OK, my Africans are too big now for the rock caves I make with my small river rock. They are fighting over about 4 caves now. *sigh* I don't want to add bigger rocks, thus more weight, so I bought a 2" wide piece of black PVC pipe the other day. I cut it into 12 pieces that are now 5" long by 2" wide. I added a couple to see if they like them and they do! So the plan is to lay them side by side on the bottom and then cover them with my river rocks so they are not as noticeable. Problem? How can I keep them from floating?? I had to wedge the one I put in there (the trial one) to keep it from floating up. Any ideas? I glued a small stone to the bottom, but it wasn't heavy enough.
Ideas welcome! lets get our thinking caps on!
How can I keep PVC pipes from floating??
6 posts
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a1k8t31524 - Posts: 939
- Joined: Sat May 26, 2007 5:10 am
burry them in the substrate a little, and if you want them to blend in better i would buy a thing of GE silicone 1 .... not 2 or the anti mildue stuff as this is toxic, and then smother them in the silicone get everything nice and guey and the cover them in sand let it sit for a day or so and cure and presto chango it will blend right in and also when you do this you could also silicone a smallish rock to the boddom for weight to help keep from floating up....
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dizzcat - Posts: 648
- Joined: Tue Jun 24, 2008 2:30 am
Thanks a1k
I did glue a smallish rock to the bottom. It floated anyways LOL
I think I will just bury it into the sand a little. I don't want to coat them with sand because they are black and it would look rather odd. I got black pipe because I figure it would blend in with my dark rocks better. I thought about gluing them all together side by side, but then that would take away the rearranging option.
The problem I am going to have tomorrow when I put them in is keeping them from floating until I can put the loose rocks on top.
I did glue a smallish rock to the bottom. It floated anyways LOL
I think I will just bury it into the sand a little. I don't want to coat them with sand because they are black and it would look rather odd. I got black pipe because I figure it would blend in with my dark rocks better. I thought about gluing them all together side by side, but then that would take away the rearranging option.
The problem I am going to have tomorrow when I put them in is keeping them from floating until I can put the loose rocks on top.
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a1k8t31524 - Posts: 939
- Joined: Sat May 26, 2007 5:10 am
try drilling some hole in the top and bottom.....possibly
search through the forms and look at serial32 i think his name is..... and in his setup he did what i was explaning to you i think if you coat the inside and outside it will look pretty realistic......
search through the forms and look at serial32 i think his name is..... and in his setup he did what i was explaning to you i think if you coat the inside and outside it will look pretty realistic......
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Tmercier834747 - Posts: 887
- Joined: Wed Feb 13, 2008 8:33 pm
I did something similar but it didn't turn out half as nice as serials..I was too impatient and I was applying black substrate to a white piece of PVC..lol This piece ended up in the trash after 6 hours of work on it. -.-
If you apply the silicone and do it in sections you seem to get better results..most of my stuff fell off cause the surface of the silicon dried too much before I coated it.
You can do the same with river rocks if you want, you'll just need more silicone and more cure time.
I used a dremel to cut the pieces...I also sawed the ''bottoms'' off to make the bottoms of the pipes flat and able to sink into the substrate. Mine never showed any signs of wanting to float..guess the added silicone/substrate was enough weight. I also didn't coat the underside, again cause of being impatient so its blatantly obvious and ugly. lol
I'm sure you've heard it before but if you use silicone use the kind not treated for mildew. It will usually clarify on the tube only if it IS treated, so be careful.
If you apply the silicone and do it in sections you seem to get better results..most of my stuff fell off cause the surface of the silicon dried too much before I coated it.
You can do the same with river rocks if you want, you'll just need more silicone and more cure time.
I used a dremel to cut the pieces...I also sawed the ''bottoms'' off to make the bottoms of the pipes flat and able to sink into the substrate. Mine never showed any signs of wanting to float..guess the added silicone/substrate was enough weight. I also didn't coat the underside, again cause of being impatient so its blatantly obvious and ugly. lol
I'm sure you've heard it before but if you use silicone use the kind not treated for mildew. It will usually clarify on the tube only if it IS treated, so be careful.