In an aquarium where fish live, decorations play an important role. In addition to plants, you can add decorative elements to it: a model of a sunken ship, stones, shells and bright colorful algae. There is decor that is also functional, for example, in caves fish can hide from restless fellows. To make the design original and unique, you can make a grotto for the aquarium with your own hands.
In addition to plants, you can add decorative elements to the aquarium: a model of a sunken ship, stones, shells and bright colorful algae.
Necessary materials
If you have decided to make the decorations yourself, then first of all you need to pay attention to the materials. They must be safe and not change the aquatic environment, because many fish react very painfully not only to temperature, but also to the acidity, hardness and chemical composition of the water. Here are the basic rules:
- Materials containing lime should not be used. It increases the acidity of the water and makes it unsuitable for many fish. Cement should not be used for the same reason.
- Materials with a high iron content are also highly undesirable.
- Using stones from industrial areas or those picked up near businesses, busy highways and landfills is a very bad idea. They may contain traces of heavy substances that will not be removed even after boiling.
- There should be no sharp corners or edges, because the fish may get hurt. Even a small hole with sharp edges can cause harm if the fish does not calculate its strength and tries to squeeze through it.
- If the parts are made of wood, then you should find out in advance about the type of wood: some can release harmful substances into the water, for example, oak.
- Only special sealant for aquariums can be used as glue; the rest contain harmful substances that spoil the water.
Before starting construction, the stones and other materials from which the building will be constructed must be boiled. This kills most of the bacteria harmful to fish. Boil for at least 10 minutes; stones that have burst after this cannot be used.
It is also important to decide on the size of the cave: it directly depends on the size of the inhabitants of the aquarium. There should be enough space inside the grotto so that the fish can turn around and not get stuck in it, or the entrances should be through.
Purpose and general requirements
A grotto is installed in an aquarium not only for decoration, but also to shelter the fish from aggressive neighbors. Another similar structure can be used as a shelter for growing fry and other small fish, and in such a house aquatic inhabitants can hide eggs.
Shelter for aquarium fish can be purchased at the store or made by yourself. People who want to make an underwater house themselves need to take into account that there are some requirements:
- the materials used should not contain lime, iron inclusions, chemical dyes and soluble elements (paper, fabric);
- the design should not have traumatic sharp corners and surfaces, too narrow cracks in which aquatic inhabitants can get stuck;
- Do not use wood containing a large amount of resin (oak, pine);
- It is prohibited to use stones from industrial areas to make decorative structures;
- Only silicone aquarium sealant is suitable for gluing parts of the grotto.
Decorations made of pebbles
The easiest option is to make a grotto out of stones for your aquarium with your own hands. Flat river pebbles will do. You just need to glue the stones together in random order to make a small hemisphere. For convenience, you can put something underneath, for example, a toilet paper roll. It will act as a frame that will support the stones in the desired shape until the glue dries. This takes about a day.
The main difficulty here is that you need to glue the first layer of stones directly to the bottom of the aquarium, because the grotto must stand motionless under water, otherwise it will simply fall apart. If the stones are heavy enough, then you don’t have to do this. It should be taken into account that the bottom will still be covered with a layer of soil, so the entrance must either be located above the ground level, or be large enough for the fish to swim inside.
To be on the safe side, you can place the grotto in an aquarium without fish for several days, periodically changing the water. This will help flush out any remaining harmful substances from the materials and check the strength of the structure.
There is another way, but it requires the use of a drill. You will need a stone of a suitable size to drill a fish cave in it. The advantage of this option is that there is no need to glue it to the bottom; there is nothing there to fall apart even when moving. But there are also disadvantages - you need minimal skills in working with drills, a correctly selected stone (not only in size, but also in material, because not everyone can be drilled just like that) and a lot of patience. There will be a lot of noise and dust during operation.
Why do you need a grotto in an aquarium?
In aquariums, grottoes are part of the design of the underwater space, and an important element that guarantees a calm and serene life for the fish. If the aquarium contains different types of fish, then the active phenotypes can bother slow and phlegmatic pets, and the latter require shelter - a cave where the fish will hide.
In addition to this function, a grotto for an aquarium plays a decorative role - the element looks great in the tank and decorates the landscape; you can also additionally think about the background of the aquarium. You can purchase decorations in specialized stores, but experienced aquarists prefer to make a grotto with their own hands for the following reasons:
- The ability to create jewelry that the owner will be confident in its safety.
- Artificial grottoes created by the aquarist meet the personal requirements and preferences of the owner.
Wooden buildings
The wood craft option is also not bad, but it is more complicated. First you need to select a small stump or driftwood without signs of rotting, clear the bark and drill holes in it for fish. One big one or many small ones - depends on the design. You can even drill out figured ones.
Then you need to sand the edges so that the fish does not harm itself . This should be done throughout the entire depth of the hole. Then burn the wood with a gas torch or blowtorch, so as not to set it on fire, you need to know how to do it correctly. To prevent the wooden grotto from starting to float at the slightest movement of water, it is glued to the base and sprinkled with soil.
Original grotto from a bottle
An excellent grotto can be made from a glass bottle. The volume is selected depending on the size of the pets, then the bottle must be thoroughly washed with hot water. After this you will have to cut it, this is done like this:
- First you need to prepare a container with cold water (the colder the better), some rough thread, some gasoline and a match or lighter, and fine sandpaper.
- The thread is soaked in gasoline and wrapped around the bottle in the right place. You can position it at an angle, it all depends on your imagination. Then set it on fire.
- Immediately after the thread burns, lower the bottle into cold water. Exactly where the thread was, the bottle will crack due to the temperature difference.
- All that remains is to process the edges with a file or sandpaper so that they are not sharp, but rounded.
In general, after this the glass grotto is ready. But to make it look beautiful and original, you can glue decorative elements. As an option, coat the outer edges of the bottle with aquarium glue, and sprinkle coarse sand, small pebbles, shells, algae and anything else that comes to mind on top. The finished product should dry for at least a day. In the aquarium, you will need to sprinkle the structure a little with soil so that it does not roll around.
How to make a grotto for an aquarium with your own hands
When making a cozy shelter for aquarium fish, various natural and artificial materials can be used: stones, clay, wood, coconut, glass bottle.
Stones
From small stones that do not have sharp edges, you can make a frameless grotto. Initially, you need to boil the material, and then degrease it with acetone and sequentially glue the stones to each other, row by row, forming a small hemisphere with an open entrance.
To glue the materials together, it is recommended to use a plastic, colorless sealant. After gluing and drying, it is necessary to keep the product in replaceable water for 3 days. A grotto made of stones should be installed before filling the aquarium with water, since this requires gluing the first row of stones to the bottom glass of the tank.
Clay
A clay grotto is suitable for creating a beautiful aquarium design and a secluded home for fish. You can buy clay at a craft store. It is recommended to use white clay, because... it contains a minimum of unnecessary impurities. By adding water and stirring, you need to bring the composition to the consistency of plasticine and mold the resulting mass into a house of the desired shape.
After formation, the structure must be dried at room temperature for 6 days and fired in the oven. The firing time is 60 minutes; it is recommended to keep the oven door slightly open. The product must be heated gradually, from a minimum temperature of +200°C to a maximum of +300°C. The grotto also needs to be cooled slowly, reducing the firing temperature over half an hour. Only after the grotto has completely cooled can it be removed from the oven. Before loading into the aquarium, the fish house must be rinsed with water.
Tree
To make a wooden grotto, you need to take a massive piece of driftwood (so that it can be easily drowned) or a stump from a non-resinous tree. The bark should be removed and the outer surface sanded to prevent injury to the fish. Then you need to drill out the caves of the desired diameter and round the edges. To avoid damage to wood in water, it is recommended to burn the product with a blowtorch or gas burner.
To fix a wooden grotto, you need to tie it to a large stone or glue it to a glass surface using sealant.
Coconut
A coconut grotto is good and safe for fish. To make it, you need to purchase a fresh, ripe specimen. Initially, you need to open 3 holes located on the back side of the coconut palm fruit, and then drain the milky liquid. Then, using a hacksaw for metal, you need to saw off the back part and remove the pulp with a knife. Then the workpiece should be boiled several times for half an hour, washing it after each boiling. After this, using a stiff brush, you need to remove the remaining pulp and cut holes of the required size in the shell.
Before placing it in the aquarium, a homemade grotto should be soaked with changes of water until it stops coloring the liquid. After installing the decoration in the aquarium, it is recommended to pour soil into the shell (to make it heavier).
Glass bottle
A grotto made from a glass bottle is a good and budget option for decorating an aquarium. The volume of the container is selected depending on the size of the fish. First, the vessel must be washed well in hot water and the neck or bottom cut to the required size. For this purpose, you should soak a string in gasoline, wrap it tightly around the bottle in the right place and set it on fire. When the thread burns out, it is necessary to lower the vessel into a container with melt water. It will break off in the intended place. Finally, you need to sand the sharp edges with a fine file.
To improve the appearance of your homemade shelter, you can coat the surface of the bottle with aquarium glue and roll it in pebbles. Then you need to wait for the sealant to dry and, if desired, stick on decorative elements. Before placing it in the aquarium, the structure must be kept in replaceable water for 4 days.
Clay crafts
If possible, you can make a grotto from red clay. This method is the most labor-intensive of all, because the clay must be fired, otherwise the product will simply break.
So, first you need to build a cave of a suitable shape. For example, in the form of a pot with a broken side or just a rectangular house. To make it spherical, you can use a balloon: inflate it to the desired size, cover it with a layer of clay (not too thin), let it dry and carefully deflate the ball, being careful not to crumple the edges of the clay sphere.
Then the product must be dried. This can be done in the sun or in the microwave. After this, firing is required. If there is a workshop with a muffle furnace nearby, then you can go there. If not, then you will have to use an oven preheated to 220 degrees. It is better to leave the door ajar. Firing takes about an hour, after which the temperature gradually decreases over 15-20 minutes . If you turn off the oven immediately, the clay will become brittle.
After firing, you can place the product next to the fish. If you decide to paint it, you need to make sure that the paints are non-toxic and will not poison the water. It is advisable to additionally burn purchased shards to kill microbes.
The clay grotto is the most labor-intensive of all, because the clay must be fired, otherwise the product will simply break.
Making a glass grotto
Making a grotto is possible from an ordinary glass bottle with a volume of 0.33 or 0.5 ml (depending on the size of the pets living in the aquarium). Before making a structure from this material, you will need to thoroughly wash the tank under hot water.
How to cut the neck of a glass bottle
You need to cut the neck in 4 steps:
- A strong thread is dipped in gasoline, wrapped tightly in a given area of the bottle and set on fire.
- When the thread burns out, immediately lower the tank into pre-prepared very cold water.
- The place where the thread was located interacts with the liquid and breaks off.
- Next, you need to smooth the edges of the resulting grotto with a fine file.
If the thread is fastened at an angle, you will get an oblique cut, which looks no less organic.
After these steps, the structure is complete, but you can decorate it until it becomes original. To do this, you can use coarse sand evenly poured over the structure, and coat the outer edges of the bottle with silicone.
You can also use crushed gravel to sprinkle on the bottle for decoration; after using it, you will need to let the structure dry. Next, the finished grotto is placed on the bottom of the aquarium and sprinkled with sand on the sides.
