Need suggestions

[dkpate]

My BGK is outgrowing his "man castle" and I need to find something bigger for him to sleep in that is fairly cheap. The only thing I have seen out there is a piece of cut wood with the bark on it, made for terrariums, but I am afraid of putting that in the tank.
Thanks!

 

[mfdrookie516]

just get a few pieces of slate (or any other flat rock, aquarium safe of course) and silicone them together

 

[dkpate]

Ok. Any specific kind of silicone?

 

[mfdrookie516]

as long as its aquarium safe, it doesnt matter... i forget which it is, geI or geII, but one of them is safe, or most lfs have their more expensive "aquarium silicone" that is the same stuff with the word aquarium on it. as long as it doesnt have any chemicals to prevent mold or anything like that, and its 100% pure silicone, it will work

 

[dkpate]

Ok, thanks a ton! I will be going rock hunting on Thursday! Thankfully we don't have any snow yet so I will still be able to get up in the mountains where the shale/slate is.

 

[mgamer20o0]

PVC. GEI is whats safe.

 

[dkpate]

GEI it is then! Thanks!
I think PVC looks tacky lol, so I am gonna stick with the rocks!
Thanks again!

 

[jsoong]

Unglazed terracotta flower pot is another option. But personally, I'd go for slate for the natural look.

 

[FishCrazyBenBOMB]

This is the silicone I was told to use for my aquariums, no fish have died from it yet as far as I know and it works great. Fast drying too. Here is the link.

GE Silicone II Window & Door Sealant, 2.8 Oz # GE500 by GE Silicones


An idea I tried was getting some PVC piping, and putting it together like an I if you look at it from the top, but then put longer legs going down from it. Then silicone rocks all around it so it kind of looks like a cave some what. It worked well for my cichlids, except I used a hotglue gun at first and all the rocks came off, so use silicone .

It's just a thought.

 

[mfdrookie516]

i had always been told that the silicone that prevents mold and mildew has chemicals in it that arent necessarily safe to use in an aquarium... kind of like using ammonia with surfactants in it...

 

[jsoong]

Hmm, GE might have renamed their silicone .... no doubt a ploy to confuse us into using the expensive fish store stuff.

It used to be that GE I is door & window & has no mildewcide, but now I just did a Google & GE Kitchen & bath is called Silicone I, and Door & Window is called GE II .... At any rate, get 100% clear Silicone, Doors & Windows, and one that does not say mildew resistant ....

 

[dkpate]

Ok thanks! I will pick some up tomorrow of the next day when I go into town.

 

[mgamer20o0]

you can always cover the pvc or better yet get clear pvc so you can still see it.

 

[dkpate]

I can see him all the time, he does not care if it's light or dark lol, he's out all day, and I don't know when he sleeps. If I put my finger or hand in the tank he is right there in a split second haha! He's a pig. Good idea about putting little rocks or even sand on the pvc. Would I use the silicone for that too?

 

[mgamer20o0]

yes. i know people who cover it in sand rocks shells or a mixture to make it look more natural plus that way you know the inside is safe from any scratching.

 

[mfdrookie516]

i did the same thing with one dkpate... i took some 4" pvc, some silcone, and some pea gravel from lowes, and about 5 hours of piecing together the rocks, and made a few caves that way... its alot of work, and alot harder than siliconing a few pieces of slate together, but in my 55 with pea gravel as the substrate, it looks pretty good... i also took a piece of slate and siliconed to the end to make it so that it was a cave and not a tunnel, and glued a few real looking fake plants to it to hide the entrance... my zebra danios lay eggs in it for some reason lol

 

[dkpate]

Ok, sounds like I am gonna have myself a proj proj! HAHA! Thanks for the ideas guys!

 

[sieski]

My BGK is outgrowing his "man castle" and I need to find something bigger for him to sleep in that is fairly cheap. The only thing I have seen out there is a piece of cut wood with the bark on it, made for terrariums, but I am afraid of putting that in the tank.
Thanks!

Ok might seem silly....... But what is a BGK?

 

[dkpate]

Oh, Black Ghost Knifefish. He started at 4 inches in August, now he's over 7. Well on his way to the size he will get! (14-18 inches)

 

[FishCrazyBenBOMB]

Hmm, GE might have renamed their silicone .... no doubt a ploy to confuse us into using the expensive fish store stuff.

It used to be that GE I is door & window & has no mildewcide, but now I just did a Google & GE Kitchen & bath is called Silicone I, and Door & Window is called GE II .... At any rate, get 100% clear Silicone, Doors & Windows, and one that does not say mildew resistant ....

Yeah their bottles look different too now. My dad got my another bottle and I started yelling at him for getting the wrong one but realized it was the same, lol.