Hobby Catfish Cave Aquarium Breeding Cave - L

Hobby Catfish Cave Aquarium Breeding Cave is a burnt clay cave with several entrances, the traditional answer for breeding plecos and other cave-spawning catfish. Beyond breeding it does the quieter job of giving a bullied or shy fish somewhere to be - and a fish with a retreat spends less time hiding, not more.

Key Features

• Burnt Clay: heavy, completely inert and rough enough that fish grip it. Clay is what breeders have used for decades.
• Several Entrances: so a fish is never cornered, which matters when a male is holding a cave and a female wants to leave.
• Sizes: small, medium and large. Pick above.
• Reduces Stress: cover is not decoration. Fish that cannot get out of sight stay on alert, eat less and colour down.
• Inert: no effect on water chemistry.

Placing It Properly

• Entrance away from the light and the traffic. Facing the front glass and the room is the one orientation a fish will not use.
• One cave per territorial fish, and then one spare. With exactly as many caves as fish, the loser of every dispute has nowhere to go.
• Bed it down. Push it slightly into the substrate so it cannot be tipped, and check nothing can roll onto it.
• Leave an exit. Do not wedge it so tightly into rockwork that a fish spawning inside has only one way out.

Good To Know

• Pick the size above. A pleco wants a cave it only just fits into.
• Rinse it under the tap before it goes in, and have a look for sharp edges or casting flash on any moulded piece.
• Keep decor clear of the filter intake and the heater. Blocking either is how a tidy layout quietly becomes a problem.
• If a fish moves in and stops coming out, that is the cave working, not a problem. Resist the urge to look inside daily.
• Lift it out and rinse it when you do a water change. Caves collect detritus because nothing flows through them.