DIY Common BN breeding cave?

mr.bigglesworth

mr.bigglesworth

AC Members
Feb 19, 2012
285
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Norcal, East Bay Area
Real Name
Ryan
I cant afford to buy 1 unless its local, so I was hoping some people could help give me some ideas on how to make one? A little birdy told me that the caves entrance should be exactly the width of the males head and it should be 4x the length of his body. 4x SL or TL? Any chance I can cut that length in half, its gonna be a little hard to make a 20" long breeding cave in a 48" planted tank? I need it to be hidden, unless theirs a way to make it showy. No ugly plastic cans unless I can hide it in the tank. And please dont refer me to that website where the guy makes them custom through fired clay... I already know about it, just to expensive. I just know that somebody is going to link me that website...
 
You can use aquarium safe silicone to glue rocks, etc onto pvc pipes or get a non-toxic hair net and glue that around it with some moss or riccia to make a plant like cave area. Takes some time, but pretty cheap and looks nice. I have one with long pieces of slate glued onto it and one plant one. Planning on making more when I have time.
 
You could slice up some long pvc and silicone, aq safe of course, sand/rocks/wood to it to give it a natural look.
 
I use PVC pipe as other have mentioned and just toss them into the tank. I don't try to hide or disguise them and the fish still use them.

It was cheaper to buy a 10' section than to buy just what I wanted. I will always find uses for the extra. It was $12 for what I needed and $4 for a 10' section.
 
IMO---The pipes are too "White". I use clay flower pots.
 
Pleco quite often have their tails outside the cave, waving back and forth to keep the water fresh inside the cave.

Tile stores sell 3" x 6" tiles. Ask them to cut two in half for you. They have tile cutters and it only takes a few seconds. Find a single 1.5" x 1.5" or 2" x 2" small tile to plug one end. Even if you have to purchase three of the tiles, you should still have only about a $1 invested.
Silicone or Gorilla glue those pieces into a box. Rough sides inside.
Silicone or Gorilla glue the small tile to the end of the box you made.
Let cure for a couple of days.
 
coconut shells cut in half.
 
You don't need 4x SL for your caves. I think 2.5 to 2x is fine.

If you can find wide diameter bamboo that is a good option for caves. Gray PVC may be a little easier to hide than white.
 
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