Building a hide

[cml]

Ive got a pot Ive been using as a hide for a while now but I was thinking about making it look more natural and more a part of the tank.

My thinking was that I will coat it with aquarium safe silicone and then put on sand, rocks etc to make it look good .
I will update with pictures once I am done!

EDIT: I just skipped plants, it looks very nice without them anyway =)!

 

[cml]

Okay so here is what Ive done:

Started out with a pot which Ive been using as a hide (and Ragnar does love it )

I then took out some sand from the tank, which I used my fiancée's blow drier to dry it with. Also had some small river stones which I had planned to have in our fishtank but never put in.

After that I just coated the pot, working with one side at the time, with aquarium safe silicone, and then let sand run over it. I put a few stones there as well but I might or might not keep them. This is work in progress:

And here is me done for today, just a few spots that needs a retouch, but I will do that tomorrow when the silicone is dry (its a very thin layer and silicone hardens up to 2-3mm a day):

Im quite happy with how it turned out!

 

[Skilly]

What a cute little axolotl hide! It looks great, nice find and good job with the sand and such.

 

[cml]

Thanks !

 

[cml]

MereB's huge tank build thread inspired me to do something more for my tank, so I am doing something to add new dimensions to the landscape. This decoration has the benefit of being nice to tanks with not so thick glass as it wont weigh much at all =)!

I will try to create a few plateus that Ragnar and Uriel can hang around on, and at the same time add an extra hide!

Materials to use:
2 plastic containers, one of which is much bigger in all dimensions than the other.
Lots of river stones.
Fake aquarium plants (I had a buttugly plant/pirate-chest I got with my tank, which ive slaughtered for this projected)
Sand, same color as you have in the tank.
1 old aquarium fake stone ornament
1 bottle of coke

This is the idea so far, put the smaller container on the larger one, add stones, plants and ornaments to your liking. These will be glued in place with aquarium safe silicone.
Make a hole for the hide, and on the inside, glue a cut off coke bottle (the bottom) to the frame of the container (will upload pics of what im thinking tomorrow).
Cover any spots not covered with stones or plants with aquarium safe silicone and put sand there to make it all look really spiffy.

This is my concept, which I will start on tomorrow :

If people are interested I can post pictures of the build process once I am done, hopefully I can inspire someone to build something nice =)!

 

[Aaran]

Cant wait to see how your build turns out! Good luck,

also any chance on the dimensions of that pot you covered in sand

 

[MereB]

oooooh cool! can't wait to see it when it's all done and in place. That's going to look great!

 

[cml]

Ive started building, and I will upload pics of the process, in case someone wants them ^^ (and because I think its fun).

1. Get the bigger container, and remove any stuff that wont look good, in my case the feet of the container.
2. Use a knife for this, but be careful as not to slip! We dont want any cut of fingers here.
3. Take the coke bottle that you have cut off, and be sure its a tight fit and keep any slope of the container in mind when cutting the edge, it needs to fit good so you can glue it in both ends. Also, make sure the edge is smooth, I use sandpaper for this.
4. Make a marking of what you need to remove for the entrance.
5. Drill holes all around and then work with the knife to get a smooth and round hole. Use sandpaper to make it a soft edge, this is important with all edges as we want them to be 100% axolotlsafe!

6. Glue it all together.
7. I decided to make the top plateu another hide, so cut a hole in the side for that. Make sure to make it a soft edge, with sandpaper!
8. Glue some stuff to the upper plateu to make it look nice.
9. Let the glue dry ^^.

Will continue either later tonight or tomorrow when the silicone has dried a little bit. For the next step I need to flip the big container upside down to start making the lower plateu. More pics soon!

And Aaron, Id guess that the pot's dimension is about: W15xD7xH11 (cm).

 

[prohecy]

Wow, the first one looks awesome!
Can't wait to see the result for the second one :happy:.

 

[Aaran]

Thanks for the info, build looks nice so far, sorry had a quick look didnt spend much time,

one thing - that coke hide, i cant see in the pictures but is it supported? weight wise like underneath? if not it would be good to prop it up and would stop it sagging(this is if it isnt supported already)

 

[laalflaach]

Im quite happy with how it turned out! [/QUOTE]

That is so cool! It kinda looks like an axie mouth!

 

[Aaran]

Remodel the pot to a melanoid axie face cave?

Just adding to laaf

 

[cml]

^^ That would look funny if nothing else

Sorry that there havnt been any updates, its as simple as that I havnt gotten any further with the build. Life caught up with me and Ive had my hands full since last weekend, and will be busy at least for a couple of weeks more.

I promise I will update as soon as its ready though!

(And Aaron, the hide is supported by the ground, as it will rest on the sand in the tank.)

 

[ashmac5]

Thanks for this thread, super idea! Got some aquarium silicone the other day, coated an ice cream tub and covered it with my black sand. It has holes cut in for doors and a lump of driftwood on top and my axies LOVE IT!!!

 

[cml]

Its been a long time in the making, but its now done!
After being out 2 weeks in the archipelagio sailing, I completed the hide today. Now its just down to waiting for the silicone to dry and then submerse it to the eagerly (one can hope) waiting axolotls !

Front view with entrance to hide 1:

Left view with entrance to hide 2:

Right view:

Cheers!

 

[MereB]

Looks good, can't wait to see how it looks in the tank when it's all dry! I'm sure your little monsters will LOVE it

Well done you did a fantastic job!

 

[mogs9999]

giving me some great ideas, gonna make something like this myself, tank is a bit bare at the moment

 

[cml]

Thanks! =)

I forgot to mention that I have drilled a couple of holes through the two upsides of the containers, to allow the air to escape from them when submersing the hide! Could be tricky to get it to sink properly otherwise.

 

[mekkha]

This is amazing! I love your creativity. Now I'm trying to think of what I could put in my tank like this.

 

[xxianxx]

Nice looking hide, have you considered sticking java moss on it, you can buy netting to cover the hide which the java moss can then be attatched to. I hope you dont think im being mean but a hide covered with glued on sand is actually the equivalent of sand paper and though it looks good , it is an abrasive surface which could potentially damage a startled/bolting axolotl.