Have this crazy idea to sink a ship. In my aquarium.

[nuclrhorseradish]

I think this would make for an awesome landscape for my tank, but begs a couple of questions right off the bat. Aside from not needing to have a perfect paintjob - I am concerned about paints,decals, and glues breaking down in a live aquarium and really messing up my water column. This is a freshwater tank. Does any out here have any knowledge about the durability of paints and glues and if (or when) they would breakdown?

Next. If , in fact, this were feasible would some sort of spray on or dunkable solution for the entire model to seal it? I dunno if future would work or not. Ammonia breaks it down, and there are trace bits of ammonia in the water column, but I cant imagine by itself that would do it.

Any thoughts or am I having a pipe dream?

Apologies if this is in the wrong forum area.

Cheers!

--Josh

[MareNostrum]

I am concerned about paints,decals, and glues breaking down in a live aquarium and really messing up my water column.

Well, those are the things to be concerned about... The idea's tempting, but best left to the imagination, due to leaching of all that stuff. Not healthy for the indigenous population. Aquarium decorations should only consist of stable, inert materials, such as rocks, coral, and ceramic frogmen and mermaids. Plastic plants okay too. Yeah, not so dramatic as a sunken 1/350 scale U-boat, but then again the fishies won't be going belly up, you want to avoid that effect.

[Timmy C]

Alternative: put the model in a weighted, watertight, clear box within the aquarium tank.

[BombMagnet]

Awesome idea! Perhaps the "non-toxic" brands of paint might work, like Vallejo, AK, or Italeri. Tamiya, Gunze, and Model Master, while acrylic, are still solvent based.

[Hallis]

I think it'd be ok as long as whenever you're done assembling/painting that you coat the heck out of it with some kind of coating that will be safe. Use that as a sealant. And I mean go with many coats and go heavy. I've not researched what you might use but there has to be plenty of stuff and information out there given how popular both fresh water and marine aquariums are.

[nuclrhorseradish]

I could arguably skip the paint job, although if this isn't an situation calling for extreme weathering, I'm not sure what is. That said, its the adhesives that are the standout danger on second look. Really binary thinking tells me that if the products in question arent water soluble then it becomes a non issue. Is that thinking flawed? Would it still be flawed with the addition of a RODI system to the tank?

I do like the idea of the weighted box, but it would really impact the aesthetic effect I would be after, not to mention removing the ability for critters to use the 'wreck' as a natural 'reef' area like they would in a real ocean scenario. Granted the scales arent even remotely close comparing real life to a 40 gallon tank in terms of ratio of paint to water volume, currents, etc, but are there any marine biologists out there that can comment on impact of a sunken ship in the real world to the localized marine life?

[sgtryan13]

Depending on the size and complexity of the model you want to sink, you could use silicone in place of the model adhesive. Then you have no worries about contamination from the adhesive at least.

[scottj]

Based on my experience with items in a fresh water tank another concern is how you would clean the model of the inevitable gunk that would build up on it.

[nuclrhorseradish]

Im hoping the army of amanos and otos will do their share of cleanup combined with staying on top of water changes and some excel should be fine. The tank stays pretty clear, and the algae outbreaks Ive had have been fairly minor. And really, a little algae and moss on it will add some nice effects I think.

[BombMagnet]

Im hoping the army of amanos and otos will do their share of cleanup combined with staying on top of water changes and some excel should be fine. The tank stays pretty clear, and the algae outbreaks Ive had have been fairly minor. And really, a little algae and moss on it will add some nice effects I think.

Hey, it's at least worth a try. You can keep us posted on how it works out. Who knows, this could one day warrant its own thread!

[Evilhorde]

I don't think your idea is crazy at all.
Cyanoacrylate (crazy glue) is safe to use in a freshwater aquarium and you will just have to read the paint labels carefully to find a non-toxic type. If either of those things still makes you nervous you can coat the entire ship in clear Krylon fusion. Before you seal that hull up, do consider the bouyancy of plastic.

The reason I approve of your idea is that I have recently decided that I want to sink a lot of ships in my aquarium. I have been into aquariums for a number of years but I have never built a model ship. In my mind I am picturing a 40 gallon aquarium (4' long) with a full sand bottom, 6 or 7 sunken warships, maybe a submarine or two, some airplanes and assorted wreckage and debris. The water level will only fill 3/4 of the tank so that I will have room for some floating ships as well.

[nuclrhorseradish]

Good to know on the CA. Ill have to confirm toxicity, but sounds like it may be irrelevant with the fusion. Was going to do a couple of test runs with some styrene boxes painted and glued up then submerged in water for a few weeks after filling them with sand to check if there was any leakage and if any of the paints were breaking down. This input definitely is going to speed up my process.

Thanks for the thoughts.

[Pagodaphile]

I think you are on the right track with trial and error, but perhaps you could experiment on the fish end of the problem as well. As you must know, certain varieties of tank fish are pretty hearty and forgiving to neglect in tank chemistry...while others will belly up when you look at them the wrong way

You could start with a "test" tank & model with a couple of the tough guys mentioned above, then work your way up to those that you consider the more finicky breeds.

Some other thoughts..... increase your water change frequency and try an untreated wooden model.

[nuclrhorseradish]

Thought Id share some CA research I found. Its from Princeton, Ill buy it. If its OK for coral frags, Im feeling pretty good about the Otos chances.

http://www.princeton.edu/~achaney/tmve/ ... ylate.html

"Cyanoacrylate glue's ability to resist water has made it popular with marine aquarium hobbyists for fragging corals. The cut branches of hard corals such as Acropora can be glued to a piece of live rock (harvested reef coral) or Milliput (epoxy putty) to allow the new frag to grow out. In fact, it is actually safe to use directly in the tank, unlike silicone, which must be cured to be safe."

[MareNostrum]

Just happened to stumble across this, FYI... http://www.hyperscale.com/2007/features ... atak_1.htm