# Hide the powerhead? Got any good DIY to recommend?



## PfunMo (Jul 30, 2009)

I hate to see equipment but find I need it so how to hide things like the powerheads for extra circulation? 
Not the paint the wall black, etc type but have you "invented" some hides that work well for you? I have a few things that I've used when just sticking them behind a rock doesn't quite get it, but they tend to be a pain and I would like some better ideas. :-?


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## caldwelldaniel26 (Jun 11, 2017)

I've seen spray foam molded into rock shapes and painted to cover equipment


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## Mcdaphnia (Dec 16, 2003)

Cichlid Rocks make some realistic rocks that are hollow and you could cut a second entrance to, to create flow through. If you foam your own rocks, they may float, damage the power equipment by allowing it to overheat, or make it impossible to service. I have used horizontal sections of vinyl fence post in cichlid tanks. It seems to me it would be perfect for this application, creating flow in two different parts of the aquarium. A big block of filter foam inside it would help protect the pump from getting clogged with debris. You can pile real or Cichlid Rocks on top and in front of the post to conceal it.


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## caldwelldaniel26 (Jun 11, 2017)

I've seen the foam shaped into a cave structure by spraying it onto a balloon with an opening in the foam then popping the ballon to hide a circulation pump and a piece of slate tile siliconed to the bottom to weight it down. Looked really nice actually, with the right artistic touch.


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## Mcdaphnia (Dec 16, 2003)

I've made caves with hypertufa, a mix popular with gardeners for natural looking garden features. It looks more like rock than even painted foam products, and does not need additional attachments to overcome buoyancy. If you use foam, try the dark color waterfall foam. It is easier to work with, and unlike some other foams, it is open cell, so it will water-log and should not need any wight other than the pump to keep it from floating away. Some popular construction foams continue to expand after they have hardened, which can result in damage to aquariums. If you use a balloon, be sure the knot is in the "door" to your cave, or it will be stuck in whatever material you use. For a pump, make a tunnel, not a cave.


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## caldwelldaniel26 (Jun 11, 2017)

Definitely not my area of expertise, I usually just buy stuff already made lol. Except my sump, I built that...


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## PfunMo (Jul 30, 2009)

I do a fair amount of DIY and hypertufa is usually a fun project but for the tank, I've never been able to get very close to natural looking. Too much art involved for me. 
I've tried several different versions of using wood and that is what brought out the idea of looking for a better way. I'm started on cutting out and fitting wood to hide things but it seems like it takes more effort to get it done. Should be a better way? 
What I have so far is going okay but just slow. I am not at all sure how this will work out so I didn't spend much time to select really interesting wood but just walked down to the nearby creek area and picked through the woods. This part of the world is a bit short on really good solid wood but I found what should work. For this project I wanted quick and easy , rather than high quality. I may trash the whole thing if it doesn't suit! 
On the left is the soft old wood that I picked and the right is after the bleach soak and some cutting to shape. I picked this wood because it was semi-rotted inside but a hard shell outside so that it was easier to remove the interior. The bleach does take the color out and makes it look like entrails but I know the color comes back soon enough once it's in the tank. 
Going okay but it still took about an hour of fussing and chewing wood to get it shaped. Still looking for that better idea but guess I will continue with this. Past efforts at using wood have worked okay for use but they have all been against the walls and I want this out more in the center of the tank. 
Several things get more difficult then. 
Things like hiding the cord but still having enough slack to pull the powerhead for cleaning? A battery operated powerhead would be neat but so far that hasn't shown on the market!


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## PfunMo (Jul 30, 2009)

I got the project to a point where I put it in the tank but then ran into trouble. My quessimate of how much weight to add was off and it was trying to tip over/float. In other wood projects, I have learned to strap weight to the item to get a real idea of how much is required but my normal is not working for what I want on this one. I want to be able to pull the wood and weight so that I can clear the impeller when needed. And I want to do it without ripping out lots of substrate and roots. My normal of adding tile to the bottom makes the wood easy to place but it also makes a real mess to remove so this was going to be different. 
That left me wanting to add weight inside the wood rather than outside but it turns out my guess of how much weight was needed is too small. So there is a delay while more concrete sets up and gets ready for the tank. 
This is the part where I was looking for a better idea??/


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## Samadhikash (Jun 16, 2015)

I'm going to toss this out for the sake of brainstorm fodder, if nothing else....
If I'm envisioning this correctly, sitting in the middle of the tank away from all the walls, I wonder if magnets might provide some kind of solution. Choose a heavy rock that will be mostly buried, attach a magnet to the top of the rock peeking out of the substrate. Then attach a magnet to the bottom of your piece of driftwood and connect. Might have to reach in with something to press down on the rock to keep it from pulling up when you separate the magnets for maintenance, but if you found a Goldilocks magnet that both held and wasn't ridiculous to separate.... 
The part that I'm really unsure of is how to effectively secure the magnets, especially to the wood. Might be a nifty solution if you could resolve that part. My original thought was silicone, but I'm not at all sure how that would adhere to wet, soft, deteriorating wood. They make magnets with holes and in all kinds of configurations.
IDK, never done it. Like I said, for the sake of brainstorm fodder.


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## PfunMo (Jul 30, 2009)

Thanks for the thought! Brainstorm fodder is part of what I was hoping to get. I work in an area where brainstorms are considered very much top notch work---especially when they do work. Mostly I was hoping for a totally new approach for mounting and hiding powerheads, but as none have come up so far, I'm going ahead with using some of what I've done before. Wood is one of the easier items for me to find and work, so that part is okay but I would consider other methods entirely if they came around. 
Magnets to stick things in place does have some real value. If a guy thought far enough in advance to slap the first magnets to the bottom of the tank, something as simple as silicone or glue could set them in place to pull against the bottom of the setup. Setting magnets to the bottom of the wood is reasonable as they are soft and drill pretty well. That makes mounting one or more to the bottom of the wood easy enough to simply screw on. Making a "sandwich" of magnet and metal is one way I've seen to improve the grip. 
This is a cable mounting bracket that might make that work. 
Thanks for the brain wakeup call!


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## PfunMo (Jul 30, 2009)

Sometimes the simple solution was right there all the time!
While playing with the magnet idea, I came around to a really simple way to mount this wood and still leave it easy to pull the powerhead when it needs work. I started with the basic idea that I needed the powerhead about in the center of the tanks to give some movement around a big sword that blocks flow. 
So with the wood all cutout, bleached and dried, I was ready. So why not just cut it to the right height to wedge it under the center brace. DUH! 
It is not so light that it will float, just not heavy enough to set down firmly at this point. But putting it under the brace also gives me a good place to strap the wire up out of sight. 
Finished ---except explaining it all to the fish. That and the full time job of trimming the weeds? 
Maybe I should include waiting for the normal wood color to come back?


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## caldwelldaniel26 (Jun 11, 2017)

Nice, work my friend, very impressive.


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