Fake Aquarium Plants

Store bought artificial aquarium plants are crazy expensive, low quality, and are very boring. Here is a way you can add a cheap, personalized, touch of colour to your aquarium!

Step 1: Gather Materials

For this project you will need:

• Artificial plants (make sure there are no exposed metal wires or glitter decorations. Only use plants made from nothing but silk and plastic)
• Silicone (must be 100% silicone, no additives or colour)
• Aquarium gravel (about a handful)
• Something to cap your silicone once you are done (I used a screw)
• A plastic cup

Step 2: Make a Base

The toughest part of making your own aquarium plants is making base. Here is my preferred method!

First, bend the base of the plant so that it can be stuck into something. Then, squeeze a bit of silicone into your cup. Once that is done, add a handful of gravel. Mix your silicone and gravel together until you get a lumpy, pasty texture. Place the plant in the middle of the cup and cover it with some of the mixture. Cap your silicone and wait 24 hours for the silicone to cure.

Step 3: Remove Plant

Once the silicone is cured, remove it from your cup by slicing down the side of the cup and unraveling it from around the silicone lump. Once you have removed it, you can cut away any stray strings of silicone that you think will come off in your aquarium. Once this was done, I let it dry for another 24 hours.

Step 4: You're Done!

Once your base has cured, you're done! I made this plant for my goldfish tank. The plant cost less than $4 to make, a third of the price of a store bought plant, and is completely original!

Thank you for reading through my instructables! if you have any questions please ask in the comments!

Comments

[rosoi]

Horror story! The plastic and paints from that could be poison to your fish, just do a proper setupfor your goldfish=> 4-7mm sand and REAL plants in pots, suiteble for goldfish and easy to grow are vallisneria sagittaria cryptocoryne... acorus, some river stones (hard stone) maybe some bamboo sticks as the goldfish is asian:)

[nanikgeorge]

Don't worry, that is my normal tank setup, the fake plant was just an experiment! The goldfish is still happy and alive, though he doesn't live with fake plant anymore, because he likes real ones better :). You can see my real potted plant in the background of the cover photo.

[AzelP]

Great idea! I will put it to use in the near future. Also broken clay pots make awesome decor for any aquarium just so you know

[nanikgeorge]

Thanks for recomending broken clay pots, I will definitely try them in the future!

[GGinNJ]

I get my plastic plants at AC. Moore. You can get quite a bunch and variety for 5 to 10 look in their floral section. Great idea of gluing the gravel. Usually I bend the stems and just wedge in the gravel. This way will make it faster easier to move them

[nanikgeorge]

Unfortunately I need the base. I have a goldfish who digs up everything! I will definetly try that in some of my other aquariums though, Thank you!

[GGinNJ]

Yeah, goldfish can be tough on plants. I bend the bottom into squatter sized circle. Sometimes that is enough for the bigger goldfish

[nanikgeorge]

Thank you for the idea, I will definetly try it soon! Autocorrect annoys me too :)

[GGinNJ]

That was quarter sized, not squatter sized.... Uggg autocorrect