Cave Placement--Horizontal, Partially buried?

kitkat67

Member
Oct 2, 2016
16
1
1
New York
I am setting up a 40gallon specifically for L015 plecos and was wondering if there are other specifics for caves. I know they should be perpendicular to the water flow. I am planning on a heavily planted tank and want some depth with hilly areas. Can I partially bury a pleco cave into a hill or would the substrate temperature be too cold for fry? I believe this would be more natural for them since they dig holes into the riverbank side in the wild. Anyone have experience with burying caves?

Thanks,

Kat
 

kitkat67

Member
Oct 2, 2016
16
1
1
New York
Ok, great, thanks! I am trying to figure out a way to keep sand out of the caves but don't want to tilt them in case they ever lay eggs down the line. Do you have MTS in your pleco tanks? I am not sure if they will enter the caves, upsetting the plecos. But I want to have them to aerate the substrate.
 

dwaink

Member
Jun 14, 2016
13
0
1
new albany IN
2 of my 6 L260's seem to prefer the caves that i have even with the sandy bottom in my tank, i rarely see them in the upper caves in the rock work. think most breeders just like to be able to remove eggs easily if the plecos prove to be bad parents.....can't say for sure because mine haven't bred yet...good luck
 

YSR50

Member
Apr 29, 2009
92
0
6
Chicago-ish
Most of my caves that are buried have a slight downward tilt. Half of my 6 foot tank has sand, the other half has very small gravel. I use small pieces of natural slate and rocks as retention walls to keep the substrates from moving too much. I also usually place a small piece of slate under the opening to keep the cave from dipping forward over time. In this tank, for the most part, I let nature take it's course. So if one of the male L134s is a bad parent, so be it, there are plenty of others in there.
 
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YSR50

Member
Apr 29, 2009
92
0
6
Chicago-ish
Forgot to mention, no MTS but I have a ton of assassin snails. Not sure how well they aerate the sand, but they do burrow quite a bit. I'll notice if a cave isn't occupied by a pleco for a while, it may start to fill with snails.
 

kitkat67

Member
Oct 2, 2016
16
1
1
New York
Cycling a few weeks already. I can't wait for parameters to stabilize so I can add the plecs. Plants need to grow in and maybe buy some more. I have 10? caves, different varieties. I have kuhli loaches already in there. They LOVE the caves and that might be a problem lol.