View Full Version : how to make a coconut cave?
lizziotti
03-03-2007, 10:22 PM
I did a search for how to make a coconut cave and found some links but all of them seemed to be dead. Can someone please tell me the steps on making a coconut cave? Thank you!
WeeNe858
03-03-2007, 10:37 PM
Locate the nearest Petsmart
Find the item
Ring it up
Put it in your tank
DBray6
03-03-2007, 11:03 PM
LOL...
I bought a coconut at the grocery store, drilled two holes in the coconut at opposite side to drill the liquid out. I then cut it in half with my dremel rotary saw (coconuts are very hard shelled things). Let it sit on the counter for 3 or 4 hours and the meat should pry out quite easily. I sanded the hairy stuff off the outside and boiled it in the crock pot for 2 or 3 days.
Shelby_Tempo_GT
03-03-2007, 11:08 PM
Locate the nearest Petsmart
Find the item
Ring it up
Put it in your tank
best advice I've heard all day!
:joke:
lizziotti
03-04-2007, 7:49 AM
Locate the nearest Petsmart
Find the item
Ring it up
Put it in your tank
:bowing: Wow how funny, I didn't even realize they sold them HA HA!
Blueiz
03-04-2007, 8:06 AM
There is an excellent set of instructions for building one..and its easy. Now if I could jus remeber were I saw them at, or who did them...
Let me look around a bit and Ill see what I can find.
Blue
Edit: So, I found the excellent article, and its not available anymore..:(
Just made one last night similar to the cichlid breeding pots/pods. ( http://www.rosenthalpottery.com/cavecatalog.html ) It's whole with a 1.5" diameter hole in the top. Never did a whole one before, always halfs, so there might be a more efficient way of doing it...
The steps I took:
1. Punch hole into all 3 natural soft spots on the top of the coconut. I used a sterilized nail and a hammer because I planned on eating the coconut meat on the inside and didn't want to contaminate it with a drill bit.
2. Drain liquid out. Out of a large coconut, I got almost a cup and a half. I wanted the coconut whole, so I blew out the liquid like you would do egg yolks if you wanted to keep the eggshell. Easier way to do this would have been to drill hole on each end of the coconut, but I didn't want the coconut to leak when I was done. So it was me blowing into 1 hole, while the juice spurted out the other two, an inch from my nose.
3. After liquid is gone (shake coconut, if you hear water, there's still some in there), put coconut into lap with dishtowel over the 3 drilled holes. Hit the center area between the holes sharply with a hammer. If you put the coconut on the ground and smack it, you will crack the nut in half (if 2 halves are your goal, put the nut on the cement and smack it very hard on the equator. It will not split cleanly. If you want a clean cut, saw it in half with a handsaw). Your lap absorbs the majority of the energy, so you won't break the nut in half, or crack it down the side. You should eventually end up with a hole about the diameter of the hammer head. Dig meat out with a butterknife. If you don't plan on eating the meat, put your coconut into the fridge at this point for a few days. This loosens the meat from the inside of the nut because fridges pull out the moisture inside the meat, causing it to dry and peel off the sides of the nut much more easily than fresh coconut. Dig out dried meat with a butterknife.
4. Shape hole with a Dremel, sandpaper, or leave it natural. Just make sure there are no sharp edges to cut fins.
5. If you want a half nut cave, saw the coconut in half, and shape a "door" with a Dremel. I've also bashed a "door" hole into the half-nut with a hammer, but you risk cracking the nut.
6. Clean off any nut dust and the hairy bits if you don't like them (I like the natural look, though I assume most of the husk will come off when I boil it). Boil the nut to release tannins, treat it the same as you would any driftwood.
Shelby_Tempo_GT
03-04-2007, 7:58 PM
Your lap absorbs the majority of the energy, so you won't break the nut in half, or crack it down the side.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHHA!!!!!!!
So you're saying that using a hammer to hit something in your lap WON'T crack a nut?
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
blackwolfXKAV
03-04-2007, 8:02 PM
Hmmmn, I'll have to follow this thread...
I've got several shells lying around from various trips to the carribean.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHHA!!!!!!!
So you're saying that using a hammer to hit something in your lap WON'T crack a nut?
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
Since I am of the female persuasion, I'd have to answer, no. I won't crack a nut....or two.
makhcd
03-06-2007, 11:09 PM
how do you treat driftwood?
http://www.aqua-fish.net/show.php?cur_lang=2&what=article&id=67
I found this and wouldn't mind knowing what anyone else has to say about the way they propose to treat the wood.
I have access to heaps of dried out grape vine stumps that have been pulled out and I'm wanting to create/find a centre piece for my tank. They look fantastic and have twists and hide spots every where.
Be careful with grape vine, I've read that they rot and get a fungus that you will not be able to remove from the vine.
Thanks for the tip, I just did some research and it appears you are right.
Might just have to buy some after all. I was really happy with what I had oh well. Better to find out now rather than later.