Undergravel Cave

[GodFan]

So I was thinking. (Dangerous) but I read on another thread about covering a pvc pipe in silcone and rolling it in sand to make it look good. I was thinking about the same thing and burying in under the gravel with one opening against the glass so you can see fish and inverts swim in it. Im not sure how to make the tip fit the glass right though. I just think this would be SWEET!!!

 

[HalfMoon B]

Some curved PVC pipe cut at the proper angle would do nicely. I will be following along!

 

[kingcrab]

yeah i had done that....pvc ..silicone..then rolled in sand. mine looks awsome and blends in nice...perfect cave !!!

 

[GodFan]

How do you get it to sit fkush with the glass though?

 

[Ibrahim]

You can use a dab of silicone then cut it with a knife when you wanna remove it

 

[GodFan]

You can use a dab of silicone then cut it with a knife when you wanna remove it

Ok thanks. (15)

 

[TigerBarbs]

King crab could u post a pic of yours please?

 

[GodFan]

Yes please! I am gonna wait till I get my new tank to do this. Im thinking a marbled crayfish would love it.

 

[TigerBarbs]

Aww I love crayfish but so does my bichir lol learned that the hard way

 

[fellfrosch]

I've actually done the whole pvc pipe covered in silicone and rolled in sand thing and wasnt too happy with the results. I would suggest you find the largest grain sand you can as the small stuff doesnt fill-in very well, or put a bunch of silicone in a cup, mix the sand in to make a thick sandy paste, the paint it on with a popsicle stick (its alot thicker this way). Also just a warning, any part (thats covered in sand) exposed to the water will grow algae like crazy.
However if you need cheap caves this hole thing (no matter how you do it) works fine. I started my tank with a 4" Y and a 2" L as the main decorations. so far the Y is still in the tank, but its covered in a green and brown/red algae (which strangely has given it character, but took 2 months for the algae to turn green).
My next project is a 2" T with the top of the T cut off creating a burried cave for my Kuhli loaches that i can have against the glass so I can see them (prettymuch close to what your doing). Was gonna do that back when i made the others but my dremel died on me making the big 4' Y... (got a new one now though ^_^)
These pics are old (no green), but they give you a basic idea. I dunno if you can see them without being a member there, but hopefully you can. Whole Tank Just The Y

 

[Alex55-20]

I used that rigid tubing for ugfs and that was great I didn't even need to glue sand on it just buried it

 

[GodFan]

I want the cave to be competely under the substrate.

 

[Alex55-20]

How deep is the substrate and how big a tube

 

[GodFan]

I've actually done the whole pvc pipe covered in silicone and rolled in sand thing and wasnt too happy with the results. I would suggest you find the largest grain sand you can as the small stuff doesnt fill-in very well, or put a bunch of silicone in a cup, mix the sand in to make a thick sandy paste, the paint it on with a popsicle stick (its alot thicker this way). Also just a warning, any part (thats covered in sand) exposed to the water will grow algae like crazy.
However if you need cheap caves this hole thing (no matter how you do it) works fine. I started my tank with a 4" Y and a 2" L as the main decorations. so far the Y is still in the tank, but its covered in a green and brown/red algae (which strangely has given it character, but took 2 months for the algae to turn green).
My next project is a 2" T with the top of the T cut off creating a burried cave for my Kuhli loaches that i can have against the glass so I can see them (prettymuch close to what your doing). Was gonna do that back when i made the others but my dremel died on me making the big 4' Y... (got a new one now though ^_^)
These pics are old (no green), but they give you a basic idea. I dunno if you can see them without being a member there, but hopefully you can. Whole Tank Just The Y

I love how the shrimp appear to be crossing the pipe like a road lol It looks good thanks for the pics!

How deep is the substrate and how big a tube

I am not sure yet. I will be setting up the tank in a few (3-4) weeks but Im thinkin 3-4 inches of pfs. Ther cave will probably be 2 inches in diameter...Well on second thought maybe a bit smaller..