well, that was a bust.

[fearlessfisch]

i found a cave i liked, but thought it was too dark to look good with my white sand. i smeared silicone on it and poured sand on top to make it look like the sand went over the top of the cave. i let it dry for 3 days before putting it in. it looked good for a couple days, but now you really can't see the sand anymore. it's just a cave with silicone smeared on it.

live and learn, i guess.

[An t-iasg]

Awww, sorry to hear that. I have read here that gravel sticks to silicone, to dress up a [acronym:2f89401d08="Plastic pipe"]PVC[/acronym:2f89401d08] pipe. I have white Estes gravel -- try to look for it in a [acronym:2f89401d08="Local Fish Store"]lfs[/acronym:2f89401d08] to see if the color would go with your sand. Then you could try to use the gravel, if you wanted to start over with the cave. The gravel would give it more of a rocky cave texture, I think.

[malkore]

I think the sand was too light to really penetrate the silicone, so it didn't really stick.
It'd be messy, but I think pressing the cave, coated in silicone, into a pile of the sand might have worked.

of course, silicone's hard to remove from rock...so you probably can't try it again on this cave.

[Scottcenfla]

Fearless, one suggestion might be is to mix up some tile grout and coat the cave with it then use the same color sand on it while it is wet. Once dried, it will be more like a non skid surface, the sand shouldn't come off, I say shouldn't, it has worked for showers and baths I've done.

[fearlessfisch]

thanks all....these are some good ideas i never thought of. it's fun to try to figure out new stuff for the tank.

scottcenfla, is tile grout safe in aquariums?

[Scottcenfla]

It should be safe, I've never heard of a mildew retardant in the grout, only in the caulk and silicone for use in high moisture areas. It would be worth making sure though.

[Mr Burns]

Go with malkore's suggestion first...that's what I did for the [acronym:7d5f586c7d="Plastic pipe"]PVC[/acronym:7d5f586c7d] caves I made earlier this year. Smear a layer of silicone onto the cave then roll it in the sand, pack it into the silicone really well, then shake off the excess. you can re-apply a bit of silicone on any thin spots and pour sand onto that.