Hide ideas for my new 400g

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Troy.m

Exodon
MFK Member
Oct 7, 2015
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Hey guys! So I just recently moved and set up my 400gallon tank in my new home. It’s 8 foot wide 2 foot 3 deep and 2 foot tall.. and succefully moved all my fish from the 120gal... I dropped a bichir but he’s fine :o . I transferred the canister with them and slowly acclimated them so the tank should be cycled and they should be happy. The stocking is as follows 1 Senegal 1 Delhizi 2 ropefish 2 small sizes pleco 1 large royal pleco 1 18” fire eel 1 10” Borneo python eel 1 Lima shovelnosw catfish 4 gouramis 1 hujeta gar and lastly a 10” bgk weird stocking I know

The question is I have alllll these nocturnal fish that want nice dark places to sulk in so my tanks littered with white pvc and it looks so unnatural! What do you guys do to accommodate these types of fish while keeping a natural driftwood planted kind of look? Hallow logs? Rock caves? And how do you make them? Buy them?
 
Deadliestviper7 said:
Go to a river or large creek, look for driftwood pieces that you like
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You think just some pieces of wood stacked about will be enough hide for All these fish that seem to enjoy a cave like hide? I worry that insufficient hides will lead to more stress than nessecary
 
Troy.m said:
You think just some pieces of wood stacked about will be enough hide for All these fish that seem to enjoy a cave like hide? I worry that insufficient hides will lead to more stress than nessecary
Click to expand...
Where do you think wild fish hide?, look for pieces that can make natural caves.
 
Just brainstorming here...

1) leave the tank dark or use very subdued lighting most of the time
2) use special lighting (black lights?)
3) add cover at the surface (e.g., real or fake plants)
4) remove one or more of the fish
5) give them more time to grow largerand get more comfortable with the tank and tank mates.
 
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Another idea would be to silicon sand/rocks/wood all over the PVC to make it look natural.
For most of those fish I think a bunch of wood/rocks would be fine. I don't think they necessarily need a circular, enclosed cave. More like something to sit under.
 
I’ve always used driftwood stacked together to make caves / hides and fill in open gaps with plants like Javafern etc...

Creates nice natural look in the tank while giving the fish plenty of places to explore and hide in...
 
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Not sure where the thread went, but a while back i made a bunch of pvc "logs" using grinders,heat, aquarium safe paint. Just a little idea.
 
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