The Puffer Forum

Hey everyone, I was wondering if anyone knew how to make my own décor. I have some flagstone that I am planning to make some kind of structure out of, with little caves or something, but if anyone has any suggestions it would be greatly appreciated, or pictures of stuff that they have done? also, I really like the look of the mangrove roots, but they are so expensive! is there anyway I could DIY something like that? thanks!! any and all suggestions or tips are greatly appreciated!

I got a sledgehammer to some spare river rock in the garden and made our caves, looks ok

You are asking for a book, at least, more likely several books. Google on "rock aquarium decor" or some such and come back with more questions on set-ups you like...

Also look into "aquarium safe epoxy", which is pricey but very useful.

Do a search on youtube. There's lots of DIY projects on there

sorry that was a pretty broad question, is there a particular brand of epoxy or silicone that you recommend? I have read that it should either say aquarium safe or "potable" somewhere on it. I live at the beach, so I can very easily find shells and driftwood. If I boil the shells could I use them? and is there a particular species of wood that could work, I know that it isn't recommended but I'm just curious. could I seal the wood?

A type of wood that has lots of branches is Manzanita. You could install it in a way that gives the appearance of a mangrove root look.

I have ordered from this company before: http://www.manzanita.com
They have pictures of some of their larger or distinct pieces, so you know exactly what you are getting.
Here is a picture of one piece they have right now, a bit big but you get the idea. Remember its wood so you can cut it to size if necessary.


When I first set up my 210g I had used two large pieces to get this look:

After having it a while I realized it was too hard to clean around so I sold it off and went with a simpler decor.

Huge +1 to the above comments. I generally set tanks intending to last for at least 10 years. I current have at least one tank at ~30 years or a bit more (it moved to this house drained but still set). Some I get bored with before 10 years and re-do. Most often that is due to the set-up demanding too much effort to maintain, as DMD123 pointed out.

I get my epoxy from Two Little Fishies. The owner used to live here and visits pretty regularly. I've known him for many years and trust him. Everybody I know uses his epoxy for frags, so it is safe stuff.

That's a good point, I hadn't necessarily thought about if I was going to want to keep cleaning it for 10 years, main,y because I figured that the fish would get bored with it and so would I, so I would just rotate decor . But at least for now I am going to pass on the wood, but DMD123 I really appreciate the link to that site and will definitely keep it in mind for the future.

RTR- it appears they have 2 kinds, the aquastik epoxy putty and coraffix. Since I am wanting to make some kind of cave structure from flagstone, I am leaning more towards the aquastik.

Something similar to the picture on this link, http://petdiys.com/diy-slate-aquarium-structure/

I am going to put 2 bbg in there and see what happens. Would that work better with the aquastik or coraffix ?

Also, what is the long term life on silk plants vs plastic ones? I don't want to waste money on the silk ones if they are just gonna fall apart. Again, thank you to everyone for your advice

My only tank epoxy use has been w/Two Little Fishies epoxies. I use the grey in FW and BW and SW for rockwork. If the pieces are heavy, make the cave/refuge in sections so the unit weight is lower - you don't want to have to handle big heavy assemblies in glass tanks. You don't need to ask how I learned that...

Petsmart has 3 (or maybe more by now) different designs of fake mangrove roots. I have all 3 in different sized tanks. Filbert loves hanging out in his large one:





Here are some other pieces I've found: