Caryl Posted July 21, 2002 Report Share Posted July 21, 2002 Pegasus mentioned the idea of coating a pvc pipe with silicone and rolling it in gravel to make a more natural home for fish. This reminded me of something one of our club members did to make an interesting looking backdrop for her tank. She got a thick sheet of polystyrene and cut it to fit inside the tank tightly. She then used a gas ring to heat a loop of wire and used it to scoop out caves etc in the polystyrene. When it was all suitably craggy and river bank-looking, she coated small areas of it at a time with silicone and stuck the gravel on. She was also able to scoop out pouches halfway up the sheet to plant plants in. The final effect looked great and just like a river bank. It was a long tedious job though and she knew she would never take up glue sniffing as a hobby! She worked on it outside to make sure the fumes were carried away. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ira Posted July 22, 2002 Report Share Posted July 22, 2002 That would take a lot more artistic skill than I have. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john1 Posted July 22, 2002 Report Share Posted July 22, 2002 Hi Caryl I would be very cautious using poly in a fishtank. Some contain a toxic substance which might be released if another substance is added. You never know what goes into a tank unless you are an industrial chemist. It is worth thinking about it John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted July 22, 2002 Author Report Share Posted July 22, 2002 You are probably right John, especially with such a huge sheet of it. The tank has run for 2 or 3 years with no problems so far. Fingers crossed. Do you know of anything specific which would affect it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Batman Posted July 22, 2002 Report Share Posted July 22, 2002 I've read that styrofoam is fine to use as long as you seal it with something like Pond Seal, rather than Silicone. I've actually been toying with this lately as work throws out tons of styrofoam from the stuff we get delivered. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john1 Posted July 22, 2002 Report Share Posted July 22, 2002 Hi everyone Here in Australia Mc Donald had to stop using styro in their packaging because of a cancer scare!!! Also no building site is allowed to use 'Lily' cups (same material). There is probably a reason why. John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AQUAMANX Posted September 9, 2002 Report Share Posted September 9, 2002 Does anyone know what type of styrofoam to use there are lots of diff. types... please check out my site http://hstrial-myfish.homestead.com/home.html Thanks, Steve X. AQUAMANX Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted September 9, 2002 Author Report Share Posted September 9, 2002 I assume different things are added to make styrofoam as opposed to polystyrene. I recently toured a polystyrene factory (the raw product is really interesting) where they make containers for fish (dead ones ready for supermarkets etc), wine bottles and insulated wallboard etc. It was very interesting and I made a point of asking if it would release toxins if used in an aquarium. The tour guide said not. Tests had been run on it for toxicity and all sorts of other stuff. Whether they did any tests with aquariums in mind is another matter mind you! I know of a number of people who use it attached to spawning mops and others who use it as a background and have yet to hear of it causing problems in a tank. Nothing wrong with a bit of caution though and John1 has a valid point about us not being industrial chemists. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew 22 Posted September 19, 2002 Report Share Posted September 19, 2002 I too think that john has a good point. I have heard that PVC, while being compleatly safe to use in it`s present state releases extremly toxic chemicals when it is burnt. I hered a story where a company reused some PVC pipe that was damaged in a fire for a re-circulation system and they got a lot of dead fish . While polystyrean is not PVC i would be very carful about putting burnt/melted plastics into an aquarium. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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