Petrella88
02-25-2009, 10:28 PM
My father was a lifetime fish keeper until recently stopping I picked the hobby up from him at a young age Ive been doing my own DIY caves for as long as I can remember
I left comments on some DIY threads about my method and was told to start a forum and provide photos So here goes ...
What you need:
two (2) large rocks (however high you want your caves ceiling)
one (1) large peice of slate (however wide and long you want the cave)
some scrap peices of slate and a little extra substraight
Optional:
Plants
Smaller rocks for decor
Step one put rocks where you want cave Remember distance must be close to size of large slate
http://img145.imageshack.us/img145/5941/26268966.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Step two position slate over top over two rocks where its balenced enough that when covered wth substraight nothing will topple over
http://img4.imageshack.us/img4/7910/32361701.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Step three Cover slate with substraight Finer substriaght is a little harder to work with My first tanks where always larger than marble sized gravel which made things very easy because they hold onto each other much better and conceal slate and base rocks for more authentic looks
http://img4.imageshack.us/img4/1622/grav.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
When covering the cave with smaller substraight I often place the flat side of slate against the glass so the inside of the cave doesnt fill up Larger substraight doesnt really have that issue If you dont want to go against the glass you can always take scrap slate and place it from the top/back of cave down to the surface I wouldnt make this too steep bc that will create a much smaller interior Longer back peice would mean less steep and more interior So go ahead and cover everything with substraight and be creative I put a plant above the cave to create the illusion that peak of the cave isnt as tall as it apears and also create a life like setting I actually placed slate around the opening as well to be covered so that only my small Green Terror can fit in there
http://img4.imageshack.us/img4/7376/82068097.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
I dont know if this is common in the aquarium world but at least some people that are using cardboard and sealents with PVC cut horizontally have a pretty simple basicly free method of making great looking caves just use your imagination I think the next one I do (next water change) will be covered with lava rock and much larger as well
I left comments on some DIY threads about my method and was told to start a forum and provide photos So here goes ...
What you need:
two (2) large rocks (however high you want your caves ceiling)
one (1) large peice of slate (however wide and long you want the cave)
some scrap peices of slate and a little extra substraight
Optional:
Plants
Smaller rocks for decor
Step one put rocks where you want cave Remember distance must be close to size of large slate
http://img145.imageshack.us/img145/5941/26268966.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Step two position slate over top over two rocks where its balenced enough that when covered wth substraight nothing will topple over
http://img4.imageshack.us/img4/7910/32361701.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Step three Cover slate with substraight Finer substriaght is a little harder to work with My first tanks where always larger than marble sized gravel which made things very easy because they hold onto each other much better and conceal slate and base rocks for more authentic looks
http://img4.imageshack.us/img4/1622/grav.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
When covering the cave with smaller substraight I often place the flat side of slate against the glass so the inside of the cave doesnt fill up Larger substraight doesnt really have that issue If you dont want to go against the glass you can always take scrap slate and place it from the top/back of cave down to the surface I wouldnt make this too steep bc that will create a much smaller interior Longer back peice would mean less steep and more interior So go ahead and cover everything with substraight and be creative I put a plant above the cave to create the illusion that peak of the cave isnt as tall as it apears and also create a life like setting I actually placed slate around the opening as well to be covered so that only my small Green Terror can fit in there
http://img4.imageshack.us/img4/7376/82068097.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
I dont know if this is common in the aquarium world but at least some people that are using cardboard and sealents with PVC cut horizontally have a pretty simple basicly free method of making great looking caves just use your imagination I think the next one I do (next water change) will be covered with lava rock and much larger as well