Water Effects Questions

I'm in the planning stages of making my Haemonculi Coven (The Symphony of Flesh).

One that I'm still working out the plans for is The Vivisectionist, who after getting killed (again) doesn't want to wait around for his regeneration to finish before going out to get more specimens. So his has his minions attach his regeneration capsule to a combat frame.

I want to model him as a creepy Haemonculi-fetus-thing in a life-support tube (anyone who has seen Guillermo del Toro's The Devil's Backbone knows what I'm going for). The tube is carried by a sort of spider-mech frame based around bits from the Talos/Cronos kit.

As I see it, the best way to do this is to use water effects to suspend the haemonculi in a plastic tube. But everything I have seen water effects used for involves creating "surface" effects like puddles or the surfaces of a body of water, not a vertical, transparent container about 1 cm in diameter and 2 cm high. So I'm concerned about how thick a layer can be applied at a time, visible separation between layers, etc.

Anyone here with experience using water effects that can direct me to some information? Are certain brands or types better suited to this use? I'm on a fixed income, so I don't to spend too much while experimenting to find something that works.

Thanks in advance!

I don't know about water effects as I, too, have only seen it used on flat surfaces. However you might want to consider clear resin instead of water effects. It's not as easy to use as water effects, but it can be used in very thick layers given enough time to dry. People with model trains like to use it for deep water like in harbors of lakes.