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Aquarium safe self hardening clay for Yoda's hut?

16062 Views 20 Replies 11 Participants Last post by  Pri, 
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I am wondering if anyone has experience with an aquarium safe, self hardening, molding clay that I can use to recreate Yoda's hut on Dagobah.
I'm going to be putting together a Dagobah swamp tank for my baby's room and I think that making a miniature of Yoda's hut would be awesome. And of course I will have a little ceramic Yoda figure standing out front. The tank will have a lot of wood and roots as trees and most of the foliage is going to be christmas moss with some crypts and stuff mixed in. For the background I am going to use a picture of Luke's half sunk X-Wing. I had the idea and then I found this crappy looking Dagobah tadpole frog habitat online. Its pretty much what I want to do, except, you know, not sucky.



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D
That manufactured item sure is a wimpy re-creation.

Sorry, I do not know about a clay that does not need to be fired.

How about carving it out of Styrofoam then covering it with mortar and concrete coloring material? This can be aquarium safe, though the concrete does leach minerals for a while, raising the pH and making the water harder .

How about buying the funny looking one and painting it? I'll bet Krylon for plastic would work on it. Get a couple of shades of grey and flat black, maybe a dark brown...
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Nue
Self hardening clay will unfortunately go back soft when whetted, and will make your water muddy. Diana ideas with styrofoam is a great idea, look into DIY aquarium backgrounds for more information on that kind of work.

This idea is funny, do post pictures of your final work!
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D
agree with diana about using that one.with a little paint and some moss attached would not look to bad. we bought some shap together model kits of star wars this year for my son. they had some of the ships and some "scene " kits, but dont know about yoda.they seem pretty nice. they may work. believe they were "testor" and were bought at kmart. more realistic looking than that tad pole one. i love your idea and cant wait to see it. this idea would make an awsome paladarium. post pics you must.
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C
The one recreation in the second picture looks like they may of used a coconut shell, which would work well in an aquarium and won't float. Diana's idea about using Concrete pigments would make it look really sweet!
I'm really looking forward to seeing this, so please post pics
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F
I was thinking I could use a coconut shell as the foundation to build the rest of the hut around.
I've heard of people using spray foam to make roots and DIY backgrounds. I guess I could do that over the coconut shell, carve it up, and paint it.

Are there any non-clay materials that would have polymers and stuff in them that I could use that would still be fish safe?
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Master Se7eN
Post pictures, You Must...
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F
It looks like Yoda's Dagobah Resort and Spa is going to have to wait. The wife wants the baby's tank to be full of gaudy ceramic ornaments that she gets to pick out. We compromised and I still get to put plants in it, she gets to put a few ugly pieces of junk in it, but absolutely no air pump driven scuba divers or UFOs. Hopefully I can keep her from noticing the Little Mermaid figures they sell at Petco.
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MlDukes
Franco said:
It looks like Yoda's Dagobah Resort and Spa is going to have to wait. The wife wants the baby's tank to be full of gaudy ceramic ornaments that she gets to pick out. We compromised and I still get to put plants in it, she gets to put a few ugly pieces of junk in it, but absolutely no air pump driven scuba divers or UFOs. Hopefully I can keep her from noticing the Little Mermaid figures they sell at Petco.
Click to expand...

I think this would be a really cool idea for a scape, you were on to something with the coconut shells. but the question is, Are you havin a boy or girl? If its a girl i can understand why this theme would probably clash.

If its a boy... Keep badgering her lol or give it 6 months when the fake ornaments look nasty and talk her into switching them out. ;)
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chad320
When you put the pants of the family back on, search "hypertufa" for something to make Yodas pad out of. Manzanita branches upside down can also help you with the twisted jungle look. If you plan now you can also wrap some fresh grapevines arond it as well. You'll have to let these sit out and season first tho. Good luck with the pants, doent always work :)
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milesm
what about the epoxy that comes in a dual colored roll? you can sand it, paint it, sprinkle bits of wood on it.
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P
Cool project Franco....need to keep it alive and keep this thread going...

Can a piece of driftwood be carved to make the hut...?


My planted tank http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/myTanks/2076-Pri.html
My Cichlid tank http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/myTanks/2075-Pri.html
My DIY project Journal http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/t...88-125g-pond-river-waterfall-diy-project.html
My Betta Pico http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/planted-nano-tanks/122780-black-white-planted-pico.html
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F
Can spray foam be carved easily? I could probably spray foam a coconut shell, carve it to perfection, and then stick some roots over the top and around it.

I probably will just set up a tank quickly for the Mrs and then make it get overgrown with algae and say its because it doesn't have enough plants. lol
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Nue
Yes you can carve the foam. Might be easier to carve Styrofoam though.
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mistergreen
Cement is an option, it certainly is self hardening and waterproof.

Make the cave out of wax or soft clay. Make a plaster mold... Remove the wax with heat.

Pour cement into the mold. Make sure to leave a cave and not fill in the whole thing.

When set, break the plaster mold. Cure the cement by soaking in water for a long time or seal it.
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F
Carving styrofoam has always been a mess for me--probably because I use whatever I can find in a dumpster somewhere.

I called around and there is an art store and a paint-your-own-pottery place in town that have a kilns that customers can pay to have things fired in. I could just make the cave with clay and pay $3 to get it fired. They call you when you can come pick it up. I could even have them glaze it but then I wouldn't really say Yoda's hut has a glossy finish.
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mistergreen
Franco said:
I called around and there is an art store and a paint-your-own-pottery place in town that have a kilns that customers can pay to have things fired in. I could just make the cave with clay and pay $3 to get it fired. They call you when you can come pick it up. I could even have them glaze it but then I wouldn't really say Yoda's hut has a glossy finish.
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Oh, yeah, that's a good idea... Don't bother putting a glaze on it.

And make sure there are no bubbles in your clay or it will EXPLODE in the kiln.
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P
Cement is an option, it certainly is self hardening and waterproof.

Make the cave out of wax or soft clay. Make a plaster mold... Remove the wax with heat.

Pour cement into the mold. Make sure to leave a cave and not fill in the whole thing.

When set, break the plaster mold. Cure the cement by soaking in water for a long time or seal it.
Click to expand...
Sorry for interfering in your thread Franco but i have 2 questions :

1. How long does cement need to be cured in water before being safe for fish tanks?
2. Are cement sealers safe for fish tanks?

Thanks



My planted tank http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/myTanks/2076-Pri.html
My Cichlid tank http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/myTanks/2075-Pri.html
My DIY project Journal http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/t...88-125g-pond-river-waterfall-diy-project.html
My Betta Pico http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/planted-nano-tanks/122780-black-white-planted-pico.html
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F
Cement just needs to cure out of water first. Then once it gets submerged such as in a bucket, you have to change the water until it no longer raises the pH. Old pieces of concrete and cement usually won't raise the pH but they can fall apart.
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mistergreen
As you know, cement will alter the pH & hardness quite a bit. Soaking and change the water until it doesn't alter too much. It's hard to say how long because it depends on the size, cement mix etc...

As for the sealer, there's a band that aquarist use to seal DIY plywood aquariums and swimming pools?. Not sure of the name though.. It comes in various colors though (no clear?), white, black or green.
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