PVC Piping for Convict Breeding Setup

Rocketman

Rocketman

Detroit; proud of it.
Oct 24, 2002
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Detroit, MI
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I've read that Convicts enjoy PVC Piping to lay eggs in. Anyone have any pointers here? What type of PVC should it be, (3 inch, 4 inch, etc.) I was wondering if I would be able to use a Ghost House instead, (so I could see inside.) I was also wondering what I could put over the PVC piping, (in the event the Ghost House doesn't pan out,) that wouldn't be toxic to the fish. Anyone who has seen PVC Piping knows it isn't buetiful. Esspicially that blue lettering.

Oh yeah, and how long should the peice be, (this will be in a 20 Gallon High tank, by the way.)

There will only be one pair of Convicts in there, and the fry will be placed in a 15 Gallon at 2-4 weeks.
 
My convicts always breed in a little sideways clay pot...looks better than PVC and no cutting required!

If you're feeling creative you can rub aquarium safe silicone over the pot/PVC and the rub it in sand/gravel to get a more natural look.
 
I got some aquarium safe silicone and glued polished riverrocks to mine. If you can find black pvc piping that can help hide what it really is, and glue some of your sbutrate to it as well and you have a much more natural looking "cave". My fish all squabble over the use of it :D .

http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/diy_caves.php

theres where I got the idea.
 
Dave, that cave looks TIGHT. How long did it take you? Do you think it would look alright if I just glued gravel over it instead of gravel and river rocks? Only because this will only be a breeding tank, not on display, in my basement. I would like to disguise the PVC tubing, but not if it takes hours to do.

What do you guys think of the Ghost House idea though? To small?

And how many inches for the PVC, (regardless of whether I use the Cave Idea or not.)
 
What I did was take a clay pot and a large piece of lava rock with a large hole in it. I placed the clay pot behind the lava rocks hole so it looks like a natural cave. I then placed a few plactic twisted vallis on the side of the pot to kinda hide it.
To bad my firemouth doesn't even go in it anymore. My spotted raphael kicked him out of it.
 
Good idea. The pet store I work at sells Lava Rock like you are talking about...I have some it in my 45 Gallon tank.

I've been planning on putting in Clay Pots...Since the 2 convicts will be the only fish, (along with their young,) how many pots should I have? And how large should they be? 3 inches across, maybe?
 
That is not the one i made. the one i made did not look as good as that one did, as i could not find black pvc pipe. I used the largest piece of pvc I could find because I have a GT that pretty much claims it as home and I dont want him to outgrow it. I would think as long as you got a piece that was at least 3 " in diameter you would be ok with convicts. What I did instead of using the hot glue as suggested in article, I just pieced the river rocks on the aquarium a few at a time with aquaruim safe sillicone and left it alone to cure. It took me about a day or so but I was very satisfied with the results. I would suggest using at least average sized stones as it takes much less time to apply the bigger stones and less chance of your fish pulling it apart because of food resting on the cave, or them attempting to clean it at breeding time.
 
Careful of true lavarock as it will leech sulfur into your aquarium. Feather rock on the other hand is safe and increases surface area for nitrifying bacteria to grow.
 
What's this about true Lava Rock?

Actually, now that I think about it, it makes good sense...in High School Bio we learned that all lava contains high amounts of Sulfer, (I must have been listening in Bio class? Hmm...) so it seems natural that true lava rock would leech that. So what is it that they sell at Pet Stores? Is that true Lava Rock or the the feather rock you speak of?
 
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