Made These For My Bettas

[ibbledibble]

i made some cave/tunnel type things out of slate to go in my betta tanks and i'm really pleased with them. my boyfriend suggested they might sell well on ebay, so i wanted to get some impartial opinions. here are pics from the front

and two pics of the first one in my sorority tank.

if people are interested and would like to see, i also have pics of the cave/tunnels from above and behind.

but would really like some honest opinons. Do you like them? Do you think they would sell ok? How would you improve them?

 

[Azaezl]

I think they look very nice There's no telling with ebay they might sell really well or not at all, just wait until it's a free listing day and then you've got nothing to lose

 

[celaeno]

i've seen someone sell stacks of 15 rocks on ebay. people buy them too.

so if no one buys your pre-made designs, you can try just selling stacks of slate for an attractive price.

 

[briobug]

I think the issue would be shipping costs. Things on ebay are always so bloody cheap. Often include shipping or flat rate of $5 or something sick like that. I think to cover the cost of your materials and shipping and to make a few bucks you'd have to charge too much.

Rocks are heavy, no getting around that. Good luck tell us if you do it and what your deal is.

 

[bordercollie05]

I just bought some slate on ebay as its really hard to find where I live. At least I hadn't been able to find any. I bought 20 pieces for 10 dollars with 10 dollar shippng ($20 total). I'd give it a shot.

 

[ibbledibble]

Thanks very much for all the replies, i think i'll give it a try next free listing day as suggested. but with the exception of Azaezl nobody has actually said whether they like them or not. So do you think they look cute? stupid? would you consider putting something like that in your tank etc. thanks

 

[xxBarneyxx]

I like them. Not sure whether they would sell or not. I think a lot of people will go "that looks great, just go buy some slate and make it ourselves". That being said though I would definetly give it a go.

 

[ibbledibble]

yeah, i suppose it really relies on the laziness of people!

 

[Bungy]

Ibble..... Yep, deff like them - in fact, prior to setting up my new 377L tank down here in Pompey I had exactly the same idea and visited my local Keydell garden centre where I found 3 different types of slate, Blue, Green and Purple along with the normal stuff - packed in plaggy sacks selling at £3.45 each (quiet heavy too I might add). The slate was the same size as yours. I took them home, washed then boiled for 10 mins, spread out on cardboard and started to glue together (proper aquarium glue) various walls, caves, towers and features. They look great and cost peanuts. The thing is that because anyone can do what we have done so cheaply and easily I doubt if there will be a market to sell them.

Tip for anyone building these - buy a large flat pieces of slate to build your work on otherwise if the work gets too big it will come unglued and simply fall to bits when you try to transport it to the tank......believe me this is frustrating but using a base to build on cures the problem.

Good luck.

Bungy

 

[ibbledibble]

Bungy would love to see pics of your tank with the setup in. any chance of you posting a few?

 

[divisible by zero]

i go to the local garden stone shop for all my slate needs. $.37 a lb is a lot better than the 2.00+ per pound at the LFS's. All the rock pictured below was about $60.00, but the desert coral was heavy and pricier.

and oh, i do like the, i'm going to do the same with some slate leftovers for my betta.

 

[Bungy]

Bungy would love to see pics of your tank with the setup in. any chance of you posting a few?

Ibble - No problem but give me a few days please. Im quite ecstatic today as last nights Nitrite reading was down to 0 for the first time so at long last - around 6 weeks - I have finally cycled my tank. Trouble is I have white-spot and am treating the tank which if photos were taken now would come out somewhat GREEN.....!!! Treatment over tomorrow evening then the "big end of cycle water change" on Saturday to re-arrange my vigorously growing plants and add some new ones - SO next week I guess......