"Icy" tank

[FrostSinth]

so I was sitting reminiscing on some things, and was recalling to myself the history of my SN (an elemental nymph character I created who controlled ice) when it came to me

I should make my new 10 gallon theme be: ICE
:D :D :D

My plan now is to make all the decor white or icy blue, and then I can either pick white and blue fish to fill it, OR I can pick wildly colorful fish to contrast it :D :D

Would this be ok with the fish? Or would the prefer to be in a tank that they blend with? I'm thinking to get:
2 dwarf frogs
6 Neon Tetras
6 Cherry Barbs
one of the smaller Pleco species
Ghost shrimp

Any other suggestions of colorful fish? I was thinking maybe some Mollies too, or fish that aren't highly temperamental to environmental elements.

Do you guys think it would be cooler to have white/light blue fish or colorful fish?

What is a safe paint/paint coater that I can use to basically dye the decorations I want in case I can't find what I need?

SO EXCITED NOW!! :D :D
The ironic part is that the tank will have "chilled" look, but you stick your hand in and it'll be warm xD

I'll eventually need to find a betta that goes with the "white" theme, or otherwise Hephaestus will go in :D

[Cattitude]

You shouldn't have much trouble finding white or transparent decorations. You might even be able to find some Christmas stuff (icicles, snowy plastic trees) in a dollar store. You could do it up like one of those snow globes in your tank, have a snowman etc. and use clear glass marbles on the bottom.

But - you can't have my icy snow fish :p

[Luimeril]

you could only fit one small school in a 10 gallon with a betta. so, maybe a betta and the neons, or albino cory catfish.....

[thekoimaiden]

That would be way overstocking and overcrowding a 10 gallon tank. In a tank that size, you can only have two species. The smaller species of pleco need at least 20 gallons; same with the neons and cherry barbs.

With your theme in mind, I would just do a single well-colored fish (like Cattitude's) and red cherry shrimp. Kinda like a fire and ice type thing. Or a school of ember tetra (but they are soft-water fish and won't look their best of survive long in hard water).

[Shadyr]

Originally Posted by thekoimaiden

Kinda like a fire and ice type thing.

Ooh, inspiration! A Song of Ice and Fire tank! Dragon betta and lots of ruined castle decorations

[Bombalurina]

I know white gravel fits better with the ice theme, but black would cause a white betta's colours to appear much more vibrant. :)

[SweetNightmare]

Black gravel with white sand sprinkled over top for a fresh snow look. :D

[thekoimaiden]

Originally Posted by SweetNightmare

Black gravel with white sand sprinkled over top for a fresh snow look. :D

I know that would look cool, but the smaller particles will just sink to the bottom. That is why isn't not good to have a mixed substrate tank. The smaller pieces will float to the bottom and the larger will stay on top.

What I could see the OP doing is using black sand and having a few large white rocks.

[a123andpoof]

black rocks with sprinkled white rocks.