skippi

What kinds of pots can I use to make some caves and such in my tank?? Can they be the painted ones from the stores or just plain ones?? Would like to add some color with them so want to use decorated ones but don't want to get chemicals or such into the water. Is there a way to decorate them and make them tank safe

kerryve

I am very sceptical about adding painted ornaments into my tank, but i think you would be safest trying to find something at your LFS those should be safe for your fish you can get nice pots and caves and even old shipwrecks that are painted. I woudnt paint my own im too scared, but maybe theres someone who knows what paint is safe and wont come off with the water...

Gunnie

The caves on this site are pretty cool. I special ordered a cave for my pleco, and she is in heaven!

http://www.rosenthalpottery.com/

The next link is a personal friend of mine that also has caves for sale.

http://www.smokymountainaquarium.org...opic.php?t=125

I recommend both sites!

boff

Hi, i have got a broken teracota pot from the garden, boiled it first and soaked it in freshwater for a week my sailfin plec loves it .

0morrokh

A plain, unused clay flowerpot would probably be the cheapest and safest way to go.

gammerus

have you considered making a rock cave?

skippi

considered it, hard to find usable rocks for my tanks, so I went with the clay pots for now..

DEADFISH

would you be able to use a broken cup that is not wanted anymore..as long as it's not sharp will it work?

Isabella

If you're 100% sure that this cup was not coated with a chemical that will leach into the water and kill the fish. Or that this cup is not made from some toxic to fish material. It's always best to buy aquarium-safe decor and caves, or make your own caves with aquarium-safe materials such as aquarium-safe rocks and aquarium-safe silicone to glue the rocks together. Watch out for calcareous rocks in a freshwater tank (you don't want rocks that can raise your water's pH in a freshwater tank).

Stradius011

One way to make a rock cave is to have 3 round stones (from the pet store) in a circle and put a flat slate(from the pet store) at the top.

chickadee

One of the very nicest caves I ever saw and I believe the picture is here on the forum somewhere was made of PVC pipe that had aquarium silicone smeared all over the outside of it and then was coated in aquarium gravel in a natural color to match the gravel in the tank. It was absolutely beautiful and so novel. It would absolutely be safe for any fish and would be cheap and easy to make. The materials would be available to anyone and you could make it any size to conform to your tank. If you wanted to get creative, there are fittings and such to make shapes and all to even have a type of fish tunnel system. It could be cleaned with a bottle brush now and again and would be great I think.

Rose