Rear Rock Wall With Caves

dave_oddballs said:

how does the whole structure attach to the back of the aquarium?

Click to expand...

+1, any alternatives to silicone?

I guess the structure could be built with a base...so it could just be placed into the tank, but the wall couldn't be the full height of the tank as it wouldn't be supportable

this is great!

I've been looking at DIY syrofoam backgrounds, but they call required carving the rocks. And I'm not keen on my ability to do that very well... This looks like a great way of doing it.

I'm needing some caves and would rather have them built in like this.

I did think about styrofom but was very unsure about the best and safest paints to color it up..
I felt safer using stones/slate..
note depron is a type of styrofoam, just extruded rather than expanded..

The structure is fixed/tied to the wall of the aquarium with some fishing line.. I just used a couple of suckers and tied to that...It only needs to be prevented from toppling forward.. the main weight of the build sits on the gravel..the larger bottom caves are about 8" long, 4" high, 3"deep and this gives a fairly wide base to sit on... unfortunately the depron being a polystyrene type foam floats well so tends to act to topple the structure, and the drag from the water flow does the same..But two suckers fixed above the waterline and a bit of nylon fishing line easily hold the decor against the glass..
The holes in the top section are entrances to one large narrow cave..the idea was to have a lot of hideyholes for the small fish or babies to keep safe in.. although I thought I had them small enough, they can actually be accessed by fish up to 2" in length, so they could go smaller and have more of them..
Depron can be bent with a hot air gun but I just cut it, then used a hotmelt adhesive gun to fit it back together..you could glue with silicone but this takes a long time to set. and the hotmelt is ok with the fish
Fish safe silicone adhesive is the best glue for fixing the stones,, hot glue is safe but wont adhere to the rocks very well
When gluing be prepared to wait a while for the silicone to set...
I also added more silicone using a thin rod to get up onto the joints where stones met.. but not where its visible from the viewing side..this makes the structure stronger
Then spent time getting rid of any excess that shows with a sharp craft knife..
It would work using other materials than depron, its only that I had a lot and its an easy material to work with.

The slate I used was a bag of bits from a garden centre... It needs repeated washing to get rid of all the muck, and then I boiled the bits for 10 mins to make sure.. drain them off and spread them out on some kitchen towel and the heat still in the stones will dry them fast.. then use the silicone glue to cover the boxes youve built...
Using other materials will be ok providing everything is safe for your fish..
After doing the slate build I came across some nice polished pebbles at a £1 shop... £1/bag and the bags were a fair size..

However I am still using the slate and have now made some retaining walls for another tank..

I've got myself some depron now, (probably a bit too much) dirt cheap, I have about 2 square metres and it cost roughly £10 including the delivery...

I got some slate from garden centre, also pretty cheap, and I know what you mean about cleaning it, I haven't taken it out of the boot of the car yet, but it was absolutely covered in sludge when i looked through the clear back... yuck

Since I don't have access to a glue gun or anything for making the structure, I shall be using silicone, if it takes longer to set then fine, I'll be working on this and refining it for a few months anyway, since it'll be for when i get a coupleof apistos for the tank... (the small bits of slate will hopefully be miniature enough to make the dwarf cichlids look like full size cichlids...)

I do have a question though, when researching depron (as I'd never heard of it) the only mention of water stated it was very water RESISTANT...

how well will it holdup underwater long term?

I was thinking about thinning some of the silicone and "painting" over the whole structure with it beore adding slate, just to be sure... what do you think since I have no experience with the stuff...

chrisbassist said:

I've got myself some depron now,

I do have a question though, when researching depron (as I'd never heard of it) the only mention of water stated it was very water RESISTANT...

how well will it holdup underwater long term?

I was thinking about thinning some of the silicone and "painting" over the whole structure with it beore adding slate, just to be sure... what do you think since I have no experience with the stuff...

Click to expand...

Using all silicone adhesive willl be fine, the silicone makes very strong joints with better adhesion than the hot melt, its just got a long setting time
Do make sure your silicone is fish safe

depron is basicaly the same material as styrofoam except its much denser and not bitty... styrofoams are more easily damaged, little balls/bits break off just by rubbing... Water has no effect on these foams at all as they will not absorb any, highly resistant .. I think styrofoam is already used in tank decor, but its overpainted to look like natural stone.. There is no need to overpaint, I think the foam will last as long as you want it to..after all its just another plastic and most dont bio-degrade at all.

That'll save some time then, cheers. I just read something else (about underfloor heating) saying deleon doesn't rot or go mouldy from water. So that's good.

I'm gonna have to start taking pics and start my own thread, showing before, my steps (which may be slightly dif to yours) and after, then dwarf cichlids in it...

Thanks, it's a great idea

EDIT: my silly cone was from a lfs and says it's for fish tank repairs

Thats where the depron was first used, as an insulation layer for underfloor heating... then the craft people and the aeromodelers got a hold of it
just stick your build and pictures on here..then it will give others some more ideas..

The bigger cave at the bottom is now taken over by my Jewels, who are guarding eggs