Bill Smith

Most of my tanks have micro pellets on auto feeders, which feed lightly once or twice a day, depending on the tank. My biggest fish are congo tetras and full-sized pearl gouramis. In the evening after work, when I'm feeling less busy from the day, I enjoy providing something frozen, usually spirulina brine shrimp (to keep them regular), my own hatched baby brine shrimp (which I keep frozen in micro cubes), or bloodworms. I probably do this 4-5 times per week.

I have 12 tanks and a pond. I never sterilize. Probably should, but I haven't noticed any cross-contamination of anything.

I have used notebooks, software, and spreadsheets. I have not stuck with any of them. But I found TRELLO is free, and a great way to track multiple tanks. Here's a couple screenshots (I name my tanks after famous worlds). I can't recommend Trello enough! Bill

I see Dean fixed the photo. Ding ding ding! Jason wins for the correct guess!

LOL, thanks! Never had my writing analyzed before. Not an engineer, but very much a hardcore techie and Maker!

Hi Stephen, I fixed my original post up top; I wasn't posting properly. Copy-paste is no bueno!

In my case, even the cheap ones had adjustable feet. Just unscrew as necessary for leveling.

No, I'm pretty sure the newer versions of these racks don't fit the 40 breeder anymore. They're just a tiny bit too small; less than an inch, I believe. You can sometimes find older ones (that do fit) on CraigsList and such. You can tell the difference by the fact that you can't see the "keyhole" pattern on the vertical members of the old ones.

No, the chlorinated water is actually important, in my opinion. I believe it helps stave off bacterial infection of the eggs while they soften up and hatch. It gasses off before it becomes a danger to the baby brine shrimp. In fact, my water has chloramines in it; there is no negative effect on the hatching. Rather, I think it helps. Forgot to mention, major detail: My salt is Instant Ocean as well. It probably makes a difference.

My recipe for the Ziss hatchery gives me a VERY high hatch rate: 2L tap water (NOT dechlorinated) 10 tsp of Instant Ocean salt pinch of baking soda 2 tsp of eggs I run at room temperature, no special lighting, and I wait 36 hours.

Dremel, maybe? It would be messy, though.

Thanks Daniel, unfortunately, for me, this one fails the wife test. Live brine: yes. Live worms: no.

Just some pegboard hooks that I attached to the shelving with zip ties. The racks don't really get dirty, because they do not have a solid bottom. Each shelf is just wire like the rest of it.

Sorry for the photo trouble. Here it is done right. And these guys seem happy in my 29; I have it very densely planted with lots of line-of-sight breaks. Bill

Sorry for the photo trouble. I have to learn how to post them properly. 🙂 Here's my rack:

Sorry for the photo trouble. Trying again:

The most recent easy and exciting fish breeding I've been able to do are the shell-dwelling multis: neolamprologus multifasciatus. These small Tanganyikan cichlids breed in escargot shells very easily, and they do the extra favor of raising and caring for the fry. Definitely a great starter species, and a really nice payoff feeling when you see those little guys come out of the shells for the first time. They would do well in a tank that size.

Great stuff Streetwise! Thank you! May I take the liberty? Your uses add the following to the list of benefits: 8. Plant Staging: Sometimes we need a place to float some plants or otherwise keep them wet while prepping for the main tank. 9. Plant Cutting Storage: The cuttings are sometimes too precious to throw away when we run out of space. Many can be floated indefinitely. 10. Filter Media Prep: Dropping in a foam block for a few weeks populates it with beneficial bacteria so it can go into a brand new filter as needed.

I put Emperor Tetras in mine. They look AMAZING if you feed them up real good: The picture does not do them justice. These guys are TWO INCHES LONG!!

I don't want to take over this thread, but here's the short version: My drip system is the opposite of what you would expect. I drip-drain the tank through a medical I.V. dripper, and then use an aquarium float valve to bring the water back in to my sump. Water leaving the tank (goes to my sink drain): Water entering the tank (comes from the carbon block setup): Float valve designed for aquariums regulates the water level in my sump: My carbon block setup comes from Amazon: (You can ignore that tank on the right; this setup is independent of my RO drinking water.) Filter housing (x2): https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B078W4HRGX Sediment filter: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01M1NCX8A Carbon block: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0051VC7CW I have been THRILLED with this setup. It uses lots of water, but I can regulate the flow with the I.V. drip, and turn it on/off as needed. I calculate (using a diution calculator), that I am changing about 30% per day, which, with dilution, results in 100% per week. I grew Congo tetras to full size in 6 months, and I feel water quality was a major factor. My estimate of increased water cost in Southern California is about $5 per tank per month Hope that helps!

Thanks guys, appreciate it. Started a discussion to build on the backup sponge filters idea...

Thought of a couple other uses: 6. Instant Cycling: Sponge Filters: The sponge filters in the Toolbox Pond could be placed in any brand new tank for instant jump-starting 7. Utility Plants: Sometimes we use plants in a transitory fashion, such as guppy grass or Java moss as a spawning medium, or, in my case, water sprite, for 1-2 weeks when a tank needs boost in algae control. Also for feeding.

I believe it was about 0.5 ppm

I had the very same concern that you did before trying it, but took the plunge. I'm glad I did. I have a similar setup, with chloramines in San Diego that I am breaking down with the carbon block. I am running this via drip system to a 29 and a 38-Long in the same room. I find the remaining ammonia to have no real impact on anything, and the tanks' nitrate levels have stayed low. In fact, that's become a problem because I've taken an interest in plants, and the drip system is counterproductive to keeping fertilizer in the water! I did spring for the more expensive, higher quality carbon block; I wonder if that may have made a difference.

Hi gang: So there was a little discussion going on around my test results for an effective Battery Backup for the USB Nano Pump, and mid-chat, this idea popped in my head. It's not fully baked, but I hope it maybe has some potential? For folks with fish rooms or large numbers of tanks, what would a "Toolbox Pond" look like? I envision this as a pond or other large bin/tank that you could fill and maintain with useful "tools" and occupants to help keep the other tanks in top condition or otherwise handle emergencies. Yes, we already do this somewhat with a quarantine tank, but this idea is different. Consider: 1. Power Failure: Sponge Filters: I don't use sponge filters because, for me, they take up too much space in the tank. So, assuming I prefer to use hang-on-back, canister, or other powered types of filters, I could fill this pond with enough smallish sponge filters to match the number of power-filtered tanks. In the event of a power failure, I could drop one of these in each tank with a USB nano pump on battery backup, and resume filtering the affected tanks immediately. Figure $10 for the pump, $20 for the battery backup, and $10 for the sponge filter, you're talking about a $40-per-tank insurance policy to ensure uninterrupted filtration if the power goes out. 2. Housecall Algae Control: Cleanup Crew: For those sponge filters to be full of beneficial bacteria, they'll need a fish population to do their thing. I propose a diverse cleanup crew to live together in the Toolbox Pond that could handle all types of algae: bristlenose plecos for their rasping abilities on glass and decor, Siamese algae eaters for hair and blackbeard algae control, otocinclus for the glass and leaves, amano shrimp for the nooks and crannies, and big snails for everything else. This setup would consume a lot of food, but that's kind of the point. When you have a tank that needs some TLC, grab some of these guys from the Toolbox Pond and send them to work! Imagine what 20 Siamese algae eaters could do for a tank in 1-2 days? And when they're done, you send them home. 3. Inpatient Algae Control: Cleanup Crew: Even better, got a rock, plant, or piece of decor that needs a cleaning? Simply pluck it out of its home tank and drop it in the Toolbox Pond for a day or two and let the worker bees do their thing! 4. Contained Breeding: Green Water: It stands to reason that a pond like this could be set up to cultivate a large amount of green water, too. What about rigging a large fine-mesh breeder net/basket of some kind so that fry can be moved in there for the first few days of life where they need infusoria? Or, maybe just grab a cup of the good stuff and drop it in the tanks that need it? 5. Contained Food Cultures: Green Water: Again, maybe a tight mesh net or basket to house a daphnia culture in the pond? Haven't thought that one through yet. So, this Toolbox, this Utility Tank, this Workhorse Pond, whatever to call it...how would you build out such a tool? What other ways can we get a dedicated body of water to do some of the work we'd normally do tank-by-tank? Or maybe this is an old idea that's already been tried? Please post your ideas; I want to try this sometime, but I'll bet there's more that can be done! Thanks for reading, Bill