What are some nuts I can use as caves in a blackwater setup?

[Blackwater guru]

I currently have 2 german blue ram cichlids in my 145 liter blackwater biotope setup but I have had issues with the two of them a male and a female being slightly territorial and somewhat agressive to each other when one of them get's too close or when it's feeding time when they tend to fight.

I have been researching about the native enviroments of these fish where organic materials tends to fall down such as brazil nuts and fruits such as the guava fruit that is native to Brazil.

This is why It would obviously be a good idea to provide some more hiding spaces besides the plants, rocks , and driftwood.

The only problem is that I am unsure which commonly available species of nuts are native to the region of the amazon river except for the brazil nut.

What do you suggest?

 

[Irksome]

Cacao! If you can get cacoa pods that are organic than that would work. Wild cacao is all over the amazon. Avocado skins are tough but may beak down too fast. Coconut is not native but is now grown in almost every riverside settlement on the amazon nearly to its source so don’t feel too bad is that is all you can find. Il try and think of others but some nuts like cashew have very poisonous shells so research any you can think of.

 

[Barry Tetra]

Cacao! If you can get cacoa pods that are organic than that would work. Wild cacao is all over the amazon. Avocado skins are tough but may beak down too fast. Coconut is not native but is now grown in almost every riverside settlement on the amazon nearly to its source so don’t feel too bad is that is all you can find. Il try and think of others but some nuts like cashew have very poisonous shells so research any you can think of.

As Irksome said, be sure to wash it before put in the tank

 

[Blackwater guru]

As Irksome said, be sure to wash it before put in the tank

I tried googling for websites where I could buy cocoa husks or even a whole cocoa nut but I could simply not find any swedish websites that offered anything besides the raw cocoa beans or the powder.

I also tried googling for brazil nuts but I could only find websites selling the contents of the nut and not the entire nut or even just the husk.

Coconuts are much more widely available where I live so it would be easier for me to obtain it than ordering from overseas because it would be too expensive especially with the shipping costs.

 

[Irksome]

eBay has some available from international sellers, they might sell to Sweden.... but it is expensive. In Britain they are sold for decorative purposes for shop displays and craft. Etsy also sells them but I don’t know if you have that site.

 

[seangee]

You should see some coconut shells in my signature pic. I can't remember where I got them but it was most likely Amazon or eBay (UK sites). these were in a group of 3 and already cut and cleaned with little doors cut out. Of course I did clean them again. You can buy coconut in the supermarkets but this was an easy option.

Another good option for caves is black PVC pipe. You can be quite creative about how you hide or disguise these.

 

[Colin_T]

I'm a nut, a pecan.

I'm a little tea pot short and stout. Here is my handle, don't touch it or willy will pop out