Appropriate Sizes for Caves

[KnaveTO]

I was curious if there were 'standard' or appropriate sizes for breeding caves or some sort of plans online for making pleco breeding caves?

[taza]

Plecofinatics has several threads on how to make your own caves. Also if you come and visit Kitchener Aquarium Society Forum. John from ( John's Flake Food) has a great selection of Pleco caves that are awesome and are great prices. Sandy ps. hope this link works

http://www.kwas.ca/

[Zoban]

Sizes of caves tend to depend on the species you are looking to house.

For example an L046 it has been decided by those breeding them succesfully a cave 1.5 x 1 x 5.5" is a good size. Ancistrus on the other hand wil breed in just about anything but are commonly bred in pot saucers joined with a hole drilled for an entrance.

Let us know what you'd like to use the caves with and we should be able to give better idea of sizes etc..

[Linda]

i got some of the small caves from john as well as the larger ones. my abn pair is in a tank with breeding ps. saulosi. i noticed the abn like the smaller caves even though they can hardly fit in them! the man i got the pair from sent a little cave (flower pot bottoms siliconed together) and i remember thinking they wouldn't even fit in it but they do. he said that is what they breed in.

[KnaveTO]

I am asking this because I have everything here to make them. I have the dremel, diamond bits, slate, plexi glass, pvc piping. So figured I would make them rather than buy them and have them shipped. The thread on PlecoFanatics.com is great about making them... but is missing one glaring issue... dimensions. If you are going to make a step by step how to... include the dimensions... they sorta are important.

[Zoban]

Dimensions are based on the species though..

Kinda like asking how big a garage do I need for a car.. is it a civic or a magnum.. very different sizes :)

What are you planing to house in the caves?

[KnaveTO]

Largest pleco I will own will be 7" full adult size... based upon planet catfish stats and the smallest should be around 3"

[Zebrapl3co]

Even the same type of pleco have different preferences. There are many factors that contribute to a pleco's choice of cave. The most imporntant is the location of the cave. If the location is at a poor location and the pleco does not feel safe in it. It will choose a crack to hid in rather than take up a cave.
Secondly, to get a idea of how big to build a cave. Get the dimention of the pleco when fully extended. The height should be 1 + 1/4 of the pleco. Wide and lenght should be around 1 + 1/2 of the pleco. It must be closed end.
As Zoban have said. Common ancicstrus don't really care. Some actually breeds in the open.

[jordsonsmum]

I've been making tons of different styles of caves to experiment with who likes what. I put the different types in the tank until I see what they choose and then take out the unused ones and continue to make the same thing for the rest of their species.
BN's seem to like drilled driftwood caves, Large shells or barnacles as well as the pot bottoms siliconed together. They seem to be more picky about entrance size than the size of the overall house. They ignored anything with an entrance larger than their body size.
My Sultans like caves drilled into driftwood, just big enough for him to display his fins but no larger.
My King Tiger isn't picky and will take pretty much anything

Trial and error works really well for me so far. And what ever I don't use I can give away or sell online.