navyscuba

Well like we know Cichlids like to hide so this idea just pop out of no where driving home today.
Materials
Aquarium Silicone
Plastic lid
River Rock

and a lot of work and patience. here are the pics. Btw I took a pic of a blue lid but used a white one. Let me know what you think.

Attached Images

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	fish 084.jpg (267.6 KB, 217 views)

CHoffman

Great Idea!!!...Cute little cave. Are you going to keep the lid on the bottom or did you just use it for a form??

navyscuba

Yes the rocks are glue to it. I plan to fill the bottom with sand so they can scoop it out and make it their own little place. haha.

Shawnie

awesome idea!!! I never thought to make it easier and put them on some type of lid!!! I made some also with my river rocks I got at wal mart LOL

course this is my first time trying it so I was a bit overkill on the silicone and still have to scrape off the extra so dont mind that hahahaha
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DSC02121.jpg

navyscuba

I just decided to use the lid because I wanna put sand inside of the little houses so they can make their own digging. hehehe

agabr123

neat! i like it!!!

OldMan

Another way to build a small enclosure is to use a broken slate tile. I went to my local building supply store and bought a single slate floor tile that I broke into pieces. I used silicone much the same as NavyScuba to glue the pieces together and had this end result for my kribensis to use as a shelter. Because it has no bottom to it, I just sit it on the gravel surface.



I think the most creative one that I have seen is a piece of PVC tube cut to length and covered with aquarium silicone. The silicone is just rolled in the gravel that you are using in the tank and the result is a tube that blends right in. These are used by plec breeders.

navyscuba

Cool but never seen the PVC one that you are talking about here. Wish to see one if any one has any pics.

mathas

I've not done it before, but pictures can be seen at the following links:

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

navyscuba

That looks awesome. i love the second one with different kinds of rocks and gravel.

Sarkazmo

In my old 10g cichlid tank I used various size terracotta flower pots that I'd broken into pieces, creating arches and many hiding places. Sharp edges are easily filed if you're worried about your fish getting scraped/cut. The fish seemed to love it. I liked the effect as well. It looked like a sunken garden.

Sarkazmo

navyscuba

Yeah I had some on the tank but I replace them with big rock caves.

kittymom

Like Sarkasmo said, don't forget to smooth the edges of things like the broken slate. The fish can get some nasty wounds when they go in too fast and catch the slate with their body. I've seen fish "running" from others often hit the sides, and if they were rough, sharp, or something - you got a sick, wounded fish on your hands. Very cool ideas folks....

aquarist48

Cool idea!

navyscuba

Thanks.

MissMTS

Great ideas everyone!

kittymom

I'm sure you guys already know this, but make SURE that your silicone is the "100% silicone" and not the kind that is like kitchen and bath - that usually has some kind of anti bacterial chemical in it (kills the fish as well as the bacteria)...

navyscuba

If you check the pics it shows aquarium silicone.