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Fish Room

54K views 297 replies 46 participants last post by  cantrell 
#1 ·
Still in the design stages but should start soon.

Basically, adding a back wall into a detached garage, insulation, some extra electrical circuits & heat/AC.

6 - 40G Breeders
6 - 33L Tanks

There will also be some 20L's...

 
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#252 ·
tim_s said:
cantrell00 said:
tim_s said:
Puts on the pressure: When can we see pictures.
You weren't satisfied with the 100 in this thread already? :lol:
Uh Sir!~ NO ha ha :lol:

I mean close ups of the tanks themselves.

We got to:

1. Planning
2. Building
3. Explaining the idea
Next. We have some fish but the pressure is on to get this all up and lighted
Ok.. So you are in the process of building your own room?
 
#253 ·
Wow your room is amazing! Also your pretty close to me, if you want some good customers, there are tons of us waiting for a good supply of Cichlids!
 
#254 ·
Steveboos said:
Wow your room is amazing! Also your pretty close to me, if you want some good customers, there are tons of us waiting for a good supply of Cichlids!
That is certainly good to know... I will eventually have fry from the following...

Labs
Met. Msobo
Cyno sp; Chinyankwazi
Cyno afra Nkhata Bay (available)
Cyno afra Likoma
Cyno afra Jalo Reef
Cyno Mbamba Lundu
Cyno Mbamba Mphanga Rocks
Cyno sp; Hara
Cyno axelrodi, Nkhata Bay
Cyno afra Cobue
Cyno Lion Lupingo
Cyno Lion, Lion's Cove (available) F1
 
#255 ·
I need more grow out tanks so I found a ad on craigslist for odd & ends acrylic for $1.00 / lb. I checked it out and brought a bunch home. The fry wracks are approximately 48 X 18 X 10"T and will have three removable dividers. This will allow a ton of flexibility as fish are growing. I also picked up a ton of polycarbonate (Lexan) to use as tank covers.

There will be three of these and will be on a auto-drip. I hope to achieve 50% water changes daily. The auto-change system will be fed via the overhead reservoir. Approximately 30 gallons per day.

Here is a concept drawing:



Pile of acrylic:



Assembly sequence...



























Two are built with one more to go. Waiting on the acrylic joining "U" channel to arrive for the partitions. Also have to cut out the partitions and install everything. Including the covers for all of the tanks... Once completed, I will have the capability for basically 12 - 10 gallon tanks for holding mom's or recently stripped fry. As they grow, I can combine certain types into larger segments as I remove partitions. Filtration will be sponge filters.
 
#256 ·
Hello cantrell00

I have watched your topic very closely and have to say you did a amazing job there.
Keep up the good job and i wish you the best in this en-devour.

I would also like to ask you about your heating system. Do you heat up the water in the above storage tanks ? If so doesn't it add up to a whole lot of a electrical bill ?

Or do you heat the water by having the room temperature up to lets say 29 degrees so the water temperature is 23-24 ?

Either way when winter is coming how do you cope then ?
 
#257 ·
Vidockq said:
Hello cantrell00

I have watched your topic very closely and have to say you did a amazing job there.
Keep up the good job and i wish you the best in this en-devour.
Thank you..

I would also like to ask you about your heating system. Do you heat up the water in the above storage tanks ? If so doesn't it add up to a whole lot of a electrical bill ?
Two things: One, I live in a very mild climate. For reference, it was 81 degrees here yesterday. Secondly, I do both... I heat the overhead storage tanks & heat the room as necessary. I heat the overhead water because I need it warmed faster than the room itself would warm it. I am constantly using it for water-changes

Either way when winter is coming how do you cope then ?
Winter here is almost over.
 
#260 ·
Here is the fry tank with the dividers.. I ended up making a channel out of 1/4" strips - 1/2" wide. The fabricated 2X4/ply support is under it..

Please excuse the camera phone pics..



In the room..



My 11 year old "helper" screwing down the ply.. :D



Second tank..



I have more on my camera showing the feed and drain lines for the auto-drip. The dividers, etc.. Will post later.
 
#262 ·
Aulonocara_Freak said:
Nice! Do you have holes in the divider or are you doing it so each one is separate?
I drilled a series of holes in each acrylic divider so that each "cubicle" is sharing the same water from the auto drip and sponge filter.

I have pics of all that and will be in the next post..
 
#263 ·
Your fry tanks are Identical to the tanks we have at petsmart. They are 3 tanks but a solid piece of acrylic on all 4 sides, 2 dividers in between, 4 small holes drilled near the back to let water flow through and everyone works on a overflow system.

I have a feeling you are going to have some nice happy fry!!!

Hows the breeding going along?
 
#264 ·
Steveboos said:
Your fry tanks are Identical to the tanks we have at petsmart. They are 3 tanks but a solid piece of acrylic on all 4 sides, 2 dividers in between, 4 small holes drilled near the back to let water flow through and everyone works on a overflow system.

I have a feeling you are going to have some nice happy fry!!!

Hows the breeding going along?
WOW... That is where I got the idea from. Mine are running on a continuous drip and sponge though..

The breeding has been prolific! :lol:

I have stopped stripping several species. Just too many!
 
#265 ·
Yeah you need to have a method of filtration that is small enough so that's it's easy to maintain and keep in the house, but you also need it to do a good bit of water flow.

Our main system is 1675 gallons and the tanks are 10 gallon squares i believe.

This is the tank setup, your acrylic seems to be the same thickness also, 1/4"??

 
#266 ·
Steveboos said:
Yeah you need to have a method of filtration that is small enough so that's it's easy to maintain and keep in the house, but you also need it to do a good bit of water flow.

Our main system is 1675 gallons and the tanks are 10 gallon squares i believe.

This is the tank setup, your acrylic seems to be the same thickness also, 1/4"??

1/4", yes..
 
#267 ·
Nice, perfect for the size tank's you made and man you got it for dirt cheap. Even after 3 years, our tanks still look great and have little to no scratches!
 
#271 ·
Aulonocara_Freak said:
cantrell00 said:
E82M6 said:
Wow I just read the entire thread and I must say you are addicted to fish keeping lol. Keep up the good work.
I have a tendancy to take things to the extreme.. :D
I don't think extreme is a strong enough word! :lol:
Ok... Ridiculous extremes... I believe that is what my wife called it anyway... :lol:
 
#272 ·
Here are some better photos....

Top two fry tanks with continuous drip emitters-



Bottom



"Mister Landscaper" .5 GPH emitter & hose adapter nozzle



Here is the DIY 1/2" overflow-drain. 1/4" vinyl



And to the floor drain



This is what I came up with to add chemicals/dechlor while filling the overhead reservoir.



Hopefully I will see really good growth rates.
 
#274 ·
iphister said:
your fish room is legitly the best thing i've seen in my life, i can't wait to see the final product of all your hard work bro :thumb:
Why thank you... I need to update the thread..

I removed three 40 BR's in favor of 4 - 75's.
 
#275 ·
cantrell00 said:
iphister said:
your fish room is legitly the best thing i've seen in my life, i can't wait to see the final product of all your hard work bro :thumb:
Why thank you... I need to update the thread..

I removed three 40 BR's in favor of 4 - 75's.
yea you definitely need to update this thread, i went through all 19 pages from start to end reading and looking at what you're up to with this room of your's
 
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