Boston Aquarium Society Message Board

Not sure if this is the place to post. I'm looking for some information on the basics to setting up a fishroom. Specifically, things like filtration, water changes and topoff, and the general design of the room. Things to know in order to make maintaining the room a little easier. Is there anyone out there who might be considered an expert?

Does the society ever do "fishroom open houses?"

I'm assuming this topic has been discussed in the past?

Thanks,

As far as visiting fishrooms goes, go to a New England Fancy Guppy Association meeting, they visit fishrooms and there's a pretty good archive of fishroom photos on their site.
http://newenglandguppies.org/

There's no definite way to make a fish room, I'd collect ideas from different journals and put it together into you own room. Here are some of the better ones I've found.
http://brianstropicals.com/basement.html
http://www.tedsfishroom.com/wp/fishroom

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Trying to concentrate on dart frogs, African cichlids and Aphyosemion killifish (oh, and mysnake pair and reef too). I've always got something for sale, PM.

These are great links. Thanks guys.

The board has talked about scheduling a "fishroom or house tour" on a weekend. We'd love to hear from people who would be interested in having fishgeeks traipsing thru their fishy places.
Hopefully we'll be doing this soon

My thoughts (as a guy who has a "fishroom" that consists of 12+ tanks of 7 different sizes, mostly on standard aquarium stands, with lots of individual filters etc) - the things I'm going to be changing this year (I hope):

• More standard tank sizes - maybe six or eight 15g tanks, six 10g tanks, plus a handful of 55g tanks and my 125g
• replace tanks on stands with tanks in racks - I can fit a whole rack of 15g tanks in the space I am taking up with a 20g and a 29g tank right now
• Fewer power filters, more air-driven (sponge, box, UG) filters
• At least one rack with a drip system for small partial water changes (using drilled tanks with overflow pipes)

But this is in part because I want to start breeding more fishes, especially smaller fishes that I can breed in 15g tanks (or breed in one of the 55g tanks and raise the fry in the 15's).
If you're looking at larger fishes, you may want to plan on larger tanks.

I also want to simplify my maintenance routine and make the individual tanks more visible (I have too many "hidden" tanks that I don't look at enough).
Ideally I'd like to heat the room rather than the tanks eventually (not an option yet) and install a heat exchanger type fan system (to keep the humidity levels down by venting air out but not heat)
I already have mostly "shop light" style lighting - very few "strip lights" - and would try to eliminate the few that are left. Shop lights are economical, and the 48" T8 daylight bulbs are cheap and look good.

Right now I am running 2 Aquaclear 500 filters, one Tetra 60 filter, 2 fluval canisters, 1 Cascade Canister, one other HOB filter (I forget the brand), and at least one sponge or box filter in every tank. (plus a big trickle filter on my 125g tank). I'd like to do away with all of the HOB filters, and both Fluval filters. (the cascade is on my mudskipper tank and is staying).
Most "modern" aquarists would be amazed by the cleaning power of a simple box filter - they are great mechanical filters and pair well with sponges for biofiltration.

Depending on how many tanks I end up with, I might move to a very large diaphram air pump (or a very small blower) - I use 2 fairly big pumps and 2 small ones right now.

When it comes to fishroom equipment, I like Kensfish.com and jehmco.com . I also like the sponge filters from angelsplus.com (we're hoping to do a club group by on some of those sponge filters soon).

I also like our local friends like Skipton's, Uncle Ned's, Lovely Pets, and Tropic Isle, of course - but none of them are selling 4" cube sponge filters for $5 !

I've also personally severely limited the amount of "aquarium gravel" I use - most of my tanks have either:
a) a very thin layer of sand (either pool filter sand or coral sand depending on the fish)
b) a deep layer of pool filter sand and laterite, covered by more sand (planted tanks)
c) a commercial plant gravel like ecocomplete or flourite sand (planted tanks)
d) a thin layer of crushed coral

Other than the crushed coral, I don't vacuum any of these - I either siphon from 1" above the thin layer of sand, or leave the detritus there (planted tanks).
In fact, for most of my tanks, I pump water from the tank to the sink using a Supreme Mag 5 pump and a python unit. This allows me to quickly change water. (and rarely carry a bucket of water to the sink)

I premix my water change water in a 33 or 40g rubbermade barrel, which contains a heater and a powerhead pump. the pump is attached to about 5 feet of 5/8" tubing, which has a "u-tube" nozzle on the end. This allows me to quickly pump the water into the tank from the barrel - no lifting buckets over the tank to fill it etc. (and of course I dechlorinate and adjust temp and pH/hardness before adding the water to the tank).

Oh - I've found Tap Water Conditioner brand and Prime brand water conditioners to be good choices for me when dealing with my fishroom - the 16oz sizes treat somewhere over 9000 gallons, while a 16oz "Stress Coat" treats something like 900g -- this makes a big difference when your changing 50 - 100g per week

_________________
Rich
-- ---------------------------------------
Its new, its improved (its still a work-in-progress)
its http://redpaulhus.com !

My "fish room" is basically just a bunch of tanks that I have set up in the basement. I have 4 tanks that run off of a central sump, 75g, 2-20g, 15g. I have two 20g longs on a rack that I build from 2x4s and plywood and a 38 that has its own wrought iron stand. Non-sumped tanks currently have AquaClear hang on power filters. Some have 2. I like the excess filtration, plus it allows quick setup of a tank for quarantine, etc.
I'm currently working to set up a 40 long and a 55. Since they are both 4 footers I'm debating building a tiered stand for both of them.
I'm using beach or play sand for most of my substrates since most of these tanks have Tanganyikans which defy any attempts at plants. There are a lot of crushed shells in the overflows and aragonite in the 75 which is all the water treatment I do. I've found that it's easier, and a lot less expensive for me to suit my fish to the water, than the water to the fish.
I keep a 55 gallon plastic barrel full of water which I let stand with an airstone for a week before it is used.
I'm working on more automation for my water changes. Currently I use a powerhead to pump water in or out of tanks for water changes. I have one 30 gallon trash barrel which I've put on wheels to help ease the bucket lugging.
Project list:
More power circuits. The current collection of power strips, besides being ugly, needs to be more robust AND have ground fault circuits.
Plumbing. I currently have a piece of tubing that stretches across the room via the ceiling joists. That will be PVC coming by a different route.
I've been collecting ten gallon tanks that I want to put on a rack. I want to learn to drill them for a central sump.
I'd like to be able to pump my waste water to a barrel outside the house to make it available for watering outdoor plants, etc.

A tour? I think it would be fun. My wife thinks otherwise. The rest of the cellar is only marginally short of being declared a disaster area.

-- Front-fan a.k.a. Dave

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There are 10 kinds of people - Those who understand binary
And those who don't

That's awesome, guys!

A quick question: how do you keep all that humidity from affecting the insulation that's between the joists and the joists themselves in the basement? Or do you have a "finished" basement?

This is great feedbackl. I'm glad I asked and I hope we can get to see a few fishrooms.

I've read some stuff about the humidity, people use dehumidifiers and tight fitting glass covers, which prety much eliminates the problem. Great posts! Haven't got a chance to read some of the newer ones, but Rich really hit the nail on the head.

By the way, try out gorilla racks, I just ordered one because I'm trying to convert my "fish room" like Rich described into a fishroom.

http://www.acehardware.com/product/inde ... 0464832794

EDIT: So, I read front-fan's. Sounds like an impressive room! So true about the power supply, that really gets to be a pain. If anyone here has a good link on making sump systems or other centralized filtration for multiple small tanks, please post it.

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Trying to concentrate on dart frogs, African cichlids and Aphyosemion killifish (oh, and mysnake pair and reef too). I've always got something for sale, PM.

Not that impressive, really.
There are both pros and cons to multiple tank sumps though. It's nice to be able to put heaters and such into the sump so your tank can be 'prettier', but this winter while I was on vacation one of my overflows broke. My son, who was keeping an eye on things, called be and I had him isolate the tank and top off the sump. No problem, a little water on the cellar floor was no big deal after all. But ... there now was no heat in the tank! By the time I got home 2 days later the tank was at 50 degrees like the rest of the cellar and my thriving colony of multies only had one survivor! So be aware there are trade-offs with almost any multiple tank setup. And what you don't plan for is just what will probably happen.

I suggest looking at as many fishrooms as you can. The net will come in handy here. I found a lot of stuff when I built mine.

An interesting category for the monthly photo contest?

I have some detailed shots of my initial sump setup if you're interested.

-- Front-fan a.k.a. Dave

_________________
There are 10 kinds of people - Those who understand binary
And those who don't

Again, good feedback. I think its a great general topic and any fish person would find it interesting to hear about and more excitied to see some actual fish rooms. In many cases, low tech rooms will appeal to more people based on cost and level of understanding how the overall systems function.

Good point made about the heating system going down. For me the #1 issue would be to eliminate or minimize the water changes done with buckets. If we cannot get a formal "fish room tour" going, I would appreciate anyone willing to show me their room. I have no problem in travelling for this.

Certainly, any pics you post are of interest.

I've been considering the pro's and con's of a centrally filtered (ie sumped) rack of tanks vs a rack of isolated tanks with a drip water change system.
My biggest concern with a rack of tanks tied together thru a filter system is that I'll somehow someway introduce a disease vector (parasite, bacterium, virus, whatever) and end up with a whole bunch of sick tanks, rather than one tank of sick fish.

Oh, and I'm not sure I'll really want six tanks all with the same water parameters.
Part of the reason I want a rack is to expand the number of species I can keep - I don't want to have six tanks of ancistris or six tanks of cory cats

I've got six pre-drilled 15g tanks just waiting for me to setup a rack, and I'm still not positive which way I'll lean.

As far as water changes go - even without going complex with things, a python-style water changer (Lee's and Aqueon make them as well) is a huge labor saver in my opinion.

_________________
Rich
-- ---------------------------------------
Its new, its improved (its still a work-in-progress)
its http://redpaulhus.com !

I agree about the water parameters thing. But I'm in love with Tangs! Currently I have cyps, multies, occies, julies, fronts - all like the same water. And yet there are tons of species that I haven't tried yet.
I was thinking of things like size/generation sorting of fry and juvies. I've even thought about using a small tank for things like daphnia or other live critters for feeding.
I would think that if you were in love with soft water fish like angels, severum and such that there is quite a variety you could support with a central system. That's why before you set up a multiple tank system, that you spend some thought considering just what you want to do. It does limit you, but that's OK if that's what you're after. That's one of the great things about this hobby/obsession after all!
Rich has another great point about disease and/or parasites. If you're considering a multiple tank system, make sure you have quarantine/hospital tanks available. Even though within the club, most fish are OK, you can never be sure that problems won't arise.
Research, research, research, planning, planning, planning ... and you'll still get surprises!

_________________
There are 10 kinds of people - Those who understand binary
And those who don't

That's my problem - I want more Tangs, and I want Malawi Peacocks, and I want to breed cories, and I want to work with celestial pearl danios some more, and I want to breed gudgeons again, and I need space to raise my new world cichlid fry, and I want to breed apistos, and ....

You know how some people are on seafood diets - they see food and then *bam* they eat ?

I have a seafish addiction - every time I see a fish, I want it !

As for the disease issue - somebody who's better at details than I am (ie would remember to replace the bulb regularly) would do well to put a UV Sterilizer on the return line from a large shared sump, so that all water is sterilized before returning to the tanks.
I know I'd forget to change the bulb and end up with an old bulb that made me feel safer than I really am.

_________________
Rich
-- ---------------------------------------
Its new, its improved (its still a work-in-progress)
its http://redpaulhus.com !

I know the feeling, Rich. I love all types of coldblooded animals and I was briefly considering exotic mammals, but I found that with the variety I was keeping I wan't getting anything done. Now I'm trying to concentrate on just Aphyosemion killifish and dart frogs, and I think I'm limiting what types of dart frogs I'll be working with as well. Not giving you a scolding lecture or anything, just saying what works for me.

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Trying to concentrate on dart frogs, African cichlids and Aphyosemion killifish (oh, and mysnake pair and reef too). I've always got something for sale, PM.

So I've done a whole lot of research and I can't fine any good guides for a sump with many small tanks. Should I use an overflow for each? It would be greatly appreciated if someone could steer me in the right direction.

_________________
Trying to concentrate on dart frogs, African cichlids and Aphyosemion killifish (oh, and mysnake pair and reef too). I've always got something for sale, PM.