DIY Artificial Reef for QT Tank

[redfishbluefish]

In setting up a 55 gallon QT, the standard PVC plumbing pieces just didn't look right for that deep of a tank. The fish would have to hang out on the bottom of the tank. There was nothing in the upper water column for the fish to hide. Having left over 4 inch PVC pipe, I made two upright pieces and zip tied them together. One artificial reef has three pipes while the other has two......But first I went nuts with a hole saw drilling a bunch of holes.

Now, did I waste my time or do you think this is a good idea?

 

[MadReefer]

I heard you can use Great Foam to shape the pieces.

 

[MadReefer]

I actually thought you were building a DIY pipe organ.

 

[horseplay]

Too many hiding spots encourages hiding, which may or may not be a good thing.

 

[redfishbluefish]

Joe, I'd like to know you thinking on that. My thought is to give them places to hide to reduce stress. If we didn't want them to hide, why not a totally empty tank without any PVC? I'd rather have them hiding and happy than out in the open and freaking out.

 

[horseplay]

I usually don't quarantine more than a couple of day. When I do I give the fish only one or two spots to hide. That's how it's done in LFS. I also try to quarantine a few fish together. They really like the company especially for difficult fish. I have setup quarantine tank with a lot of caves before. Fish tend to hide a lot more and because more reclusive over time.

 

[ice28720]

Too many holes

 

[Mark_C]

This...

Then you can always see how they're doing.