clay like material for aquarium???

[keeno2086]

hey mfk,
I am looking for a clay type material to make some caves andother decorations for my larger tank. I like to keep bigger species so finding appropriatesized caves that will look good and be low cost is hard.

is there anything like clay I can use?

im from the Uk so product names that I can find here wouldbe great.

thanks for any replies in advance!

 

[Drstrangelove]

If you mean fired clay, (clay baked up to 1200 f), then you can use clay. That would be the most clay like material. Just look for clay that doesn't have any additives, sculpt out the caves you want and have a local kiln bake it to make it permanent water proof. (Craft stores or art supply shops might be able to help you with that.)

Otherwise, I'm not aware of any material that is lightweight, pliable, cheap, easy to work with, and that hardens in air to a strong, permanent, waterproof shape.

Hydraulic cement will harden rapidly once wet (it does so underwater), but far too fast ime to use as building material. Regular cement will work as well, but it's not easy to work with unless you have pre-forms that match the shapes you want. It's also much heavier than clay.

You can also look into polymer clay since that can be baked in a home oven. It however may not be suitable for water pets, so that is going to need research.