Thinking About Building My Own Decor, Need Some Advice...

[Osian]

I was thinking of building a sloping side in my new 60 liter (16US gallon) tank and i was thinking of using expended polystyrene as the frame as i could esily mould it and then decorated it with either some real or silk plants to mask it. Also it would allow for a high up hiding spot or a couple of tunnels. As a weight i though as plants use lead to keep them down, i would assume it is safe to place lead in a fishtank?

I was wondering if anyone knew if these were dengarous for fish, although i'm fairly sure that polystyrene isnt that reactive so it should be ok.

any other suggestion as an embankment would be welcome.

 

[ox5477]

for the polystyrene, I think you have seal it with cement as maybe the glue that holds all the small "balls" together will seep out of the foam. I don't know if this is accurate but any diy decor made from foam I've seen is usually sealed completely with cement. This will also help weigh the piece down maybe you wouldn't need lead weights depending on the geometry and volume of the foam

 

[andywg]

sealing with cement will create something that will buffer the pH up.

Polystyrene should be fine, though weighting it down can be an issue.

Lead is not particularly safe in an aquarium, but what is called lead weights to hold down plants is really just a different heavy metal that corrodes at a very slow rate (if at all).

You could always try and build in pockets in the polystyrene around the back to hide stones in to keep it from floating.

 

[pastabake]

The 'balls' aren't held together by glue. Expanded polystyrene is simply polystyrene resin that has been expanded by use of a gas.

Expanded polystyrene is produced from a mixture of about 90-95% polystyrene and 5-10% gaseous blowing agent, most commonly pentane or carbon dioxide[4]. The solid plastic is expanded into a foam through the use of heat, usually steam.

Take a look at the rest of the wiki article as it has some interesting things to say about possible harmful side effects

The health effects caused by consuming polystyrene when it migrates from food containers (primarily from a leaching caused by heat exchange)[citation needed] into food is under serious investigation.

Don't forget that you have to be careful what you use to stick it to the tank with and finish it with because they have to be solvent free and fish safe obviously.

I'd try to find out what they use to paint all those tank décor stuff as I'd bet that would work.

 

[Osian]

Thanks, I didnt think of stones, but that would work just as well, could even clad it in stone to hide it i guess. I did know polystyrene is harmfull at high temperatures, around 200Deg C as it start to brake down i think, but as the tank was under 30 deg C i though it might be allright. I should look into what they sell as decor in shops and find out if any of it is easy to mould and not to expensive to buy, and painting it is a good idea.

The idea of the polystyrene was to slow down flow in one section of the tank and also provide caves close to the surface for my betta. I was thinking i could plant it aswell if i make hole and seal it for plants.