Best way to build a betta cave

[ral]

I am going to migrate my Betta from a 1.25 Gallon Jar to a new 5 Gallon tank I bought him. I was thinking of creating 3 types of environments for him. A densly planted section, a rock area with a cave and a clear are for him to swim freely in.

What is the best way to make a cave. Should I just use a pile of rocks? Kinda worried about a possible cave in.

 

[Raven]

You could cut a small terra cotta pot in half and lay it on it's side, bettas love to swim in and out of them!

 

[Arashi]

I'm with Raven, Terra Cotta pots work great! And if you want them to look a bit more natural you could can always use a tank safe glue and stick small rocks or pebbles to the outside of it.

But if you are looking for an even more natural look, you could try smaller pieces of slate. I use slate in almost all of my tanks, as it's very easy to make caves out of. Just as long as you keep it well anchored in the gravel, you shouldn't have any problems. I, personally, like to make "tents" out of them, by leaning three pieces against each other in a triangle shape...the fish love to swim through them and rest under them. And I haven't had a cave in with them yet, even when my large 6" Common Pleco would suck on the undersides all day.

 

[Seahorse]

I have a small pot in one of my tanks, but I am not sure how to cut it in half. If I could do that, that would be excellent.

 

[asparagus]

My husband bought a piece of pvc pipe from work and cut it to about 3 inches long. He's going ot file down the edges for me so make it smooth and Im going to put silk plants around it to "disguise it".
Sound ok?
asparagus

 

[Raven]

I'm sure it's fine, never used PVC pipe, but that does sound like a crafty idea.

 

[ral]

Looks like going the pre-built route is the way to go. Using rocks to build a cave woukd make it look nice, but am worried about the possibility of a squashed betta.

Thanks all.

 

[Sorrell]

I have PVC in one of my tanks and I glued gravel to it with silicone, works great