Caves, shelters, tunnels

[Velvetgun]

Last night I was looking for caves on various specialized sites, as well as commercial ones like Amazon, Temu, etc.
The problem is that I hate anything that's obviously artificial and I'd be looking for something that feels "natural."
Besides building one out of rocks (I'm a little worried about possible injuries), do you have any other ideas?
What do have in your tanks ? photo please !!!
I'm not even a fan of chopped coconuts...

I was looking at this at the moment but it doesn't satisfy me at all, except for the fact of being able to see inside, but I wonder how annoying and unaesthetic it is to have the piece outside
cave magnetic

While browsing the products, I also found some shrimp shelters like this one
shelters shrimp

What do you think?

I've found countless tunnels that go under the seabed with all sorts of shapes and tricks, but my expert friend says it's a mess, with sand getting in, dirt you can't clean, and so on.
Do any of you have them?

sorry for my bad English sigh

 

[Beastije]

What fish are you interested in the cave/shelters? I think that is important to know

 

[Velvetgun]

Betta, japonica, corydoras

 

[Beastije]

Ok, well none of these fish require specific things or shelters, just plants, leaves, root systems, anything with shaded areas, those work well enough

If you were to be looking for breeding setups or stuff like that, sure, that would be different, but this is generically, some driftwood, some plants, plant roots, surface plants like pennywort from the bottom, even leaf litter works to hide some fish sufficiently. I have corydoras hiding under a large leaf I just dropped in the tank. Works ok

or a smaller leaf for a smaller fish

 

[Uberhoust]

I like to only use materials I collect in my tanks. For caves I have used logs and stumps that have rotted centers and cut them in half using a chainsaw. A band saw would likely work better but I don't have one of those. Below the large central angel is one of those pieces I have cut. It is open in the back and has two openings in the front the main one at the gravel and the one which is a hollowed root more mid elevation in the tank. Angels are not your typical hiding type fish but even the largest one will hide in this cave when very nervous. If I had clown loaches they would likely all be crammed into this cave. The picture is not new but I am still using this cut in half stump. I have used the other side of the stump to hide the water intake in the past but found it restricted the flow and maintainability too much for my liking.

 

[GaryE]

My old club had a trades guy who drilled holes through rocks for fish, and sold the rocks. It was a very specific skill for specific equipment, but it was easily hidden.
I go with coconut caves for my dwarf Cichlids. I let java moss cover the sides and position them with other wood so they don't look as much like huts as they could. They are easy to hide in the right set up, though you always want to see the door. I know you don't like them, but you can be creative with how you make them and where the openings are. As well , if you pick the right coconuts at the fruit store, you can get some decent shapes that blend more easily than 'perfect huts'.

 

[Velvetgun]

Some people have advised me against Java moss due to algae problems. Do you know what you think?

What do you think about hiding places for shrimp (if the betta allows it, I wouldn't mind in the future)?

And what about burrows under the sand?

 

[Beastije]

Moss simply should not be introduced to immature aquarium or where is a lot of competition. Then the algae happens. If you have low demanding plants OR introduce it to an established one, it is fine.

Burrowing tunnels are only for fish who enjoy them, like loaches I guess

 

[GaryE]

I have never really paid attention to shrimp, but with fish, I like water movement in a cave for general use. I like to have a flow, so you don't have dead areas oxygen-wise. The exception is my breeding caves, but there, adult fish fan.

What about a large piece of driftwood, with holes drilled in it? I've done that for tiny fish, and it's very easy to do with the right sized drill bit.