I decided to make some slate caves for some of my cats.

I started with some pieces of slate, a dremel with a diamond blade and some silcone

I cut the sides and backs of the caves with the dremel

Then siliconed the backs and sides to the base

The roof of the cave is not siliconed just in case I want to get into the caves in the future.

Thanks to Navarre for supplying the pieces of slate

Looking good, hopefully the cats like it

Great job. They are going to look good in your tank.

all that's missing is a little doorbell for when they have visitors..

nice work, that looks sweet. i have seen pics of a terracota pot cut in half long ways & siliconed to a sheet of glass but yours look way better.

Thanks. I like the look of the slate. It looks more natural than terracotta or pvc etc etc.

It will also blend in nicely with all the other rock in the tank.

looking at it now i have just realised what it is, it's Fred Flintstone's house! :lol:

yabba dabba doo

Those are very very cool!

Now to see the caves being put to some use!

I'm planning on doing something similar too, when I get a chance.

Is slate limestone? (containing calcium?) ie. will it harden the water?

Looks very nice by the way, would love to make one as well.

Nah. It's neutral, and is a sedimentary rock.

Are these sitting on gravel or glass base? I ask because the slate bases seem quite large and I wonder if you will get dead areas underneath, or if you will regularly lift them to siphon underneath?

I too like using slate but have always stacked them, not siliconed them together. Also not used a base, just sit them on the gravel. Siliconing is safer of course as you don't have to worry about a fish bumping the sides and having it collapse on them :-?

BTW, anyone that wants to try this, you need a diamond wheel. The normal cutoff wheels if you try them on rock take about 2 seconds until the whole wheel is turned into a big pink cloud of smoke.

Leaves a very nicely polished nick in the rock that you can just barely feel with your fingernail...

I see you have closed off the ends to make a cave. So do plecos generally prefer closed off spaces or a tunnel that would allow a bit of flow through? If a large red spot jammed itself in there would it be able to back out of there?

Very nice.

I was thinking of trying this, but with no base, just two angled sides and a roof and putting it directly on the substrate.

Most cats prefer a cave with only one entrance, whiptails are the the only exception in my experience.

I have never had a pleco get stuck in a cave but I suppose it can and does happen

Caryl I hadn't given dead spots much thought really but my tanks do get regular gravel vacs so I dont envisage any problems. I already have rocks and wood in my tanks that have much larger footprints than these.

Where is a good place to get natural slate? do they sell it at Bunnings/Mitre 10 type stores?

I'm in auckland if anyone knows of a good place there?

They will normally spawn in closed ended caves, but they are not designed for red spot plecos.

These are for the smaller species of plecos like some panaques, hypans and ancistrus sp.

They will normally spawn in closed ended caves, but they are not designed for red spot plecos.

These are for the smaller species of plecos like some panaques, hypans and ancistrus sp.

So they should have a little sign outside the entrance saying "Sorry Red Spot Pleco this cave has not been designed for you, please stay out or you could get stuck"?

Just kidding.. I know what you mean. I was just giving an example of the biggest pleco I could think of that could possibly get stuck in the caves shown. My question really was are plecos generally happy to back out of the hole they came in or prefer to swim through like a tunnel.. but it has been answered already.. thanks!

I imagine slate is readily available from landscape places or tile shops.

My question really was are plecos generally happy to back out of the hole they came in or prefer to swim through like a tunnel.. but it has been answered already.. thanks!

Mine doesn't seem to mind backing out.

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

Hahaha.. awesome! If that guy got stuck he could just flex a muscle and the pot would crack.. how big is he/she?

Hahaha.. awesome! If that guy got stuck he could just flex a muscle and the pot would crack.. how big is he/she?

He's conveniently stuck to the front glass where I can measure him now... 300mm to the fork of his tail, about 375 including his tail.