Cave Ideas For Large Plecos

Does anyone have any suggestions for decent, natural looking pleco caves?
I have some driftwood in my tank, but it is to small for him to properly hide under, and my lfs never carries really large pieces of wood. I live in a city so collection wood isn't an option either.
I hate artificial looking things in tanks. I'm thinking about getting a piece of pvc with a large diameter, then mixing some sand with silicone and applying it to the pipe so it at least blends in with the substrate but I would still prefer something a little more natural.
I'm worried about stacking rock because he is pretty destructive and I don't want him knocking down a pile of rocks and getting crushed. Pics are also appreciated

 

Paint the PVC first! Use a bigger diameter than you think you need. I covered mine inside and out using a popsicle craft stick and the shoved into a put of the sand I was using and then filled the PVC. Let it sit like that a few hours, then let it sit out 24 hours to offgas. You're going to have a strong ammonia scent for a few hours but it will go away.

Also ensure you get pure silicone without the mold mildew resistant labeling. It's getting harder and harder to find for me.

 

Does anyone have any suggestions for decent, natural looking pleco caves?
I have some driftwood in my tank, but it is to small for him to properly hide under, and my lfs never carries really large pieces of wood. I live in a city so collection wood isn't an option either.
I hate artificial looking things in tanks. I'm thinking about getting a piece of pvc with a large diameter, then mixing some sand with silicone and applying it to the pipe so it at least blends in with the substrate but I would still prefer something a little more natural.
I'm worried about stacking rock because he is pretty destructive and I don't want him knocking down a pile of rocks and getting crushed.

Smaller pieces of slate siliconed together to make a cave maybe? Or siliconed around a pipe to hide it.

Maybe a coconut shell? I'm not super fond of them personally, but they are natural.

Also ensure you get pure without the mold mildew resistant labeling. It's getting harder and harder to find for me.

I had really good luck finding some at my local Lowes recently. They carry GE Silicone l (avoid silicone ll!) and a Loctite silicone that says aquarium safe right on the package, which no one else seems to do anymore.

 

Smaller pieces of slate siliconed together to make a cave maybe? Or siliconed around a pipe to hide it.

Maybe a coconut shell? I'm not super fond of them personally, but they are natural.



I had really good luck finding some at my local Lowes recently. They carry GE Silicone l (avoid silicone ll!) and a Loctite silicone that says aquarium safe right on the package, which no one else seems to do anymore.

Yep. My lowes has about 50 different locktite and ge silicones that are mold and mildew resistant lol. Luckily I don't currently need any.

 

Put silicone around a giant PVC pipe that can be large enough for your pleco.

Then, roll it around in your substrate(if you have any extra. Do this out of water)

It will look semi-natural.

 

Yep. My lowes has about 50 different locktite and ge silicones that are mold and mildew resistant lol. Luckily I don't currently need any.

Oh yeah, for every safe kind out there are about 100 that aren't. I'm glad you can look for inventory online now so you can at least be sure that you're looking for something that is actually supposed to be in the store. .

 

Maybe do a large slate tile supported on the four corners, and cover with substrate, rocks, wood and plants so it looks nice and natural.

You could even arrange wood togethor to form one large piece and maybe use zipties in some locations to hold it togethor and cover the zip ties with plants - anubias, java fern and bolbitis spring to mind.