (Nymphaea zenkeri)
- Anubias (Anubias barteri)
- Amazon sword (Echinodorus ozelot)
- African water fern (Bolbitis heudelotii)
For scale, the average dinosaur in this pack is seven or eight inches long and tall.
Video: Jurrasic Park Themed Aquarium
Summary
A dinosaur-themed aquarium can be fun to create. Just pair your dinosaur aquarium decorations with a few rocks and plants (either real or fake), and you’ll have an aquarium of which you can be proud.
My favorite dinosaur tank is one that’s filled with dragon rocks, prehistoric-looking live plants, and full of dinosaur figures. You can pretend that it’s your own Jurassic Park or add a volcano to add a sense of foreboding.
A dinosaur theme can be even better with DIY fish tank decorations. For example, you can print out pictures of scenery for a tank background that tells the story you want. Perhaps there are time-traveling humans in your story, or it’s the dinosaurs’ last day.
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