DIY Custom Made Slate Cave

Hi there's been a load of talk lately about making slate caves and how to cut slate. Well i spent the night making a custom slate piece for the corner of our tank so here it goes:

Tools and Materials: Grinder ( I picked a tile cutting blade up from B&Q for a bargain Price £5), pencil, tape, sand paper, hair dryer and rag.

cant be bothered filling the rest in yet so any questions just ask lol

oh and heres some pics

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2 pleco caves at differant sizes and a dwarf cichlid cave on the right.

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With the lid on and a little handle to take the lid off with ease.

Looks good. I might do something like that, the back corner of my tank has a big empty space hidden behind my vallis plants. I reckon my syno cats would like a slate cave...looks like I've found a nice job for the other half lol

hairdryer?

yeh because when you sand the edges it has dust all over and the silicone wont stick so i wiped with a wet cloth then dry with rag then blow dry to get all the water off this way the silicone should get a good grip!

Good job Chris, like the idea of a removable Top, will probably pinch that idea!

Can you make me a pyramid one Chris lol. Looks good mate.

PS how thick was the slate and what did you use to mark it?

Cheers for the compliments peeps. I can make what ya like timmy this is only my first atempt so i will improve.
the slate is 7mm thick and i used a pencil to mark it dont really matter what u mark it with i suppose u could use chalk or a crayon.

going to buy a load of slate and silicone if anybody wants anything making ill price it up. wont be expensive.
going to look out for bamboo too, so i can make bamboo caves.

bamboo looks nice like

looks smart that chris for a first go and will probs have a couple of bits of bamboo off ya for me malawi tank wen ya get some bud giv u a shout

If you're after bamboo, I got some from peter barratts. It's just flower bed edging stuff but you can just cut through the metal wire with some pliers and then you've got a load of loose bamboo. I have loads just haphazardly piled up in my liverbearer, shrimp and cory tank and they seem to love it.

Chris ive started cutting some slate today to make my 1st ones. They just gunna be basic like. What height was the internals of the cave, ive made mine 30mm will this be adequate.

nice one ross just noticed that post ill have to take a look,

timmy it depends on what plecs u want in them. i think i done mine an 1" high by 1.5" wide. its up to u. im going to make triangular ones next.

chris i should be seeing a man tomorrow with triangular caves if you would like me to i will see if i can measure them, they're for ancistrus by the way i.e. the super reds i bought were using them as it's the guy i got them from

Mines a triangle and a square. JUst wanna see what they like, need silicone now though.

just made some more slate caves didnt have a grinder with me so had to make do with what was already cut.

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look good mate

Just got some more slate heres another atempt at a triangular standard cave


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anybody want anything making let me know what size shape whatever u like ill see what i can do, and put a price on it.

Gave this a go last night and I can happily say Chris makes i look easier to do than what it really is. I know mine is structurely stong but definately doesnt have a square opening lol......Will post a photo tonight.

Did tell u they where hard, Its an Art! the square ones are easy its the triangle ones that are hardest, but the plecos adore them.

Heres the finished product:
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WTF is that ha ha