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Aquarium caves dangerous?

4K views 35 replies 14 participants last post by  Polkadot 
#1 ·
I was just told that putting any kind of hiding cave in an aquarium is dangerous because water or air or something can get trapped in there...Is this true?
 
#3 ·
Yeah but several people on another forum are telling me this...I don't know what to think now /:
 
#4 ·
I think that happens when the decorations aren't waterlogged yet. I mean, for every fish they need hiding spots, right? And we don't always have access to live plants for their hiding spots.

If people have been making aquaria decor for 10+ years now, I think they're safe; they would've been recalled already.
 
#7 ·
I agree with you.
But, I guess a good fake plant can make a good hiding spot, right?
 
#9 ·
Caves or not I think all Bettas will find a safe place they like to rest in. Perseus has live plants, a big silk leaf plant and a decoration with windows in it that he likes to swim though and he can also hide in there which he never does and his safe place is behind or beside the heater on the top of the big silk leaf. Yes I have had caves before also and he would swim in and explore but come right back out after that. They seem safe to me just be extra sure anything with openings are big enough so they cant get stuck.
 
#10 ·
I don't understand why having water or air trapped in a cave would be dangerous. After all, you want water in there (it's for a fish!), and having an air bubble isn't going to hurt - bettas breathe air anyway. Seems wierd.

Odysseus never really used caves before, but he has a big terracotta pot now that I always find him resting in, when he hasn't burrowed under the leaves I use for substrate. He thinks he's a kuhli loach. :)
 
#16 ·
It looks like they mean the sort of ornament in that photo, rather than caves. I can see how nasties might build up in an ornament like that hollow bridge, in theory...maybe. Still, there doesn't seem to be any scientific reasoning behind the article, other than the person had that kind of ornament and their fish got dropsy. Correlation is, after all, not the same as causation.
 
#17 ·
It looks like they mean the sort of ornament in that photo, rather than caves. I can see how nasties might build up in an ornament like that hollow bridge, in theory...maybe. Still, there doesn't seem to be any scientific reasoning behind the article, other than the person had that kind of ornament and their fish got dropsy. Correlation is, after all, not the same as causation.
+1
Seeing as there are so many fishkeepers who use caves of some sort, I'd think that there would be more data out there if it was a major issue. Maybe I'll check some of my school's academic journal databases tomorrow and see if anything comes up there - sometimes there're some articles that are pretty aplicable to aquariums.
 
#20 · (Edited)
The only I see it as being dangerous is if the entrance is too small and the fish gets stuck or they are not made for aquariums

Well apparently it can harbor bad bacteria and parasites.
I never heard of parasites chilling in JUST a cave. Ditto for bacteria. Maybe if you never remove the item for cleaning you will get an accumulation of poop aroound the cave but that is neither bacteria or a parasite...
 
#21 ·
I've never heard that before either.My little boys have logs,caves,mangroves & barrel hideouts which have all been really great.They love them & have lots of fun with them,Button especially prefers his caves to logs and I switched his log hideout with a new granite rock hideout with 3 different openings in it the other day and he was in it straight away checking it out. :-D
 
#36 ·
They probably don't specifically need a cave,but I think definitely some sort of hideout would be appreciated.Yes a big leafed plant would be good,a log or anything they can get in or under just to feel safe and get out of the light if they want to.You will get to know what your Betta prefers for sure,so you can swap things around and see what he/she favours best. :)
 
#25 ·
One of my "caves" is a large piece of driftwood with the gravel dug out from under it, my fish loves it and it's nice and dark under there and there's no plastics or anything. As for needing one I think it depends on the fish. My boy Floyd loves to look around his tank and hardly ever hides, Freddie I usually have to look for, he's shy and pretty skittish so I like to make sure he always has places to hide.
 
#26 ·
Neither of my bettas really use the hiding places I have for them. I have a ship wreck decoration with a lot of holes to swim in and out of, and she only swims through it sometimes, but never really rests in it. Patriot has a terracotta pot and a few fake plants, but he only ever hides in his floating betta log. I made a styrofoam "betta log" for Tiny Tina and she's been hiding in that lately, but other than that, they don't use their hiding spots too often.
 
#27 ·
Well I mean do you need a cave specifically? Or does a plant with large leaves make a decent enough hiding place?
 
#32 ·
Well I mean do you need a cave specifically? Or does a plant with large leaves make a decent enough hiding place?
Oversized plants will work too. In one tank, I have a few plants like a forest and the other side pretty bare. The plants were originally to slow down the outfloe from the filter but he seems to like to be in the plants more then the Tiki Hut. SOmetimes he goes in it but not alot.

Cichlid stones also work. I got them for my plecos to hide in but find my females in them more
 
#33 · (Edited)
I was just wondering because I really like the whole minimalist look. I wouldn't take my little guy's cave away from him, but maybe with my next betta I would like to have one large leafy silk plant on one side of the tank and then nothing else but gravel. If he doesn't use the open space on the other side I think that's fine, because male bettas are naturally not usually very active anyway and I just like to have 5 gallons for water quality and maitenance reasons more than anything else...Though I think a betta would go to the other side out of curiosity anyway because there will either be a heater or a sponge filter over there ;)
 
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