pvc pipe, marine silicon and some gravel

Oky, I want to make a few hiding places for my loaches, I was thinking of using 50mm pvc pipe about 20cm long, smeer it with marine silicon and rolling it in gravel. The gravel will look nicely. What do you guys/girls think? Will it be fine? Is it safe? Any comments will be apreciated

 

I've done this before with PVC and small pebbles - it worked pretty well. I used it for some large plecos and they used it frequently. Just try to not get your hands and fingers stuck together like I did.

Regards,

 

Awesome just wanted to make sure it will be safe. How long should I leave the silicon putting it in my tank?

 

There should be a drying time indicated on the packaging or actual tube of the silicon. Once that period has passed, and the gravel/sand is quite firmly stuck on the PVC (ie: it doesn't slide around when you touch it), you should be good. Maybe a couple of extra hours just for safety.

Regards,

 

48 hours is the safe period for drying time. I've done this in the past when I bred ancistrus. No problems. Just be prepared to re do your PVC houses in about a year. Silicon doesn't adhere to PVC permanently... Don't be afraid to do it though, as I said, it'll only start coming off after about a year. One trick I did was to sand the pipes with about 60 grit sandpaper to give the silicone better grip.


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Cool thanx for the replies, I found a peace of pvc pipe in a storage room, it looked kinda old but after a nice clean it looked nice and new. To make it 100% clean, in what should I soak it? Or will hot water and salt do the trick?

 

It will be the first time I upload pics, I will upload how the pipes with gravel looks like