Making decorations

I like to make my own decorations....they are then the colour, shape and size I want

All I use is

River rocks (smooth rocks bought at $2 dollar stores or lfs)
Flat sturdy plastic to use as base
Terracotta pots
Plastic or silk plants

And of course aquarium silicon

Here's 3 smaller ones I did today

 

Very nice!!
Carol

 

they're good!!

 

I think they are really good!!

I could never think of anything like that, and even if I did it wouldnt look like i'd want it to. I'm not very good at making things. :-\

Theya re very creative!!

Gwenz

 

Wow, those are neat! Pretty cool idea.

 

very cool!!!

 

Those are pretty cool I might make one......I'll post a pic if I follow through.

 

I wish the picture showed for me. I will be gathering rocks in a week or so and that would be a fun thing to have my kids work on.

 

I wish the picture showed for me. I will be gathering rocks in a week or so and that would be a fun thing to have my kids work on.

If you are signed in it should show.
Carol

 

WOW you are an inspiration to us all, I was thinking about trying to make a few myself, cuz the retail ones are so many: I will give it a try soon. Thanks for the motivation

 

I was browsing through the member's tanks, and someone mentioned that they made there own rock cave. How did they do it? And what did they make it out of? My 46g looks really bland, and I've been looking around for a nice "centerpiece" decoration. I can't seem to find a tall enough decoration that doesn't take up the entire tank! I want something that's taller. How could I make something like that? And if I could, is there a way to paint or color it without poisoning the fish? I'm very limited on cash (My only source of money is my allowance) so something cheap would be nice to.

-SkyCrystal

 

Paint would probably be a bad idea... I've made 'rock caves' a few times using different things.

1. Cut an undergravel filter baseplate down to the size you want, then use the tubes to make a stand... or you could make 'walls' with more undergravel baseplates, either way works. These will need to be glued together with aquarium sealant to form the 'cave', no specifics on size or shape either... you can make it look however you want as long as it isn't going to collapse lol. Next you can make it look personalized by covering the outside of your 'cave' with aquarium sealant, and then spreading on either aquarium gravel, marbles, polished rocks, or anything you want to decorate it with (that isn't toxic). Let all this dry for a few days and you have your own rock cave =)

2. This is sort of like what I said above, but instead of using filter plates... you could use a glass fish bowl, a glass vase, a square glass candle holder, pretty much anything that you like the shape of that isn't toxic. Simply glue on your chosen decor to the outside of the object like I mentioned above =)

3. Using actual rocks if you can find river rocks or something similar that is what you like, you can stack / shape these into a 'cave' and use aquarium sealant to hold them together... otherwise they could collapse and squish your fishies =(

I hope that gives you some ideas =)

 

I have made caves for my betta out of small candle holders....I used aquarium sealant and spread that all on the outside and then rolled in the desired gravel...my betta love there caves..

 

I have made caves for my betta out of small candle holders....I used aquarium sealant and spread that all on the outside and then rolled in the desired gravel...my betta love there caves..

I love your idea! Your betta caves look terrific! Great job;D

 

Thanks for the ideas guys! By the way, I love that cave that you made Fishies-for-me. Maybe I'll try making it out of some cool rocks (I have a lot in my backyard). Would clay be toxic if I baked some in the desired position? I know I would probably have to wash and scrub it pretty well.

-SkyCrystal

 

You can probably put clay pots in your tank for hiding places, those work pretty well. I've also seen legos used in aquariums... If you had a bunch of those lying around I'd say make a big tower with lots of holes for the fish to swim threw

 

fishies-for-me that idea is so great, you are such a creative person-thanks for the idea

 

Those little caves are great , look good , simple to make , cheap and work ............
Wish I had thought of that ..,lol

 

The male in the white cave acually built his bubblenest in there when water changes pushed a large bubble into the cave...lol. that is what he is doing in that last pic.

 

I am not sure about clay that you would bake yourself...clay pots are ok..but for somereason I am thinking clay would melt in the water....lol...ummm I pass on this question....on to the next person!!

 

Its possible that Butters meant to say terra cotta clay pots. Which is something a lot of folks use.
I am going to try your idea on the gravel caves soon! I love it! ;D

 

Its possible that Butters meant to say terra cotta clay pots. Which is something a lot of folks use.
I am going to try your idea on the gravel caves soon! I love it! ;D

Skycrystal asked about baking clay into the desired shape so that is why I said that...lol.. If you make the caves make sure you use aquarium safe adhesive. I used clear silicone. You may have to place the last layer of gravel on by hand to cover any bare spots and shape it to the desired look....good luck.

 

Skycrystal asked about baking clay into the desired shape so that is why I said that...lol.. If you make the caves make sure you use aquarium safe adhesive. I used clear silicone. You may have to place the last layer of gravel on by hand to cover any bare spots and shape it to the desired look....good luck.

Opps... lol sorry for the confusion Fishies-for-me. ops:
thanks for the advice... I need to find the marine silicone and try it out. Hopefully my striped raphael catfish may like it. He is being pushed out of his driftwood hiding place by Aquarius, my male cutterI who has decided that, that area of the tank is his and his alone lol...