Tips on making caves
- Thread starter Matt_B
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The most natural ways of making caves are probably by stacking various pieces of driftwood or rocks, on top of, and beside, each other. A combination of the two would look great! Slate rock and Mopani driftwood would probably be best for this, because mopani comes in arching shapes, already creating a 'from' of cave. Stacking them and adding rocks would make a really nice display!
A Flower pot laying down on it's side is also very good, but i'd prefer the above method because with a flowerpot, you only get 1 cave, and compared to how much area the flowerpot takes up and in the same amount of area how many caves you'd get with driftwood, the driftwood would ideally provide more caves for your fish.
Be careful with driftwoods and rocks though, because some may alter your PH.
There are also ways to make caves out of styrofoam. You should check out the DIY section for some cave ideas. The good thing about making them from styrofoam is that you'll get the shape you want, but it's a bit more time consuming
I've seen PVC piping used as longer, slender caves for fish like loaches and bichirs.
A Flower pot laying down on it's side is also very good, but i'd prefer the above method because with a flowerpot, you only get 1 cave, and compared to how much area the flowerpot takes up and in the same amount of area how many caves you'd get with driftwood, the driftwood would ideally provide more caves for your fish.
Be careful with driftwoods and rocks though, because some may alter your PH.
There are also ways to make caves out of styrofoam. You should check out the DIY section for some cave ideas. The good thing about making them from styrofoam is that you'll get the shape you want, but it's a bit more time consuming
I've seen PVC piping used as longer, slender caves for fish like loaches and bichirs.
Rocks and slate definitely make the best caves. You have to be careful stacking them though and not build something that could be easily knocked over and break the glass or crush a fish. You can use aquarium-safe silicone to glue them together.
Also, be careful not to leave places a fish can get trapped. I had a cory that got stuck between 2 rocks a while back. I don't have a clue how he got where he did but if my wife hadn't seen him and moved the rock, he would have probably died.
Another thing that looks good is to actually put the rocks and spate in before you add your gravel/sand so that it covers them and basically hides the rocks and slate. I have seen a couple tanks like that and they looked really good.
As for the flower pots, I don't like the look of the terra cotta clay in the tank. A former member here was actually using silicone and glueing sand on the pots so they blended in with the sand substrate. Didn't see any pics but sounds like it would look better.
Also, be careful not to leave places a fish can get trapped. I had a cory that got stuck between 2 rocks a while back. I don't have a clue how he got where he did but if my wife hadn't seen him and moved the rock, he would have probably died.
Another thing that looks good is to actually put the rocks and spate in before you add your gravel/sand so that it covers them and basically hides the rocks and slate. I have seen a couple tanks like that and they looked really good.
As for the flower pots, I don't like the look of the terra cotta clay in the tank. A former member here was actually using silicone and glueing sand on the pots so they blended in with the sand substrate. Didn't see any pics but sounds like it would look better.
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