diy large lava cave

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viciouspisces

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Aug 11, 2005
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59
Kona ,Hawaii
thinking of building a large cave made from lava rocks from my yard(not sharp ones tho)for my dovii tank.I have the rocks soaking in a bucket w/ bleach .tonight Im planning to scrub and boil them.Then Im going to try attaching them together w/ plumbers epoxy putty (nsf safe for drinking water) Do you think itll work? my biggest fear is that itll hold for a while and fall apart on top the fish :confused: . Anyone ever tried this? I tried w/ silicone before (didnt hold small rocks welll)any suggestions are welcome.
 
I have not used it but there is an adhesive made to stick rocks and corals together made for marine tanks, it is called SUPER REEF GEL.
 
Gorilla Glue works. My buddy used it in his saltwater tank. I used the Epoxy for that and it didn't work I had heavy Flagstone though. Good Luck. Just make sure it will fit in the tank when you keep building my friend had to break some of it off. Don't get carried away.
 
thanks for the replies this lava is faily light and i was only going to use 3 or 4 peices (more of a bridge then a cave ).Still havnt gotten time to scrub and boil the rocks yet .But ill let you know how it turns out - its time for me to redecorate my tanks and dump the plastic ornaments and colored gravel lol Wish i could get some driftwood instead but so dang expensive w/ shipping.
 
MaJiKTeRRoR said:
Gorilla Glue works. My buddy used it in his saltwater tank. I used the Epoxy for that and it didn't work I had heavy Flagstone though. Good Luck. Just make sure it will fit in the tank when you keep building my friend had to break some of it off. Don't get carried away.


Sweet I wasnt sure if Gorilla glue would be safe for in water use. That SHlT is great. :thumbsup:
 
Can you please post some pictures of it? I'd love to see how it turned out, and i was thinking of trying something like that for the 55.

Doesn't lava rock flake though? or am I thinking something else.
 
ShadowVengance said:
Can you please post some pictures of it? I'd love to see how it turned out, and i was thinking of trying something like that for the 55.

Doesn't lava rock flake though? or am I thinking something else.

Who was that directed at?
 
ah well...the plumers epoxy didnt hold :( Im either going to get that glue for live rock or a chisel and try to carve a cave .the lava rock im using doesnt flake (some blue lava rock does though- thats the heavy sharp stuff) the one im wanting to use is lightweight and very porous.BTW Shadow Vengenge Im a 'she' :) (LOL its cool evryone on fish boards makes that mistake w/ me ;) )Ill post pics as i make some progress on this
 
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