Re: Pleco Breeding Cave Ideas?

ShortyKiloGyrl 2014-05-14, 17:35

Mmm manzanita seems to be too thin to use and cory is 2+ hours from me. I'll have to search around online more and see if I can find some other woods then.. dang, plan foiled.

pbmax 2014-05-14, 17:37

ShortyKiloGyrl wrote: ...and cory is 2+ hours from me.

That's my beef with Cory too. It's not our fault, it's HIS FAULT. cyclops

Anthraxx 2014-05-14, 17:40

lol guys.. shipping within the same state is super cheap.. and hes got an online store / phone you could easily call him.. think outside the box here, nobody said u had to drive anywhere. if its not live it can be shipped easily Razz

ShortyKiloGyrl 2014-05-14, 17:44

Depends on individuals preference and budgets as well though.

Anthraxx 2014-05-14, 17:45

also look into other forms of driftwood, quite common to see malaysian and african hardwoods available. take a look at this route if nothing else seems to work.

ShortyKiloGyrl 2014-05-14, 18:28

Cool thanks for the ideas Anthraxx!

**Betty** 2014-05-14, 19:16

Clogstonian wrote:it can be a little messy and the first one may not turn out great but once your set up you should prob make a couple and select the best one . . . have fun! . . .yes, ALWAYS use aquarium safe sealants.

My first one was so messy it ended up being my last one. Smile

I gave up on trying to make natural looking caves because I ended up with so many breeders and needed a lot of caves. Mine use the artificial log-style caves and they really like the cichlid stones. I don't even know how they can fit into the stones, but they all seem to like the smaller sizes of caves/logs/stones.

I have some timber bamboo growing in the backyard and I've thought about trying that. I don't know how it will hold up in water. It's naturally hollow, but it's smooth, so I don't know if it would work for attaching plants.

Clogstonian 2014-05-15, 01:04

Timber bamboo . . . jEaLoUs! i have to stick to the clumpers (fargesia robusta) elst my neighbors would Cursing

. . . but I digress.
i'd think bamboo would be fine if you stick it to something that will stay down like slate. Every japanese garden I've ever been to has a bamboo water spout and they seem to hold up well. rough it up with sandpaper, I bet anubia & java fern would take a grip after abit.

...and you could sell them.

leisure_man 2014-05-16, 02:35

I will stick with what works....good old clay caves do the job. No reason to risk all my expensive plecos on some untested caves.

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ShortyKiloGyrl 2014-05-16, 10:27

I have a planted tank and want to keep it as natural looking as possible. And I don't have any expensive pleco's in breeding. I'd rather them not die but as well it wouldn't be a chunk of change if they did. Just breeding LF chocolate BN. Smile

Yours definitely do like those clay ones though! And you have some very nice looking plecos!

MorganEA 2014-05-16, 14:56

I wish the clay caves came in more natural colors, I guess you could attach java fern to it.

DMD123 2014-05-16, 15:01

They all look so hokey to be priced so high.

ShortyKiloGyrl 2014-05-16, 16:14

DMD123 wrote:They all look so hokey to be priced so high.

That's part of my gruff about them too.

bronzefighter 2014-05-19, 19:26

Clogstonian wrote:Something I've done in the past which works well for plecos but it's a little labor intensive; you'll need a pair(or two) of cheap surgical gloves(hardware store item), take a capers jar or any glass/ceramic jar/vase of the appropriate size, squeeze out a healthy glob of silcon on a piece cardboard then roll the jar in it covering the top surface (as it lays flat like it would in your tank . .you don't need to go all the way around the jar if you set it into your substrate a little bit) make it a thick layer. Then roll the jar in a pile of your dry substrate. Set up something so you can let this sit and cure. You can hand sprinkle (use a clean pair of gloves at this point) some gravel over any spots that need it and over the front edge of the jar so the glass doesn't reflect the light.

I've found some nice cheap ceramic and glass vases at GoodWill type places.

Justa thought

I've done that many a time with all sorts of random items. The cover of a cd spindle, with an opening cut into it, then you have a flat roof that you can put rocks or plants onto, terracotta pots, Tupperware... etc etc etc. Basically anything aquarium safe can be used, and if you use the same substrate that is in your tank it tends to blend right in!

cichlid-gal 2014-05-19, 21:18

You could also probably bury the clay caves at an angle putting the closed end into the substrate and covering the top to some degree. The plecos only go in the one end (and mine swish around and make a huge pile of sand or whatever at the other side of the cave) so really...that might work also but I haven't tried it. I tend to just drop the things in and let the plecos have at it. They love those clay caves.

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