Glue okay in the aquarium?

[Rava]

So I bought a Whisper filter and put it in my 5 gallon tank yesterday. I was delighted with how quiet the filter is, but disappointed it is so large. It takes up a whole back corner of the tank. I'm kind of concerned about the 'suction', too, as it's pulled the (lightly weighted) thermometer to it! Anyway, I'd like to try and put some plants in front of it. I'm a visual person, so I'm gonna try and give you a visual representation of what I'm aiming to do... (And I promise I'll get to the glue part!)

Please note the plant in the far left side of the tank (this is where the filter is now):

I took apart that plant partially. It's fake, and has a number of small stems (with the bases of the leaves stacked on each stem) coming from one larger chunk of plastic material. So I can cut each little stem off, ending up with individual leaf stocks that actually stand up on their own...

My sister volunteered to make a little wall of plants, using these stems, to form a semi-circle blocking the filter from view (mostly). Her idea was to glue each stem to a sort of washer (though I just realized I can't have metal in the tank so we'll have to find something else!). So is any type of glue safe to use in the tank? Any ideas for something weighted and flat to glue the stems to?

And no way would I just go out and buy another plant!! :laugh:

 

[sdb]

You can only use aquarium silicone, or pure silicone that says it's safe for fish tanks. Otherwise you'll poison your fish. They sell it at fish stores and some hardware stores.
You can buy weights for plants, go check your LFS. They may have some in stock. I don't know what kind of metal would be safe, if any.
Make sure you don't totally block your intake valve for your filter. It needs to be able to draw water from all areas of the tank, so if it's boxed in a corner by plants, only taking water from that corner, you may end up with problems.

Hope this helps a little.

 

[happychem]

I agree, make sure that you have some water circulation from the filter, if you create a stagnant zone, you'll defeat the purpose of the filter.

You can put a filter sponge over the intake to spread out the suction. I do this on all my filters to keep them from sucking up plant leaves, works like a charm. Leaves will still get stuck to the sponge from time to time, but at no detriment to them.

And yeah, silicone. As for the weight, you could also use small rocks or a piece of slate.

 

[FishKeeper-16]

I would recommend using aquarium cement b/c I think it is fish-safe when ot it is dry and fully sets up, but aquarium cement can be expensive. :idea2:

 

[anonapersona]

wrong approach

I think you need to add a black background to the back of the tank and then the filter will not be so noticable. Posterboard will work until it gets wet, vinyl aquarium backing is better and sticks nicely with a bit of vegetable oil (not Baby Oil!) then use a credit card to smooth bubbles out of it for a flat finish.

Blocking the filter is a bad idea.

 

[Rava]

No, no, I know I can't block the intake... The instructions say to leave a 1/2 inch clearance or something, and that's what I intend to leave (if not more). It won't block anything. Using a rock as an anchor isn't a bad idea at all...

And thank you Anona! I hadn't thought of that! Will dig around and see what I can find in way of one.