# PVC Caves. Risk of anoxia?



## xalow (May 10, 2007)

Well first of all I am wondering how long a cave has to be (that has no intentional current going through it) before I have to worry about the water not having any O2.

Anyways here is my idea, and I'm sure this idea has been done before because its fairly intuitive. Basically I have some 2" white PVC piping that I am going to coat in GE 1 silicone and then roll it all around in sand, gravel, and anything else I think may look good. I am guessing this will take up a lot of silicone and that I may have trouble keeping the sand substrate one clean of algae once its all done.

So I was wondering if anyone has tried doing this with PVC and what their results were. So far my only concern is that the inside of the PVC will show up all bright which makes it easier to see if its clean or if I have fry magically inside, however it might also make the fish think that its not really that dark in there and not want to hide inside of them.

I have some undecorated PVC in with a pair of convicts right now and they use them much more than I thought they would. However right now its really an eyesore.

Anyone have any tips?


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## Mcdaphnia (Dec 16, 2003)

A pleco cave may be OK at a few inches longer than the fish, because plecos create current by beating their fins, especially fi there are eggs in the cave. However any time I tried a pleco in my 2400 gallon pond outside, they would force their way inside the rolled up liner in the corners and become trapped. Anoxia might have been a factor because the inintentional "cave" was up to two feet long and very constricted.

The silicone and gravel, sand, rocks, driftwood chunks, plastic plants, and sea shells idea has been around a long time.  I may be in the minority but to me the results of these experiments always look more intrusive and phoney than a simple plastic pipe. As unnatural and artificial as that pipe may be, decorating it makes me wish it was a plain pipe. Sort like a pig with a wig.

What I do is drill holes in rocks with a concrete drill bit or in driftwood with an appropriate bit. To make those look a little more natural, I may chip the opening with an old screwdriver or chisel.


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## bentcountershaft (Nov 23, 2007)

Before you put the silicone on the pipes, boil them. This will give them a very distorted look that will appear much more natural looking than a perfectly round pipe.


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## Guest (Jun 2, 2008)

you could also boil it in black rite dye for clothes and it will make it black if not a dark grey but i have it has been done


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## xalow (May 10, 2007)

Thanks for all the responses everyone, a lot of really god advice here. Now if I can only figure out a way to boil PVC piping without having my family realize its fish related because if they realized that I would probably be in hot water myself (sorry for the bad joke).

If I end up with it looking worse when its decorated I'll just leave the other sections of pipe plain to avoid a pig in a whig situation haha, that description makes me imagine the results quite differently than the picture I had in my head.


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## Mcdaphnia (Dec 16, 2003)

xalow said:


> Thanks for all the responses everyone, a lot of really god advice here. Now if I can only figure out a way to boil PVC piping without having my family realize its fish related because if they realized that I would probably be in hot water myself (sorry for the bad joke).
> 
> If I end up with it looking worse when its decorated I'll just leave the other sections of pipe plain to avoid a pig in a whig situation haha, that description makes me imagine the results quite differently than the picture I had in my head.


Boil the PVC in a pan on the grill outside. :wink: "This is to steam off the germs inside the grill, honey! :wink: The pipe will show it's gotten hot enough to kill the germs when it begins to melt. " :wink:

I know it's my personal opinion about what gravel covered gobs of silicone look like. Lots of people think they look cool. What is important is what you think they look like. I take that back :lol: What's important is what your family thinks they look like.


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