Hand-made Rock Archways & Decorations & Caves

[PintoHawk]

I am very craft-inclined and a DIY-er deep down. I decided to try creating my own rock archways and decoratons for my tanks, and I am getting a little carried away, LOL

This sort of idea (not my design): http://www.e-aquarium.com.au/images/Granite_Archway_1.jpg

I have been putting them together this past couple nights, using colored natural stones from my area, and they look REALLY nice. Some are smaller and more delicate, some are larger and more bold looking. I am going to try doing some caves today, I think. I am using aquarium-safe silicone to glue the pieces together. They look awesome, did I mention that yet? http://albertaaquatica.com/style_emoticons/default/smile.gif

I will try and get some photos up tonight, and if anyone is interested, maybe I can start selling them. They are really cheap to make, so the prices will be very low. Low price is good. Very good.

I will update this thread again later. http://albertaaquatica.com/style_emoticons/default/smile.gif If there is any potential interest, please post below.

[Melody]

Shipping costs would be the only catch - rocks tend to be heavy :laugh: . You can try posting them on the auction - we can't actually solicite orders/sales on the boards. Can't wait to see them!

[PintoHawk]

Alright, I will post them in the auction when they are ready and worthy. ;) Sorry about that, Melody. :)

I was worried about shipping costs, yes. Probably worth it to order with a friend in your area and save some $.

[Melody]

Not a problem at all - we go back and forth about buying stuff inadvertently when pic's are posted or whatever, so it can be confusing.

Ground shipping might not be bad and really, store decorations are expensive so it would probably come out less or even with that. Don't forget to post pic's!

[PintoHawk]

I will get some pictures today, because the first batch of decorations are now 100% dry. I want to show them INside a tank. :)

[PintoHawk]

I do need help pricing these items, though... how can I find out what would be fair, or what would be appropriate pricing? I don't want to solicit inappropriately... but I don't want to post them for auction and find nobody wants them because I set it too high, or find out I have been selling them for waaay too low... trading for an item I need is one thing but if I can make a little extra cash selling, that would be better, to support my growing fish habits, LOL

I searched eBay, I googled for pet stores across Canada that would carry such an item, and found only TWO items that looked like the product I am hoping to make/trade/sell. I was a little stuck on how to price them, so I thought I would ask other aquarium enthusiasts about their opinion on costs, or how much they'd be willing to spend considering the shipping. It made sense to me, but I don't want to get in trouble.

[CACAdmin]

Suggestions:

Broaden your search: Try googling 'aquarium ornament'.
Don't limit yourself to checking just Canadian fish stores.
Check Aquabid.
Make one or two, list them on the auction. If they don't sell, you can always relist at a lower price if you choose.Hope that helps.

[PintoHawk]

Excellent suggestions, thank you!

I found aquabid.com and that was a good link, thanks. I had no idea it even existed. Much appreciated.

I have tried googling "aquarium ornaments" and such but I will do it all again, different words, different search engines, etc.

Thanks!