MickS77

Amazon, works good, like a little lightsaber.

I've never built a sump but I know baffles can be made of glass and siliconed into place. Media can something like the bags of bio-rings from aquarium co-op.

Do you know your Gh?

I have these Yellow Belly Metalicus, they are a Livebearer native to Cuba.

You can make a template for your glass drill but using a wood hole saw and a thick piece of plywood. This is a good article if you haven't read it already. Glass Hole Cutting | Custom Aquariums WWW.CUSTOMAQUARIUMS.COM Any time you drill a hole in glass there is a risk of failure. We will give advice as to best practices for...

So was mine! 😅

Very nice, welcome back to the hobby!

Drilling glass isn't as scary as you think, or at least I thought it would be. Just go slow and barely put pressure on the drill. Making sure it's not tempered is important, if you look at the tank with polarized sunglasses and see straight lines, the glass is tempered. There are YouTube videos showing what you'd expect to see. A HOB overflow won't care if it's fresh or saltwater. I think those are sometimes discouraged because of the risk flooding if they lose siphon and overflow.

If you search "aquarium hood parts" you'll find them.

It's called Poret foam. I purchase them as a kit from Swiss Tropicals.

33 tanks in total for me now. Sizes 2.5 to 110 gallon.

It has four walls now I can call it a fishroom right? What started earlier this year as a single rack of tanks, my nerm-side got the best of me. My desire to expand and add more tanks came from two things. That 40B is now a thriving Guppy colony and I'd like to try line breeding some of the color strains. The second thing was wanting to heat the room not, relying completely on individual heaters. Being in northern PA and the tanks being in the basement it can easily dip into the low the 60's (F) down there. I started in late September with the Dollar Per Gallon sale getting the tanks I wanted. Six 10s, two 20Hs, and two 5.5s. I like painting the bottoms black for a cleaner look. I prefer having bare bottom tanks for easier maintenance. I have also noticed less algae growth on the bottoms of the tanks that are painted black. I use Gloss Black Rust-oleum Enamel Paint. Next step was to enclose the area where the tanks are. They sit in a corner of my basement so I only have to make two walls. I like building simply and effectively to reach my goals. To enclose the tanks I made a framework using 1x2 furring strips and 1/2" styrofoam panels as insulation. After that I needed to move the 40B and the shelf it was on. I did that by draining it to about 3 inches of water. Lifting the shelf enough to get furniture sliders under each leg and sliding it out of the way. I used a Nano USB pump and airstone to keep the water moving for the day while I prepared the new rack. I also added some insulating panels to the wall to keep the heat in the room. Once I had the 3/4" plywood cut and painted for the bottom shelf I leveled the rack. I was then able to move the 40B to its new location. To move it, I drained another inch or so water from it and had someone help slide if off the old shelf onto the new one. It wasn't as sketchy as I was fearing, not as heavy either with a bag of eco-complete and little water. I refilled it immediately and didn't lose any fish in the process. Next since the major construction was done I added heavy vinyl curtains to act as doors. Then I placed the new tanks on the rack and got the heater running to get in dialed in. I will still run the individual heaters in the tanks until I'm confident the room will stay warm enough. I added the warning label for any visitors. I added thermometers around the room to monitor the temperature. I picked up a full 4x8 foot sheet of 1/8" thick glass from a local shop to begin making lids. I have the shop cut the sheet in half to fit it in the back of my truck. Once home I set up a work table in the garage on sawhorses, carefully slid the glass out and begin making the cuts I need. I like making the lid opening 5" wide and clipping the corners for the airline heater cord to enter. Lighting next, for that I use all 36" Finnex Stingray lights. Had a small issue mounting them under the shelf as there is metal supports in the way. I made some quick spacers out of scrap wood and used Kreg jig to make pocket screw holes for mounting them. It worked great and I could finally see easier having the lights installed. All the lights on both racks are controlled by a single Kasa wifi timer. Really the last thing left to do is layout and install the air system, connecting it to my first rack. The air system on the first rack is run off a Linear Piston Pump the same one sold by ACO. I use 3/4" pvc and #10-32 tapped plastic airline valves. I like those because they can be used for both air and water. I mocked up the loop on the front of the rack to get the measurements required. I'm using 3/4" barbs and vinyl tubing to connect this loop to the original one. Once laid out, I took everything apart to drill and tap the holes. Dean's tip of using a piece of tape to make a straight line is excellent for lining up your marks along the pipe. I like to use an automatic center punch as well to mark the holes and prevent the drill bit from wandering when starting the hole. Nice and in line. Both air loops now tied together. With the air in I was able to trim and install the mattenfilters in the new tanks. I found its really nice to cut the foam using hot foam cutting pen. While rearranging everything I did lose a lot of storage space. I was however to clean out some old junk and boxes and fit all the my supplies into bins under each rack. I did fit a small plastic shelf in between the racks for some additional storage. This morning I finally filled all the tanks and got them running. I already have some new fish in the rack, some Red & Blue Colombian Tetras. They came into my LFS and I set up one tank this week to house them. Without the mattenfilter cycled yet I added cycled sponge filter into the tank. I realize this a quick breakdown of how I expanded into a fishroom so please feel free to ask any questions you may have. I look forward to adding to this thread all future breeding projects and builds.

I have crypts growing in gravel with an undergravel filter. I half of the undergravel is connected to a canister filter the other side is run by air.

My only cichlid experience was an all male tank of mixed Haps and Peacocks. They all got along pretty well without a lot of fighting. I enjoyed them for a year or so then sold them.

At my LFS tonight they had these huge female Swordtails. It's hard to tell the size from the pictures but they are at least five inches. The owner said an older gentleman was heading to Florida for the winter and dropped them off.

Looks like Dermosporidia to me, not a lot of information out there about it. Lots of inquiring forum posts like yours if you Google it.

It won't help control surface algae. UV is only good for free floating algae like if you had green water.

Impressive tank Joe! I love the look.

I'd say female too with that rounded tail and bright belly.

I like using them in fish traps as well to lure fish in.

I bought them online, they go by thickness of the glass, 1/8" or 3/16". Search "Perfecto Aquarium Glass Replacement Hinge"

I like buying a sheet from a local glass shop and cutting it to suit my needs. It can be tricky but not too bad. Be sure to compensate for the width of the hinge in figuring out your dimensions. Allow a little play all around the edges so its not too tight fitting.

If your water parameters are fine I'd just ride it out. I don't know if diatom algae would bloom in the water, I always thought it was a surface algae.

I've really like Guppy Grass. I've have it floating in my fishroom tanks, like a rolling ball of chaeto algae.

I invested in a RO system from BRS as well. I store it in a 100 gallon plastic container in my basement and pump it upstairs when I need it.