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A couple years ago I've made a hidden places for my catfish from a flat ventilation channel made of white PVC. Black plastic would be better, but they have a white only. It's not dedicated for water supplies, but I have no problem with toxicity for fish or snails.
There is a little story:
This is the place for plastic "caves"

I've bought a PVC flat ventilation channel and cut it into the pieces

[IMG:799:578]http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a201/zzyx/cut2.jpg[/img]
I must completely destroy one side of my tank to remove stones and plants

and put plastic elements

plastic elements were accepted by the catfish very soon (there is a young Platydoras costatus inside the "cave") and they are visible from one side of the tank only

because I covered it with stones and plants, trying to restore the original layout

It works for 2 years without problems.
all the best
iwona

Nice idea - as the walls are thin, the caves do their job, without pushing out too muich water.

However, PVC is one of the very few plastic which do not float. Most other plastics would require the use of some rocks to keep te cave on the bottom

Bas Pels wrote:Nice idea - as the walls are thin, the caves do their job, without pushing out too muich water.

However, PVC is one of the very few plastic which do not float. Most other plastics would require the use of some rocks to keep te cave on the bottom

And depending on what pigment is used for the colouring and density of the plastic itself, even PVC may float (black PVC for example tends to float).

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Mats

you could sand it a bit, with coarse sandpaper.

a scratched surface is a benifit for algae and then the plastic blends in more easily with the rest of the tank. it also gives the moss you grow a handfast too. a mossy cave would look very nice.

Could even coat them in fine gravel or sand using silicone sealant.