DIY caves for 14 litre tank

[14litre]

Hi guys,

I am beginning to make my own caves after seeing some amazing projects here, which inspired me further to make something that I long wanted to.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank Eddy for his patience and guidance from his vivarium thread.

This project is not done yet, I guessed I was too ambitious to make it such a big one, that it failed to sink to the floor.

ok, enough of the talks, here's my first half-done DIY cave (or undergravel tunnel you may call it).

the sketch:
this styrofoam is supposed to sink under the sand.
my intention is not to make this a permanent fixture, so I will be using rocks as the weight to sink the styrofoam.


the marketing:


the dirty job:

1. marking the lines


2. the cutter


3. finished cut


4. the failure


I have placed some big stones on the V grove to sink the styrofoam but it simply overturned. the styrofoam seems too big and I need to use strong force to sink it. So I guess there is no way to make it sink, other than emptying the water from the tank.

What I intend to do next is to cut the V grove out, removing a big chunk of it, so that it becomes a L shape. If it still failed, I might cut away the entire V grove and see if I can place stones on top of the tunnel to make it sink. I am quite worried this will fail too.

btw, does anyone know how those styrofoam background works, as in do they use silicon to stick it to the back of the tank, so that it does not float away?
I am reluctant to use silicon because it will be "permanent" and difficult to remove if I need to change the layout.

[xconnect.]

Very nice DIY . So who will be the lucky residents of this very nice creation?

[newlife]

Wow...well plan and innovative...

Can't wait to see the final complete set up

[14litre]

Very nice DIY . So who will be the lucky residents of this very nice creation?

Thank you. I hope to make it sink someday, somehow.

It is meant for my mini crayfishes. I am crossing my fingers that the crays will make it their home, instead of "chewing" everything off.

[14litre]

Wow...well plan and innovative...

Can't wait to see the final complete set up

Thank you.

I have a few more crazy ideas, one of which I intend to get those waterproof led lights (aquarium safe of course) and install into those caves/tunnels.

This is my first try, let me see how far it goes. Probably it will fail in the end, but it's still good enough for me to learn the mistakes.

[eddy planer]

Hi 14litre,

Wow you at last did something very good. Hey you should post in vivarium section, and I can be able to help you through, sigh...

As for the your build, if you do not want to use silicon to seal it to the wall or the base, then you can concrete your build with premixed sand/waterproof and concrete to weight down your build effectively. If you like I can jolly show you the rope or someone here can be able help you, too.

[phyxated]

This looks quite interesting as decor... reminds me of the computer game digdug. haha...
anyway, foam is extremely buoyant and unless you anchor the entire piece at all 4 corners with sinkers or metal plates, it's unlikely to stay down. You may want to try to silicone some thick stainless steel plates at all the bottom corners. Still easier to glue the entire thing down.

also, you may want to consider coating the model with cement as crays are natural diggers and will chew and dig through stuff. foam won't stand a chance.

for easy viewing, you may want to make a sloped design (lower at front, higher at back) to allow you maximum view from the front, else you may have difficulty looking for them if they keep dwelling in the centre channel.

also, crays will hide when they want to get away from the light. not sure whether lighting up the caves / tunnels will make them redundant.

just my 2 cents worth...

[14litre]

Hi 14litre,

Wow you at last did something very good. Hey you should post in vivarium section, and I can be able to help you through, sigh...

As for the your build, if you do not want to use silicon to seal it to the wall or the base, then you can concrete your build with premixed sand/waterproof and concrete to weight down your build effectively. If you like I can jolly show you the rope or someone here can be able help you, too.

hehe. Thanks Eddy. oops. These caves were intended for my mini crays, so I thought I should create this post under Invertebrates instead. sorry for the blunder.

I have been thinking of your cement solution, as well as the eggcrate.
then as I was googling for sinking styrofoam solution, I saw someone mentioning epoxy coated magnets. please look at my next pic to see what I mean, and feel free to comment whether it will work or not.

This looks quite interesting as decor... reminds me of the computer game digdug. haha...
anyway, foam is extremely buoyant and unless you anchor the entire piece at all 4 corners with sinkers or metal plates, it's unlikely to stay down. You may want to try to silicone some thick stainless steel plates at all the bottom corners. Still easier to glue the entire thing down.

also, you may want to consider coating the model with cement as crays are natural diggers and will chew and dig through stuff. foam won't stand a chance.

for easy viewing, you may want to make a sloped design (lower at front, higher at back) to allow you maximum view from the front, else you may have difficulty looking for them if they keep dwelling in the centre channel.

also, crays will hide when they want to get away from the light. not sure whether lighting up the caves / tunnels will make them redundant.

just my 2 cents worth...

hehe.. thanks for the information.
Digdug was my favourite game!

I forgot to mention that this is a half-done project. I still need to paint it and coat it with a protective layer. I hope the crays will be seeing it as a real "rock" instead of foam and chew it up, perhaps I should put a "do not eat" sign in there.

and thanks for the stainless steel plate idea. I saw someone using magnets. please see my next picture on this. your plate idea is nice too, now I know another way of doing it.
I also forgot to mention that this cave/tunnel will be "stick" (not really stick) to the front of the (please see my next picture) tank, for my amusement pleasure to see the crays going up/down the slope.

thanks for the lighting notes too.

[14litre]

after much googling, I saw someone using epoxy coated magnets to make the styrofoam sink.
http://www.reeflounge.com/showthread.php?t=17625

probably I can cut away the entire V grove area and leave the cave/tunnel as rectangular piece, then use the magnets to stick it to the front of the tank, something like the picture below.



do you guys think it will work?

[David Moses Heng]

HI 14litre,

Foams would float unless silicone is applied. For the plate suggestions, your metal plate must be heavier than the foams if not it would not work. I was wondering if you have considered using bricks though? At one of my sites, I saw the owner using bricks for his clays and he put in hundreds of bricks into his 20,000 liters pond. Plus he also has plants with huge leaves to provide shade for his clays too. Also, clays being natural diggers, they would attempt to dig at almost anything. In one of my tanks, they push out all the pebbles that I use to cover the soft garden soil and they manage to tunnel through the substrate, leaving a pile of pebbles outside their cave.

Hope this helps

Just my 2 cents worth.

[phyxated]

hmmm out of curiosity i went to do some quick calculations.

using some common density values for styrofoam and stainless steel, to sink the styrofoam u will need to embed 12.5% equivalent volume of stainless steel. So for a 10cm X 10cm X 10cm cube of styrofoam u will need a base plate (10cm X 10cm) which is 1.25cm thick or magnets which can hold approximately a 1kg weight. if u can estimate the volume of your model it'll be easier to know what to use.

also, i'm wondering if the crays are not in the tunnels but in the "V"channel or behind the styrofoam block... won't they be hidden from view?

[YAL05T]

You could cut a largish hole in the bottom and silicone some rock or maybe slate pieces in there instead of metal, it will reduce the amount of foam, less foam = less buoyant, and the added weight will sink it. I am always making DIY things here, from shrimp apartments to slate pleco breeding, customized driftwood gardens, all sorts of things to keep me busy and out of my wife's way

[14litre]

HI 14litre,

Foams would float unless silicone is applied. For the plate suggestions, your metal plate must be heavier than the foams if not it would not work. I was wondering if you have considered using bricks though? At one of my sites, I saw the owner using bricks for his clays and he put in hundreds of bricks into his 20,000 liters pond. Plus he also has plants with huge leaves to provide shade for his clays too. Also, clays being natural diggers, they would attempt to dig at almost anything. In one of my tanks, they push out all the pebbles that I use to cover the soft garden soil and they manage to tunnel through the substrate, leaving a pile of pebbles outside their cave.

Hope this helps

Just my 2 cents worth.

Thanks for the information.

Mine is a small tank, I think conventional building bricks might be too big, or do you mean there are smaller version of bricks meant for aquarium? that could be another alternative too.

Actually I love to watch the crays making tunnel through the substrate.

Recently I bought a small nana plant (tied to a small drift wood) for my new tank, which was meant to be a breeding tank for my guppies but unfortunately the mummy died before giving birth.

Then I transferred this nana plant (with the drift wood) to my main tank and put it next to the bigger drift wood that was already there.

To my surprise, the crays started to dig and made a hole under the small drift wood of the plant.
And there were 2 crays hiding in there whole day, and comes out only during feeding time.

In the past, these crays of mine were busy "fighting" each other. I am quite surprised to see both of it hiding in the same hole. could that mean mating?

[14litre]

hmmm out of curiosity i went to do some quick calculations.

using some common density values for styrofoam and stainless steel, to sink the styrofoam u will need to embed 12.5% equivalent volume of stainless steel. So for a 10cm X 10cm X 10cm cube of styrofoam u will need a base plate (10cm X 10cm) which is 1.25cm thick or magnets which can hold approximately a 1kg weight. if u can estimate the volume of your model it'll be easier to know what to use.

also, i'm wondering if the crays are not in the tunnels but in the "V"channel or behind the styrofoam block... won't they be hidden from view?

oh! thank you so much for the formula and calculation. yes, you are right, it would be easier to know how much weight I need. let me measure my styrofoam during my next modification.

actually the styrofoam is meant to be covered under the sand/substrate, meaning everything (including the V groove) will be covered up under the sand, with the 2 holes exposing. I will be making small styrofoam "pebbles" and stick it around the hole, so as to prevent the substrate/sand dropping into the tunnel.

[14litre]

You could cut a largish hole in the bottom and silicone some rock or maybe slate pieces in there instead of metal, it will reduce the amount of foam, less foam = less buoyant, and the added weight will sink it. I am always making DIY things here, from shrimp apartments to slate pleco breeding, customized driftwood gardens, all sorts of things to keep me busy and out of my wife's way

Thanks for the information and ideas.

I am avoiding sticking any rocks to the styrofoam because I wanted everything to be reusable.
Let me see if I can find other ways of working around it.

I liked the way you put it, shrimp apartments that is. do you have any ready pictures of it to share around? I am very excited to see those apartments with shrimps making a home of it.

[David Moses Heng]

Thanks for the information.

Mine is a small tank, I think conventional building bricks might be too big, or do you mean there are smaller version of bricks meant for aquarium? that could be another alternative too.

Actually I love to watch the crays making tunnel through the substrate.

Recently I bought a small nana plant (tied to a small drift wood) for my new tank, which was meant to be a breeding tank for my guppies but unfortunately the mummy died before giving birth.

Then I transferred this nana plant (with the drift wood) to my main tank and put it next to the bigger drift wood that was already there.

To my surprise, the crays started to dig and made a hole under the small drift wood of the plant.
And there were 2 crays hiding in there whole day, and comes out only during feeding time.

In the past, these crays of mine were busy "fighting" each other. I am quite surprised to see both of it hiding in the same hole. could that mean mating?

Hi Bro, I am only sharing what I have encountered and learn in my journey both as a hobbyist and also as a commercial person. Normal building bricks can be broken down into more manageable pieces via means of a hammer and after washing, they can be then deployed. They are also way more economical as compared to purpose built items. Another alternative is to use slats like what some of the brothers here suggested.

Slats, if you know where to hunt for them are way way cheaper than many places...

[phyxated]

oh! thank you so much for the formula and calculation. yes, you are right, it would be easier to know how much weight I need. let me measure my styrofoam during my next modification.

actually the styrofoam is meant to be covered under the sand/substrate, meaning everything (including the V groove) will be covered up under the sand, with the 2 holes exposing. I will be making small styrofoam "pebbles" and stick it around the hole, so as to prevent the substrate/sand dropping into the tunnel.

ah... now i understand. interesting concept...
made an error in my earlier calculations though... for stainless steel u will need 15% of the volume, so the thickness would be 1.5cm not 12.5cm...

If you want to just use gravel (natural sand) to weigh the model down, u'll need at least 1.08 (say 1.1) times the volume of your foam used. Perhaps if u do an extended base instead of a "V" groove you should be able to contain enough gravel above the base. remember to weigh everything down nicely before filling the water! I remember spending 1 whole hour just trying to wedge my large driftwood in place because I failed to plan ahead. hahahaa

[14litre]

Hi Bro, I am only sharing what I have encountered and learn in my journey both as a hobbyist and also as a commercial person. Normal building bricks can be broken down into more manageable pieces via means of a hammer and after washing, they can be then deployed. They are also way more economical as compared to purpose built items. Another alternative is to use slats like what some of the brothers here suggested.

Slats, if you know where to hunt for them are way way cheaper than many places...

oh i see. great stuff. thanks for sharing the alternative ways of creating the weight.

l have gathered a number of suggestions here. let me see how I can make the next modification.

Slate rocks are beautiful. I might need your help in future when I am sourcing for it.

Cheers Bro.

[14litre]

ah... now i understand. interesting concept...
made an error in my earlier calculations though... for stainless steel u will need 15% of the volume, so the thickness would be 1.5cm not 12.5cm...

If you want to just use gravel (natural sand) to weigh the model down, u'll need at least 1.08 (say 1.1) times the volume of your foam used. Perhaps if u do an extended base instead of a "V" groove you should be able to contain enough gravel above the base. remember to weigh everything down nicely before filling the water! I remember spending 1 whole hour just trying to wedge my large driftwood in place because I failed to plan ahead. hahahaa

not a problem and thanks for the gravel calculation too. ya, I thought of the extended base too.
let me see what I can do.
driftwood floats too? I have a small one and it sinks to the bottom when I dropped it into the tank full of water. or is it because I have pre-washed and soaked it in water beforehand, so that it sinks rightaway?

[phyxated]

usually driftwood that has been sun-dried by the LFS are very buoyant and need to be boiled and soaked for a long while. small pieces or ones that have not been totally dried out fare better.

Anyway my piece has been there for 6 months already and floats slightly and still needs to be wedged in place. was also leaking tannins for about 2 months.... hahaha

remember to upload pics of your progress! camping for them. hahaha