Forget spending $20 at the pet store. I was at my local thrift store and they had a shelf of silk plants, bags full for $.99 ea! So i picked up a couple bags, went home and broke out my hot glue gun



Here's my work area. You can see the two types of plants I got. I used some plyers to cut all the plant away from its "stump" and sorted out which pieces I would end up using. It worked out real well because all the plants have a metal core which makes them hold their shape.

I decided to use some PVC, and drill holes in it to help hold the plants upright. I used 3/4" PVC and cut a short piece, then cut that piece in half to form two sections to use. I then started to drill holes in area's where I would want plant.



My idea was to take the two pieces of 1/2 PVC and place them in a L shape, so you can see i have the piece notched to fit the other piece. After drilling my holes I started to place the plants into the PVC and secure them with a small dab of hot glue. I also used hot glue to fit my two pieces of PVC and form the L.





After securing all the plants and letting the glue harden, I started to form the plants and setup their arrangement. The final product came out great!







Overall I think im into the project at $6 total, and have plenty of plant left over for more!

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Pretty neat!Be careful with the wire,though,it may rust in the tank.

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http://bountifulbettas.blogspot.com/

"Come to the dark side....we have cookies...and filters/heaters/and water changes!"

Well done! And agreed about the wire.

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100G->African Cichlids:Kribensis-2,Bumblebee-2,Red Zebra-2,Elec. Yel. Labi.-2, Acei-2, Elec. Blu. Johanni-2,Peacocks-2 / Community: Australian Rainbow-3,Turquoise Rainbow-4,Dalmatian Mollies-2,white molly-1,Dojo Loaches-1/Cleaners:Chinese Algea Eaters-5/Murderers: Dinosaur Bichir-1And lots of other tanks,2-Gourims,6-Rams,1-Arrowanna,6-FW Flounder,1-Farlowella CF, 1-Spiney Eel

Do you think the wire will pose a risk inside the tank? My buddy brought it up when I was buying the stuff, but I just shrugged it off. I am hoping alot of the wire will be covered and not exposed, but even if it did start to rust, what type of issues can I expect to encounter?

I havent put it in my tank just yet. I think i will coat the PVC with some type of glue, and cover it with sand to match my substrate.

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I was going to suggest to make sure all broken plastic surfaces be sealed with your silicone to prevent the wire inside from rusting but someone sorta already beat me to it. I don't know what rust does to the fish but it couldn't be good.

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I dont think rust would be good for the fish honestly.I agree,seal the exposed wires with silicon.Also adding sand to the PVC would look quite nice.

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http://bountifulbettas.blogspot.com/

"Come to the dark side....we have cookies...and filters/heaters/and water changes!"

thats a cool idea, and by the way its looks great better than what you can buy in a store i think

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What happens if you get scared half to death, twice?

Thanks for the inspiration. I ran out to the store this last weekend and made some of my own.

Thanks Your tank looks great.

I never got around to putting this piece in my tank. I was scared by the metal, and have since made other pieces using only plastic. It is not hard to remove the metal from the plant, and when they are in the water they really don't need it anyway.

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True, I couldn't find any breaks or exposed metal, so I just left them with the wire cores in place. I'll check back in a month or two for breaks or exposed metal.

I pulled all the vine out of my tank, it had metal and all the exposed ends showed signs of rust. Not only that, but the plastic was discolored like the rust was spreading and flaking...

I have another smaller plant I made from pieces of the vine, I used my hot glue gun and covered the exposed ends and placed it back in the tank.

I went to this other thrift store and found some silk plant that has no wire at all. The plant itself is made of plastic chain, that acts as the stem... and the leaves branch of each chain link and hide the chain real well. Looks like a ton of vine woven together, not a spot of metal on it. I should be able to come up with some cool stuff with it, expecially around caves and stuff

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I knew that fake plant and hot glue idea would work great, then Sub stole it from me :P

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- 10 Gallon -
1 - Spotted Puffer
1 - Dalmatian Molly
1 - Pleco
fake plants and custom fixture

- 55 Gallon Acrylic -
1 - Bala Shark
2 - Plecos
2 - Black Skirt Tetras
5 - Guppies
2 - Guppy Fry (in custom nursery box)
1 - Koi Angel
1 - Brown Knifefish
1 - Golden Lyretail Molly
1 - Black Molly
2 - African Dwarf Frogs
All live plants and a custom fixture

- 55 Gallon Glass-
1 - unknown south american freshwater fish

That's what I did. I covered any exposed tips with glue.

Thanks for the idea! I made myself some today, however I ditched the glue and used plastic wire ties

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55 Gal Planted Community Tank
50 Gal Sand Planted Bronze Cory Tank
20 Gal Planted RCS Tank
20 Gal PlantTank "Beaslbob"
20 Gal Planted RCS Tank
20 Gal Platy Breeding Tank
15 Gal Electric Blue Crayfish Breeding Tank
15 Gal Platy Breeding Tank
(3) 15 Gal Planted RCS Tanks
10 Gal Planted Golden Mystery Snail Breeding Tank
10 Gal Planted RCS Tank
10 Gal Swordtail Tank
10 Gal Endler Tank
5 Gal RCS Display Tank
4 15 Gal RCS Tanks (Waiting to stock)
2 20 Gal Longs (Waiting to stock)

I'd be just as concerned about the dye in the plants leaching out into the tank and poisoning the fish as I would be about the metal wire in them rusting...

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My 30 gallon planted freshwater - CONSTANTLY CHANGING