The Puffer Forum

Heres a pretty easy one to do (sorry no pictures). Take a coconut, split it in half (mine was a store bought, I drilled a hole in it, drained the milk, then used a hammer and screw driver to split it open). Now that you have two open coconut halves use a butter knife of other impliment to scrape off all the meat (white stuff). Finally cut hols big enough for your fish, I did it the hard way and used a drill to drill out several small holes in the shape I wanted, then used a saw and screwdriver handle to knock out the piece. Using a big drill bit or recipricating saw would have probably been neater. I also used a round file to smooth the edges of the hole so my puffers wouldn't hurt themselves. Finally rinse it off and drop it in your aquarium! For $1.89 a coconut (my local Meijer) its a great price for 2 huts. (sorry I don't have any pictures, I might borrow my sister's camera later!

Sounds cool for a tropical theme! Would the coconut rot, though?

I never thought about that..... I'll see if it is still completely solid in a few days or if its softening. I hope it doesn't

Yeah. If it rotted, it would really mess with parameters. Maybe sealent would fix that.

you shouldn't have too much of a problem if you remove all the hairs from the shell. I find coconuts all the time snorkeling in the caribbean, and there is all sorts of good stuff growing on the outside

oh, I left the hairs on because I liked it better that way
oh well hopefully won't be to much of a problem

Do you have a pic?

No, not yet sorry

this would be good for snake hides too! if you let them dry out of course...

Pictures!

cool

Thanks I'm pretty happy with 'em. And their still good and hard, but stuff sometimes gets caught in the hairs (flake food). If that bugs you, you could remove it.

you might have wanted to boil it as well. i made one and when i boiled it a lot of nasty brown came off

I haven't had any problems with the coconut shells rotting-even the hair has been fine.Just be sure to remove all the "meat"from the inside as this will spoil. I also agree with above comment, they should be boiled first like driftwood to release the tannins. boiling also makes it easier to get the goods out-using a spoon works for me. U can leave 'em whole as well making the hole just large enough to get the meat out-makes for mobile rolling caves. My Yoyo's and B G Knife luv em. My SAP's never seemed that interested in them, but there hard to please at the best of tymes