Caves And Hiding Places

[Peternub]

Other then using stone to make caves , are other ways to make caves for mid-large fish ( cheap is good)

 

[BethK]

I saw an idea on here (soz, can't remb who posted it) but slate from your local garden center. Break it up and build hides etc from that.

 

[Confish]

you could try coconut shells cut in half and obv lfs will sell pre made fake caves. but go for natural built caves like said above slate, rocks bogwood ect.

 

[BethK]

If you're willing to spend over £20, I found this on ebay;

Slate cave

 

[stuuk1]

If you're willing to spend over £20, I found this on ebay;

Slate cave

Ive been looking for things to add to my tank also, instead of the same old stuff from the LFS's. Ive done the coconut shells which are great! and look very natural. Never even though about the slate caves and will now look at buying some slate and making these myself! Ill just buy some sheet slate cut the pieces out and clue together with some black silicon.


Superb!

 

[OldMan47]

You can buy slate tiles as a floor covering material. If you tap lightly over and over along a line, the slate will crack and break along the line. Then you can indeed silicone the material together to make a cave. I made this one a while back for some kribs that I wanted to breed.

 

[chrisbassist]

Thought I'd add my caves as an idea.

Again using slate and sillycone...

this one has 2 large(ish) caves on the bottom, and a smaller one above.

The silicon still looks a bit messy, but in time it'll get dirty and algae covered and will look nicer. (and I was pretty messy with it anyway)

and the other:

next I'll be adding an upstairs on that one too.

 

[IAmATeaf]

chrisbassist that looks fantastic, I have some slate left over for my substrate and was wondering what to do with it. What type of silicone did you use? Just ordinary or special marine stuff?

 

[chrisbassist]

I used aquarium sealant. From my lfs.

Costs a little more than regular sealant but I'm happy knowing it's 100% safe.

You can use other sealants but some have additives which can be dangerous.

I just think it's nicer looking since it llooks more natural this way.

One tip, in the pics you can't tell too bad, but the clear sealant is really visible and looks White. Black may be less noticable.

 

[chrisbassist]

I added a small bit to one. It's completely separate so I can move it or use it on it's own, but now looks like this.

and while making it, I did something different.

I used less sealant than before, it's a lot tidyer, and once set, I turned it upside down, and made sure it was strong enough by adding more on the inside. Where you can't see it.

 

[IAmATeaf]

Looks nice, so in the time between your last reply and now you've built another cave whilst I've sat here thinking about what a great idea it would be to build a cave

 

[chrisbassist]

I had already started.

But the first one took longer, gathering sealant and the gun for it.

Now have lots of slate left over, bit don't need any more caves...

If you've got all the bits, just do it. Don't worry about getting it perfect. Slate in odd places will just make it look better.

 

[Ashley1991]

chrisbassist they look awesome!

how about a cut in half plant pot with some moss/plants covering it?

thats what i did but did not tie the moss down well and it floated to the top halfway through a water change lol

Ash

 

[OldMan47]

I have a few broken flower pot caves too Ashley-Laura, but I didn't want to start talking about using an old crackpot as a cave.

 

[onebto]

That is a great looking cave chrisbassist

Regards onebto