Clay cave DIY?

[Psylant]

Has anyone made anything out of clay they use in their aquarium? I don't have access to a kiln, but after a little research apparently "Fimo" clay is aquarium safe from what I could gather and can be baked in a regular oven. I've never attempted anything like this, but I think using some metal mesh as a structure for the clay to mold around it could make for a very cool and somewhat natural cave.... if my lack of artistic ability allows lol.

Please let me know if you've any experience with this! I want to hear your findings.

 

[TheSinisterSOB]

Has anyone made anything out of clay they use in their aquarium? I don't have access to a kiln, but after a little research apparently "Fimo" clay is aquarium safe from what I could gather and can be baked in a regular oven. I've never attempted anything like this, but I think using some metal mesh as a structure for the clay to mold around it could make for a very cool and somewhat natural cave.... if my lack of artistic ability allows lol.

Please let me know if you've any experience with this! I want to hear your findings.

I know most professional aquarium shops use something called Polygem or Smoothon. These are both sculpting clays, but I'm unsure if they require firing or just an outter epoxy.

I would avoid any kind of metal inside of your aquarium. Its bound to rust, and that will cause all kinds of problems.

However, you can use foam as a support during the sculpting process. Just carve a large chunk in the shape and size of the cave, then lay the clay ontop of it. Remove the foam before you place it in the oven.

You also might want to look up the process for making the clay and paint used sustainable in the aquarium. You'll need an epoxy of some sort to keep the paint from dissolving.

HTH

 

[Psylant]

I know most professional aquarium shops use something called Polygem or Smoothon. These are both sculpting clays, but I'm unsure if they require firing or just an outter epoxy.

I would avoid any kind of metal inside of your aquarium. Its bound to rust, and that will cause all kinds of problems.

However, you can use foam as a support during the sculpting process. Just carve a large chunk in the shape and size of the cave, then lay the clay ontop of it. Remove the foam before you place it in the oven.

You also might want to look up the process for making the clay and paint used sustainable in the aquarium. You'll need an epoxy of some sort to keep the paint from dissolving.

HTH

Hmmm Smooth on and Polygem are definitely what the pros use, you're right. It seems a lot more costly, unforgiving, and in depth , though. I just watched a few of the smooth on "how to" videos on their site and it was very interesting.

What I meant, when I said using the metal mesh was to encase the mesh with clay, and then bake it. None of the metal would be exposed to the water, I don't think... but maybe it's too porous? I've seen people use metal mesh for wrapping moss around branches before, so maybe it's okay as long as it's stainless steel? I had imagined that the mesh would be providing the structure before "baking" the clay.

I don't really know much about this whole idea, it was just something I thought of today when I felt like making a cave for my large clown loaches. I thought about using bowls, pvc pipes, tupperware, laundry baskets, etc. covered in silicone and rocks/sand but none of that looks very "real". I was thinking about putting something along part of the back wall of the tank, perhaps where the overflow box protrudes into the tank. A "wall" with some holes the clowns could swim in and out of to escape the larger predator (Mbu puffer) if need be. It needs to be fairly large however, as the largest loach is pushing 11".

 

[Psylant]

I found a local pottery company that is willing to provide materials and fire the clay.

"Georgies" clay, and "Mayco Foundations" paint/glaze. Both of these seem food safe, non toxic, no heavy metals. They had a small aquarium in the store with some decorations they had made for it and everything seemed fine. Does anyone foresee any issues with these materials?

 

[coolkeith]

I've been wanting to build another large cave for my clown loaches also.

Right now, I'm using PVC pipe of various sizes. Some of the 4" pvc caves, I've painted a camo type pattern with kyrlon fusion. Painted the inside black also. The loaches are starting to outgrow them though. So I'll need to go bigger.

 

[Ninjouzata]

Sorry I am of no help in the clay area..or much of DIY anything really.

I've been wanting to build another large cave for my clown loaches also.

Right now, I'm using PVC pipe of various sizes. Some of the 4" pvc caves, I've painted a camo type pattern with kyrlon fusion. Painted the inside black also. The loaches are starting to outgrow them though. So I'll need to go bigger.

I was wondering if you have looked into quikrete? We covered PVC with it to make them look like more natural caves. Colored/sealed with krylon fusion.
I would think you might be able to do it without the PVC so able to make something larger. Maybe sculpt the bottom half and after it dries make the top half?

Here are the ones we made.

 

[coolkeith]

Sorry I am of no help in the clay area..or much of DIY anything really.

I was wondering if you have looked into quikrete? We covered PVC with it to make them look like more natural caves. Colored/sealed with krylon fusion.
I would think you might be able to do it without the PVC so able to make something larger. Maybe sculpt the bottom half and after it dries make the top half?

Here are the ones we made.

I was thinking of using quikrete, since I've used it before on a cave-foam-cement project I did about 6 years ago. Unfortunately, I didn't seal the concrete with epoxy, so my pleco's eventually ate through it, and I had constantly had to pick out tiny pieces of styrofoam floating everywhere. I trashed it eventually, but I wouldn't mind building something like that again, since my loaches loved it.
Here's a pic :


I'd probably want to cave to look like a hollow log and tree stump. My new idea is take a 8 to 12 in. x 48 in. Concrete Form Tube, , wrap the outside of it with plastic wrap,
then fiberglass over it to get the hollow log base. Remove the form. Then use foam and concrete for all the detail work. Then use epoxy resin to seal it. Perhaps have some hollow branches and roots also.

 

[Psylant]

Quickcrete is a possibility I had not thought of. I'm a little scared about sealing it though.

I think I might explore this clay idea. I don't particularly want to make a straight pipe as a cave, as it would clash with the "natural" decor of my tank. Old video but it shows what I have for decor... I think I'll create a cave along the back wall that perhaps wraps around the overflow box (back middle).

[video=youtube;EIHzQDx8_qQ]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EIHzQDx8_qQ&list=UUv736meij1aHHim4wkscCqQ[/video]

 

[Ninjouzata]

I was thinking of using quikrete, since I've used it before on a cave-foam-cement project I did about 6 years ago. Unfortunately, I didn't seal the concrete with epoxy, so my pleco's eventually ate through it, and I had constantly had to pick out tiny pieces of styrofoam floating everywhere. I trashed it eventually, but I wouldn't mind building something like that again, since my loaches loved it.
Here's a pic :


I'd probably want to cave to look like a hollow log and tree stump. My new idea is take a 8 to 12 in. x 48 in. Concrete Form Tube, , wrap the outside of it with plastic wrap,
then fiberglass over it to get the hollow log base. Remove the form. Then use foam and concrete for all the detail work. Then use epoxy resin to seal it. Perhaps have some hollow branches and roots also.

Wow! That looks really awesome, and your idea sounds great. I hope you make a post of the process whatever you end up doing since it sounds like you're very creative & it will look good

Quickcrete is a possibility I had not thought of. I'm a little scared about sealing it though.

I think I might explore this clay idea. I don't particularly want to make a straight pipe as a cave, as it would clash with the "natural" decor of my tank. Old video but it shows what I have for decor... I think I'll create a cave along the back wall that perhaps wraps around the overflow box (back middle).

How come it scares you? I was just mentioning the quikrete, I think the clay is a great idea. You can definitely make some natural looking stuff with it.
If you want/get the chance on FB perhaps look up Nature's Replica. He uses clay and his recent pleco caves look amazing to me, not sure if they would give you any ideas or not.

Your fish are gorgeous btw! Sorry for not helping. I love seeing what others can make

 

[Psylant]

How come it scares you? I was just mentioning the quikrete, I think the clay is a great idea. You can definitely make some natural looking stuff with it.
If you want/get the chance on FB perhaps look up Nature's Replica. He uses clay and his recent pleco caves look amazing to me, not sure if they would give you any ideas or not.

Your fish are gorgeous btw! Sorry for not helping. I love seeing what others can make

I'm worried about how the quikcrete would change the water chemistry. I would like to use something as inert and natural as possible, which is why I thought clay might be a good choice. I checked out Nature's Replica on FB and their product looks pretty good. I would need something much larger for my larger clown loaches (10+") though. It gave me a couple ideas though. Thanks for pointing Nature's Replica out to me.

The stock has changed since that video. I'm in the process of selling all of the cichlids, and the tank will only have loaches and my Mbu puffer. The cave I'm making is for the loaches to retreat to, if they require a place to hide from the puffer.