# Ceramic rock...



## beachtan (Sep 25, 2008)

I did these real quick, so dont be too critical! I couldnt afford the texas holey rock, so i bought 25lb of basic elementary school clay for $10 (I used 25% of it for these pieces) and paid the school $5 to fire them for me - just have to sand them smooth a bit and put 'em in the tanks! 
CHEAP!!

I'll let you know how the fish like them!

The bigger one is 8"high, x 10" wide









This one is 11" high x 13" wide


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## madmax666 (Sep 11, 2008)

opcorn: :thumb: Those look great! i had that idea my self but i wasn't 100% sure if the clay was safe that my school uses... But those are perfecto! :dancing: My fish i think would knock those over now that they are like 7-8 inches long...


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## beachtan (Sep 25, 2008)

Thanks! They're actually surprisingly stable. I made a wide base extending back so they wouldnt tip over. but my fish arent as big as yours! 
If you figure clay is just mushy rock really, I havent heard of any that isnt ok - just no glazing. I'm wondering about spraying them with Krylon fusion... I know it works on pvc piping and it says for "ceramic" on the can, but I dunno about this. Has anyone spraypainted a terra cotta pot successfully?


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## LuciousLeftFoot (Jan 27, 2008)

Nice Work!!! I have wanted to do something very similar for a while now but can't find any access to a kiln. You either have to have a kid enrolled in the school or take a class at the art center to do it around here. Good job on working all the air out of the clay, you made out like a bandit only having that one small crack seen in the last picture. Just sand it and let the algae do the rest of the work. I don't see why glazing them would matter though, glazes come in two varieties. Ones you can eat off of and ones you can't. There are plenty of the out there you can eat off of and they come in all kinds of colors. I have a hand built vase in my tank that I made in high school with several glazes on it that are for things you can eat and my fish haven't complained


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## madmax666 (Sep 11, 2008)

Yeah i wasnt sure because the box my school gets the clay in says it is not 100% safe. Use at ur own risk (not exact but basiclly that) Yea it is hard to get those air bubbles out and it is hard to creat sutch a large stable structure as u have. In my next art class my teaching might be wondering the the heck i am creating!  I have a terricota pot in my now for my jacks to lay there eggs in but they decide to just use the large pieces of stone i use for my like towers. Once again VERY NICELY DONE :thumb:


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## remarkosmoc (Oct 19, 2005)

those are awesome.


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## KaiserSousay (Nov 2, 2008)

very nice..if I was a fish I would love to have those in my neighborhood....


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## 54zamboni (Mar 16, 2005)

i think they look great! the little one on the left will be great for your calvus -- if you ever decide the get them!


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## loogielv (Nov 10, 2008)

i would say paint em up and update w/ pics!


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## beachtan (Sep 25, 2008)

I'll get some pics but my fish really dont go near them. Weird. They are in with Victorians and they always just stay posed directly at the glass watching me. Weird fish.


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## Justin1982 (May 28, 2008)

Looks great. I would paint them. Or get some aquarium safe silicone and glue some rocks to it that match the substrate. I figure if you took enough time to make it, you should take a little more time to have it match the rest of the tank. Your fish will be more likely to make use of the caves if it not white. White is very reflective. Might make them a little hesetant to go near it.


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## KaiserSousay (Nov 2, 2008)

Justin1982 might have got it, why your fish don`t use your verrrrrrrrrry cool project.


> White is very reflective. Might make them a little hesetant to go near it


Have you ever worked with poly clay, I guess you do not need a kiln, you can just pop it in the oven. :roll:


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## Ckac13 (Feb 24, 2009)

Wow those look great, I have the luxury of working in a school so i hit up the art department yesterday to try the same thing. I hadnt even seen these pics until today. Now i cant wait for mine to be finished.

Also, LOVE the Pats hat in the background!


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## spotmonster (Nov 23, 2006)

That is a cool project! I missed this when it was posted.


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## beachtan (Sep 25, 2008)

Thanks! I'm a bit disappointed with the fish response. they'll swim thru the holes a bit but mostly they just ignore it. I had hoped they would kinda sit in those little cave/ledge/crater things but they dont. If I do another one, it'll have more caves and I'd use a "foodsafe" glaze to make it a darker color. every piece of poo that lands on this thing shows up. I think most elementary school glazes are labeled foodsafe.

One thing - I wrapped anubias plants thru some of the holes and the africans dont pick at them like they do the ones on the ground. the plants are doing great as they are in the line of moving water and closer to the light!


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## KaiserSousay (Nov 2, 2008)

Go figure..fish, just like kids...you get them something you think they will love and they play with the box it came in :lol:


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