Syndontis and resin crocodile skulls?

[N0body Of The Goat]

I'm wondering about purchasing two 15cm and one 30cm for my two S. brichardi and one S. decora, such as...
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... K:MEWAX:IT
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... K:MEWAX:IT

in the hope they will use them as daytime roosts (rather than perching in the lower branches of my two tall artficial plants, depsite there being a load of natural caves in the two bigger bogwood islands). Yes, they might be a bit cheesy, but at least crocs do exists in Africa, albeit possibly not in the more turbulent parts of the River Zaire, where these Synos come from!


Would apreciate any thoughts and specifically any alternatives you think might be a better purchase.

[Richard B]

Although not really my "cup-of-tea" these skulls provide perfectly adequate shelter for synos (& other cats too). The same goes for airplanes, castles, shipwrecks & not forgetting spongebob squarepants pineapple!!!

It would be cheaper to constuct some sort of slate cave - essentially a piece of thin slate rested at an angle against a pebble/rock/piece of wood and this looks a tad more natural (if that is more your taste)

[ginagv]

oh no!

my husband is driving me nuts wanting to put a Spongebob Squarepants pineapple in the tank....

must...resist...

Gina

[Richard B]

slightly ashamed to say i have one - (it's not in a tank and it was free with a 2nd hand tank i bought). I much prefer squidworth!!!

[racoll]

Yes, they might be a bit cheesy, but at least crocs do exists in Africa,

Yes, tacky as they are, at least they are sort of biotope correct. I'm sure there are plenty of these in African rivers, and I'm sure synos in the wild would shelter in such an object.

I think if the tank was aquascaped otherwise naturally, these would look kind of cool.

[Birger]

I think if the tank was aquascaped otherwise naturally, these would look kind of cool.

I agree...if it would be partially buried or made to look like it has been there awhile it would be an interesting touch.

[N0body Of The Goat]

Thanks for the input so far, I thought it might be a "marmite" discussion.

It looks as if these skulls have an opening to the "cave" from both the absent vertebrae and the open jaw. Presumeably I would need to keep both these "cave" entrances open so the juvenile catfish (~ 12-18cm SL) can get in an out without problems, or is it likely they would actually prefer one opening buried in the sand, if I did bury the skulls slightly?

The other issue that sprang to mind was their orientation in the tank... I'd love to have them running roughly parellel to the length of the 5-footer, but until I replace the 48W SAD lightbox with an already purchased Arcadia ACE2U8 light controller and 70W of "Tropical" T8 lightings, light streams into the tank from the leftmost end. I guess I could position the skulls so the end nearest the lightbox has a bogwood island at least partially blocking the light?