Caves Tunnels. Are They Really Good ?

[PlumbersMerchant]

Hello everyone, ive been doing research into aquascaping tanks and adding tunnels and caves etc but have a question i dont think has been covered so far and cant seem to find anything near to it.
 
bear with me just a minute please...
 
Imagine, you have your substrate sorted, layout of rocks/wood, tunnels/caves placed. Sand/ Gravel ontop and plants that are thriving. Fish have been introduced and are loving their new home. How would you clean the tunnel/cave without moving everything about ? Wont it get filled up with poo or bits of rotten plants/debris ?
 
any comments would be appreciated (or links to threads that cover this)
 
Thanks in Advance

 

[David J]

Good question. I've been wondering this too as I'm about to get everything set up and don't relish the thought of moving everything every week.

 

[techen]

You couldn't clean it unless you removed it. It's recommened you remove your wood etc once a month to clean away the poo else it builds up.

 

[PlumbersMerchant]

So really you want to try and create a look that is easy to dismantle and replace yet effective ?


What if you put a tube doan and syphoned it off that way ? this is in relation to the cave tunnel systems. any idea ?

 

[BerryAttack]

this is just an idea ... when cleaning put a powerful bubblier into the tube so there is current and then it should flush everything out and boom you got it out.. but then you have to suck it up with the vacuum and it should keep the look you want, but there will be sand that is most likely moved and all you have to do it move it back.

 

[balraj_bangar]

You could move your filter around the tank. I move mine in the fry tank... I got a stingray filter and its just loose. I move it different corners and lift lid and turn the filter into the gravel and the flow from the pump really does ring up a lot of rubbish!

I then net the water and let it settle.... Beats walking the dog haha!

 

[eaglesaquarium]

Caves are essential for some fish to truly be content and feel secure in their new home.  In my own situation, I had some shelters that I thought were good enough for the fish, but they didn't seem to appreciate.  Then I created a different style cave/tunnel (lean-to with two small pieces of slate, and a cave that my fish dug out under a large piece of mopani.  A few weeks later I noticed a few cory fry showing up in my tank.  
 
 
I clean out the areas under these caves about once a month.  The fish are a little pissed off about it.  My BN pleco was seemingly very angry about my moving his mopani and vaccing his shelter, and he proceeded to create several large drifts and valleys around the tank the night after...  He must have been kicking up some serious sand with the amount of excavation he made that night.  Overall though, the fish seem much more secure in the tank with the caves and tunnels... clean up is a breeze when you think about the benefits from the fish's perspective.

 

[jocie1976]

I used to have undergravel tunnels made out of pvc pipe for my plecos to hide in. We usually didn't clean them and there never seemed to be much build up of waste because of water current. When I wanted to clean them though, I would just take my syphon and insert it into the tube. Never got much out of them though so stopped doing it. My tunnels were kind of cpmplex though and turns in them that made getting anything into them very hard. I wouldn't worry too much about it if you have good enough current. Fish swimming in and out of them seem to stir them up enough.

 

[PlumbersMerchant]

cheers for the help.
 
as for filters, could you put 2 in the same tank ? Meaning if i got my new tank, could i put the filter (containing my good bacteria etc of 1 year) and water into it and add new, would this balance out so i could put my fish in it straight away ?
i know about the cycle's without fish so i would do that first but after the month is up and my parameters settled do you think it would be ok ?

 

[BigFish01]

as long as your filter is cycled for the fish your putting in then i would say yes you would be ok. I wouldnt add any additional fish right away though. maybe wait a couple weeks and keep checking your water stats to be sure. And dont let your filter media dry out!

Oh and on your original subject, I just hook my hose to my powerhead and blow the crap out of the rocks and hidey holes.. then let it settle for a few and vac it up. Easy as that even in a bigger tank

 

[PlumbersMerchant]

Cheers for all the replies, given me a lot of good advice

 

[greenmumma141]

I have a cave that i build into the hill in my tank and another that is just one way in and out, so when im vacuuming the tank, i use a turkey baster to blast air into the cave, and vacuum whatever debris comes flying out. Seems to work really well, just make sure there are no fish in the cave when you do this, I caught a cory by accident once, and he was pretty upset lol.