Slave Cave

[Athena]

Ooops - how do I edit the title to say SLATE cave not SLAVE cave LOL (Oh gosh, not awake yet!)

I said I would post a pic of my first attempt at making a little cave out of slate and pebbles, so here it is. The corners may look pointed in the pic but I assure you I have rounded off the edges with sandpaper so it's quite safe for my fish.

Regards, Athena

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[L_Plates]

Looks good, where did you get the pebbles from ?

 

[Athena]

Was given a bag of them by a forum member when I bought a tank off her recently. She said she had got some of them from the beach and some from the shops and they had been in her tank. The slate came from a friend's garden. All left in a bucket of boiling water, which I changed couple times a day for 3 days and scrubbed. Think I may have been a bit heavy handed with the silicone gel stuff, so next one I make I will use a bit less.

 

[micko]

Nice job.

 

[Tizer]

Hope the silicone was aquarium friendly Good job though, now go make me one. Ta!

 

[Athena]

Hi Tizer

So do I! I bought it from a local glaziers who make aquariums - so I was able to buy a large tube of it (industrial sized - about a foot long) to fit into one of those pump thingies that decoratores use(sorry, no idea what they are called but my boyfriend uses them for mastic/sealant stuff) and it worked out a lot cheaper than buying tiny little tubes for £5 a time.

They are so easy to make... trust me, all you need are the materials and about 10 mins of time to glue them together...then wait a day or two for it to set.

I made another one without slate, just using smooth granite pebbles and a flat slab of rock.

Athena

 

[Tizer]

Its called a Gun I'll have a crack in the summer, need something for my 90 litre. Considering buying half a dozen coconuts at the moment and chopping them about to make a pyramid covered in Riccia :>

 

[codheadjohn]

These are my home made slave caves:

 

[L_Plates]

Im currently hunting slate ready for my new tank. Might have to take a trip to the lakes

 

[micko]

Im currently hunting slate ready for my new tank. Might have to take a trip to the lakes

Go to your local tile shop, you can get a good few proper slate tiles for £6. If you only want one then ask for a sample.

 

[Athena]

Yes, if you don't know anyone that has any slate to spare (and make sure it's the type that is safe in an aquarium) and to save you having to travel about to find some, you can always try ordering it online or ask your LFS to get you some in.

ps - Micko - what is that fish in your avatar?

These are my home made slave caves:

Woooo, nice caves!!

 

[codheadjohn]

Woooo, nice caves!!

Thanks. Need to sort the rest of the tank though. It looks better than that now, I have a background that covers the whole back. Removing the internal filter caused so much work!

 

[c-dub]

Very innovative. I didn't think to create them with silicone before entering them. I always just stack!

 

[trikidy]

Interesting DIY jobs!
I think there should be a competition for the best DIY piece..

 

[onebto]

That is a great looking cave Athena I may have to copy

nice work

Regards onebto