Natural pleco caves!

[AWW]

Apple wood caves!

I first cut some wood off the tree out back. I cut them into 5 inch lengths with the chop saw, and took em to the work shop.

With the smaller bits, I bored a 1 1/8" hole straight threw on our drill press



Then, I cut each piece in half



Then I carved everything smooth with my carving knife and filed it.





Then, I repeated this three more times. And threw them all into pot to boil for an hour



All thats left to do is to pin the pieces together and create a juvenile pleco's cave!



Here are a few larger pieces i Finished a while ago. Already boiled, I am going to let them breathe air for a month




Opinions and Suggestions welcome

And to all you pleco breeders, if you would like to trade some young for a cave or two, let me know that you have.

[`GhostDogg´]

Nice work!!!
Looks pretty fresh still, have you thought about baking it for a bit?
I might be the fast way to dry it out, not sure how the others in the house would feel about this though...

[AWW]

Nice work!!!
Looks pretty fresh still, have you thought about baking it for a bit?
I might be the fast way to dry it out, not sure how the others in the house would feel about this though...

No, I have never though about baking them, If i did, how hot could i set my oven too? I don't want them to explode in flames

The boiling will kill off everything alive that is in there, so I was just going to dry the pieces out for a few weeks.

[bonsai dave]

i would let them dry out for a few weeks or months cause it will fuzz up in the tank. How long since you chopped the tree down?

[dbh]

Nice work!

[AWW]

i would let them dry out for a few weeks or months cause it will fuzz up in the tank. How long since you chopped the tree down?

Tree is still uncut. I am just chopping a few branches off here and there. My dad runs a liquor store and is a little busy with the hockey fans

[djamm]

GO CANUCKS GO!!!


Great looking caves....let us know how they work out for you...

[Sliver]

those look awesome! seems like we had the same idea of what to do today, i just finished building some caves myself (yours are WAY cooler though) lol. i'll be posting a thread after the game if i can figure out how to add pics... ;-).

[`GhostDogg´]

No, I have never though about baking them, If i did, how hot could i set my oven too? I don't want them to explode in flames

The boiling will kill off everything alive that is in there, so I was just going to dry the pieces out for a few weeks.

I would just go low & slow.
Any where between 250-350 for say an hour or 3.
Check every 30 mins to see how it going.
I've only tried this with small pieces of wood.
I don't think it would catch fire if there's no open flame.
I wouldn't try this with a broiler.

[bingerz]

that looks cool!! great job! i like how you have the elbows and hollowed out log look. it's kinda like the plastic piping that some ppl use...but you've got the natural look!! looks great!!!

that one idea with the broiler seems interesting. the burnt parts might add an interesting touch to it. that might be bad for the fish with the charred pieces. i'd like to see how that turns out...keep us posted!!! again, great job!!! *applaud*