Fish/Koi Cave Ideas

[mtravigne]

What do you use as far as a koi cave? I've seen the big plastic tubes; not sure what they are or where to get them, or if anyone has any other suggestions for an inexpensive but effective fish cave. Thanks for reading!

 

[guitarman023]

I've seen PVC in large diameter mostly, lowes has it, but you would have to buy 8ft of it probably. Shouldn't be very expensive though.

 

[mtravigne]

I've seen PVC in large diameter mostly, lowes has it, but you would have to buy 8ft of it probably. Shouldn't be very expensive though.

Thank you. I was there yesterday, short on time and no idea where to look for what I wanted.

 

[guitarman023]

Should be in one of the plumbing aisles, you will see big racks full of lengths of pipe. I think the bigger stuff you're going to be looking for will be a light green color

 

[Angel]

plumbing pies will work and some use chimney flue liners. or just a natural rock set up. I would suggest angling the open part down a touch ( back in to the pond) to allow water to lower when and if you need to drain the pond the fish will come out better.

 

[Jhn]

I used the hdpe black corrugated pipe, I had some 12-18” diameter left over from a job.

I put 4 - 2-3’ pieces in the pond under the waterfall anchored with bricks. One is under a large knobby driftwood tree stump as well. It is hard to tell the pipe is even there with the waterfall running.

 

[EricV]

I use a black garbage can (8 gallons or so). I don't know if they ever use it.

 

[RobAmy]

I used Corrugated Culvert Pipe which I got for free from a landscape company for free. I had to drill holes in it or it will float

 

[GBBUDD]

Chimney flue algae good algae that is grows on the clay almost making it blend in says Lisa. I used rock . With the new pond I dug into the wall before the liner went in then put a flat stone roof on it. the second photo shows the roof on the cave but it was the first version the roof was completely changed using different rocks that fit better but it gives the idea. it's to the left of the bucket the three pieces of stone. then just above that I made a fish tunnel it's two channels about 4 feet wide by 6 feet long . it's the group of rocks off to the right of the rocks in a circle toward the left side. oh the fish cave is now close to 4 feet deep about a 16" tall .

 

[bagsmom]

I did like RobAmy and used culvert pipe. It worked great!

 

[Telion]

I took the Pond diggers advice and kept looking around for left over pieces at construction sites. I had been watching for about a year and finally came across a site that had one. It was two pieces actually an end joint that was cut off and disguarded and a piece that was scrap from a tube

 

[Cherylpederson]

Thank you. I was there yesterday, short on time and no idea where to look for what I wanted.

Plumbing

 

[Lisak1]

Chimney flue algae good algae that is grows on the clay almost making it blend in says Lisa.

We are using a chimney flue for our fish cave currently. We had a big piece of culvert (too big actually) that we had cut into a half moon shape so it would sit flat on the pond bottom. We covered it with rock, but I just never liked the way it looked. And because it was curved, I couldn't get pots to sit on top. So we switched to the chimney flue a few years ago and like it so much better. It's a great place to put plant pots and it does blend right in once algae starts to grow on it. You could also put rocks on top if you wanted.

Had we planned ahead and built in fish caves, I would have used the culvert pipes though. I'd be concerned that the clay might eventually degrade and start to fall apart. Not sure if that's a real fear, but if it's built in you'd have a reconstruction job on your hands.

 

[GBBUDD]

my caves were carved into the sides of the soils and I just played the liner in it and covered it