1. When deciding the design of your base, don't include things like driftwood or stones if you find it difficult to make them look realistic or of the same quality as your fish carving. Most carvers have problems painting well, so thus increase the problem by incorporating stones, driftwood, etc.

2. Keep the base and habitat simple and uncluttered. The fish should be the main focus.

3. Stay away from using a router on base edges. This is fine for novice carvers only.

4. Elevate the fish up from the base as much as possible. It will catch the eye more easily.

5. Balance the size of the base to the fish. Try to keep the base as small as possible.

6. Have the fish offset from the center of the base, otherwise it will look too uniform.

7. If the fish is an exotic fish, consider using an exotic wood for the base.

8. Consider designs which you and other carvers have been successful with in competitions.

9. If you are carving a fish for a client, consider where the fish will be displayed.

10. Push yourself to do better work and more challenging work. Enter competitions.

11. Some people have an eye for things. Ask friends or family for their thoughts on your carving and base during the carving process. Keep an open mind.

12. Base should not be too dark, that the eye will be drawn to it and not the fish.

13. Consider complimentary colours for the base, habitat, and fish.

14. Learn to use basic tools like handsaws, files, rasps, grades of sandpaper, steel square,etc. Learn how to square up a piece of rough wood with these tools. Some of the finest woods are not squared up and they are too small to feed through a jointer or thickness planer safely, so you have to square them up by hand.

15. To get a great finish, be prepared to hand sand from say 100 grit to 1000 grit. I use Deft satin lacquer in a spray can after using a tack cloth to remove any dust. Some woods are oily and should be first treated with 2-3 coats of shellac. Sand lightly between coats with say 600 grit.

16. Stay away from a high sheen on your habitat.

17. Consider using models to arrange your habitat and base with the fish. The arrangement should look good from all angles if possible.

18. Consider using lead inside your base to add to it's stability.

19. Stay with wood for a base over non wood products like stone or plastics.

20. In the design of the base, consider how parts will fit together, whether glued or not, and that you may have to paint the habitat separate from the fish, then glue everything together. If the piece is large, consider how it may be dis-assembled and re-assembled after transporting.

21. Some carvers draw on paper the fish, habitat and base before starting to carve. I will have an idea in my head, carve the fish, then decide on a base design and size while working with the actual fish carving. Then once I have a pleasing design and balance, I will decide on a habitat that will work with the fish and base.