EmDixie

I am fairly convinced of doing an auto water change system. Would you go a step further and have a central sump? It was strongly recommended to me by a trusted LFS owner.

Hello! I've recently moved and have the space and ability to bring my current fishroom with and expand. My current fishroom lives in an extended family member's office space in a warehouse. It's been great for what it is but I'm so excited to have the fish where I live. In my current room, I use cinderblocks and wood for stands, linear air pump dropped into sponges, and nothing is automated. I currently breed ancistrus, guppies, shrimp, and corys. In theory, I'll have uploaded pictures of the current room! I would be grateful to hear experiences and opinions. What I have to work with - basement approx 10' x 18', cement floor, unheated, water access and we're adding a utility sink, current electric and we're adding more, a floor drain that might work but might not, and a completely uneven floor coupled with exposed, very rough concrete walls. 1. Stands - I'm looking at industrial racks, probably Galdiator, Husky, Kobalt, etc. 2. Tanks - mostly 20 highs and 10s but I might bring some 40s with. Tanks will be positioned short side out to fit more. Final count around 40-60 tanks. 3. Lids - Probably polycarbonate +/- a hinge. 4. Water - EXTREMELY hard. Auto water change? Continue with manual water changes? 5. Lighting - I currently run cheaper aquarium lights, one light over 3-4 tanks. I've been trying the Co-Op light and will probably replace the cheap lights as they die. 6. Heating - I have been heating the current room and had partially settled on an oil radiator heater for the new room. If a do a central sump system, I could in theory heat the room less and put heaters into the sump. 7. Drilling - I have never drilled tanks before but after many videos, we're pretty confident that we can accomplish it if needed. Please see next point on +/- for drilling. 8. Filtration - A part of me is tempted to just continue with the sponge filters and just keep up with everything manually, it just takes so much time though. The other part of me is seriously tempted to create central sumps, say one for each rack. I do quarantine but having multiple tanks on one system would be new for me in my own fishroom. What makes sense with this many tanks? 9. Opinions - Manual water change vs auto water change vs central sump? What would you change? What would you add? What did you wish you knew when setting up a fishroom?

All of the overhead PVC is cemented. Every port has a valve. There's 40 (ish) available ports with 22-24 in use. I've checked those not in use and they are not leaking air. I would agree though, it's definitely a low air pressure issue.

Hi guys! I'm really struggling with my Linear Air Pump. It's the style recommended by Aquarium Coop though I bought it directly through the manufacturer. It is set up with an overhead loop and has 22-24 current drops which it's definitely rated for. Each drop goes down into a Coop sponge filter with an air stone. The tanks are all about 16" tall as they're 20gal highs and 40gal breeders. The issue is that I can't seem to get air to actually bubble through the air stones once they're placed onto the bottom of the tank. It is so incredibly frustrating. I've tried balancing them and I'm literally out of ideas. I think I've adjusted things enough only to come in the next day for a tank to be completely stagnant. Any insight is very welcome!