# My DIY caves in progress...



## leonpetty (Sep 6, 2006)

Here are some caves I made tonight out of PVC piping, epoxy and soilmaster:
Before:








After:








One for a shrimp tank and one for my 49 gallon planted - both in the making


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## schaadrak (Aug 18, 2006)

Sweet. Are you gonna bury it or cover it with plants, driftwood, etc. ?


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## leonpetty (Sep 6, 2006)

schaadrak said:


> Sweet. Are you gonna bury it or cover it with plants, driftwood, etc. ?


I'm going to bury it. It's not really clear in the picture, but one end actually curves up a bit. I wanted to use that as the entrance and I'm going to try to allign at least one of the holes to meet the glass so I can see into the cave


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## evercl92 (Aug 14, 2006)

that looks pretty cool


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## leonpetty (Sep 6, 2006)

evercl92 said:


> that looks pretty cool


Thanks!


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## schaadrak (Aug 18, 2006)

leonpetty said:


> I'm going to bury it. It's not really clear in the picture, but one end actually curves up a bit. I wanted to use that as the entrance and I'm going to try to allign at least one of the holes to meet the glass so I can see into the cave


That'll be pretty cool. If you could illuminate it some how, that would be fun to watch.
Keep us posted.


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## leonpetty (Sep 6, 2006)

schaadrak said:


> That'll be pretty cool. If you could illuminate it some how, that would be fun to watch.
> Keep us posted.


I would love to find some sort of submersible red light! I hear that they don't disturb inverts so I'll see if that might be something I could do!


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## lailastar (Aug 28, 2006)

I cannot vouch for the seller or the quality of the light but I did see this today cruising on ebay...it looks interesting

submersibleredlight:
eBay: Odyssea Red Lunar Reef T-5 Underwater Aquarium Light (item 7726184841 end time Oct-13-06 13:27:41 PDT)


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## schaadrak (Aug 18, 2006)

The easiest way to illuminate the cave would be to solder two 3' lengths of wire to a red LED, pull them through a length of air line tubing, and silicon the LED to the end of the tubing so that no water gets in. Then just connect the wires to a DC source and VIOLA!

Hold on and I'll draw a crappy pic...


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## schaadrak (Aug 18, 2006)

Here ya go.


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## ianiwane (May 6, 2005)

not sure if my old thread can give you any ideas.

http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/...on-rimless-cave-tank.html?highlight=cave+tank

Only problem I see now is, what happens if something dies in the cave.


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## lailastar (Aug 28, 2006)

Are you going to soak the cave after you are finished epoxying it? Also what kind of eposy did you use? Also did you sandpaper the pvc before epoxying? I ask because I want to make one too- I already bought silicone ge1 and pvc, but I am not sure where to start...?


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## lailastar (Aug 28, 2006)

Also- where are you in the process now? Do you have more pictures?


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## leonpetty (Sep 6, 2006)

*ianiwane* - Thanks for the link. I plan on putting two of the openings against the glass so hopefully I'll be able to see if something dies in it. You were able to see into it too though - did you have that problem? Mine should be a little easier to remove than yours if absolutely necessary, but only time will tell I guess. Hopefully I can figure out this lighting thing too 

*Schaadrak* - Good call. I'll try it.



lailastar said:


> I cannot vouch for the seller or the quality of the light but I did see this today cruising on ebay...it looks interesting
> 
> submersibleredlight:
> eBay: Odyssea Red Lunar Reef T-5 Underwater Aquarium Light (item 7726184841 end time Oct-13-06 13:27:41 PDT)


That light is huge! Seems cool though wonder if it works. I didn't soak the cave after epoxying it and I did not sandpaper the pvc. It adhered find and none of it is coming off. I actually put a thin layer of silicone over certain parts that looked like they might come loose. I think that helped a lot. I'm setting up my tank tonight so I'll post pictures soon :bounce:


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## leonpetty (Sep 6, 2006)

Put the caves in, but no water yet - I'll post some pictures soon


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## ianiwane (May 6, 2005)

That pump in the cave circulates the water in there so if something were to die the pump can push it around so I can syphon it up.


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## cs_gardener (Apr 28, 2006)

This is a cool idea. Do you have it set up in your tank yet?


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## leonpetty (Sep 6, 2006)

cs_gardener said:


> This is a cool idea. Do you have it set up in your tank yet?


I've gotten it set up, but I got a bad case of GW. I hear it's common for new tanks and I've put it through a four day black out so we'll see  Will be doing a water change tonight now that I'm done with the four days and I'll post some pictures.



ianiwane said:


> That pump in the cave circulates the water in there so if something were to die the pump can push it around so I can syphon it up.


That's true. So far I've only had one death in the tank and it didn't die in the cave so hopefully that won't be an issue. We'll see. I think I can get my syphon in the cave though.


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## russell (Dec 7, 2004)

cant wait for tank shots!!


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## leonpetty (Sep 6, 2006)

russell said:


> cant wait for tank shots!!


Well here they are finally!


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## leonpetty (Sep 6, 2006)

Forgot to mention - the difference in color is just because the substrate on the cave is dry.


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## schaadrak (Aug 18, 2006)

Sweet. 

Are you gonna plant on top of it, or just put rock/driftwood with some moss?


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## leonpetty (Sep 6, 2006)

schaadrak said:


> Sweet.
> 
> Are you gonna plant on top of it, or just put rock/driftwood with some moss?


At this point I'm trying to plant on top of it, but the substrate on top is not deep enough so I'll probably do rocks w/moss


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