Basement Fishroom Bargains
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Posts posted by Basement Fishroom Bargains
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These guppies arrived today for my room and I thought I would show them off. They look great. Also got an order from the Co-op today which contained the specimen container I used for the photos. 🙂
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Just an update, picked up a 90 the other day that was previously used for a turtle. Bit beat up, but holds water. Trying to figure out a stand, as well as placement for it. Right now stock is tbd, but thinking of making this like a mascot tank for the room. I've thought about things like a school of Roseline Sharks, maybe some Archer fish, a ghost knife, a tire track eel or similar type things. It's not going to be set up right away, but that's where my mind is atm.
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Maybe a school of cherry barbs? They're both non-aggressive and shouldn't outcompete the Danios for food, or be spooked by the danios activity. Also, maybe a species of peaceful cichlid like Kribs or Apistos for the bottom?
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On 1/30/2022 at 5:03 PM, Taco Playz said:
For me big is like 29 gallons because I own all nano and no super big ones the “big” one I have is 29 gallons. This tank is at least 60 gallons if not more.
Get measurements of the tank and make sure it will fit in whatever vehicle you are using. If it comes with a stand, make sure they both will fit in one trip, or prepare for two. You can determine the capacity of the tank as well if you know the dimensions. I can't post a link but googling standard aquarium dimensions will provide several sites with charts for tanks sizes based on dimensions.
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On 1/30/2022 at 8:07 AM, MyFish said:
Cement is tough! They make cinderblock basement walls that support an entire house, however these are held together by mortar and 2x8 beams on top. I’m sure it will work. You need to find the right combination. Do you have pictures of the blocks?
I would not stack blocks without mortaring them. I realize you wish to have something inexpensive and do not wish to purchase a stand because you’ll need that money for your 90 gallon tank supplies.
if I had a 90 I would make a 2z4 stand. I realize wood had gone through the roof in price. You may wish to stop into any fish store and ask about making the stand out of the blocks you have.
I've watched Cory's videos which were where I got the idea in the first place. 🙂 Wood isn't too expensive where I live so 2x4s are an option. I don't have blocks currently, I was looking at sizes online. When I was referring to the 8x8x8s I was looking at standard, hollowed out 8x8x8 blocks
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On 1/29/2022 at 11:16 PM, MyFish said:
2x4 stand - check out some YouTube videos. Then you. An paint it any color. You need a weight support on corners and center.
a 90 fully set up weighs over 1000 pounds. My concern is, will a 2x4 cinder block stand support its weight? And with the traditional cinder block being 2 inches too short, will using 3 8x8x8 cinder blocks to cover those extra two inches make the stand weaker?
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On 1/29/2022 at 9:49 PM, Laura R said:
I have made a few posts so thought I should do an introduction. I started with common guppy as a child then got some moor goldfish in my 20's. Goldfish lived 10+ years. I became a medical technologist so the water chemistry fascinated me. Also, I loved outdoor gardening and house plants. Fast forward 40 years...it does go fast! I am now retired and have 11 tanks the largest a 29 gal. My well water is hard and try to keep livestock that is compatible with the water parameters, mostly. I have embraced planted tanks to do indoor gardening (not human edibles) in tanks with diminished edible outdoor gardening as my bones/joints complain (container gardening and raised beds now with many native plants in flower beds).
I keep lovely mutt guppies, rainbow platys, corydora, some loaches, a few pleco and rasbora and danio, betta, 1 pea puffer, neocardinia shrimp. I love the jungle look in some tanks. Stem plants do not fare well for me but the epiphytes are thriving.
I appreciate everyone's experiences and knowledge being shared on this forum and the you-tube and other videos shared on other formats.
Always learning, with awe, Laura R.
Thanks to Cory and the Aquarium Co-op crew!
Welcome to the forum. I'm from quasi-rural Indiana as well so I'm familiar with the hard water. Sounds like you have lots of cool fish.
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I appreciate the suggestions so far from everyone. I picked up the tank this afternoon. Only $65 on marketplace which is pretty good. Not setting it up yet, got to figure out the stand issue. I currently don't need to built the stand for anything else (unless other bargains come up) so for now it can wait. Open to more fish suggestions, and importantly, feedback on a stand build.
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On 1/28/2022 at 11:42 PM, Fish Folk said:
If you want to blow up the internet, find someone who can get you a few of these to try in a 90 gal...
Behold! the U.S. native Spotfin Chub (Erimonax monachus / or the Cyprinella monachus). I'm pretty sure you'll never find them available. Protected fish and whatnot. But they're the freshwater equal in beauty of anything you'll find wild elsewhere in the world.
Gorgeous fish. Too bad you say they're protected. They'd be great for a native themed tank.
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On 1/28/2022 at 11:30 PM, Fish Folk said:
Hmm . . . the 90 gallon tank is a big one. Very tall in front. If I recall . . . same base dimensions as a 75 gal, but taller by a few inches. It has the effect of the standard a 29 gal vs. a 20 long. There's much more glass to watch through. You'll want to invest in very good quality lighting that can effectively penetrate to the depth.
I imagine a perimeter, or back wall of Valisneria. I'd also plant some Amazon swords out front of the val a bit. No matter what you do, I think that a planted back perimeter looks stunning. Center something handsome you like in the middle . . . some dashing, large piece of driftwood. A 90 gal is so tall, you'll hate yourself if you leave too much to do with reaching in often. Bear that in mind! Consult the brilliant root-tab extender tutorial posted here on the forum by @Bill Smith
I'll point out that once you've added up tank weight + substrate weight + water + hardscape, you may well be in the 1,100-1,200 lbs. weight range. Keep that in mind as you plan your stand. I feel certain that if you do blocks properly they can work. I am just not a heavy-duty builder. Maybe @Atitagain can jump in with thoughts on a secure stand design.
For stocking . . . this is really the unique challenge for every aquarist. If you want to go the route of a massive, richly planted freshwater community tank, @StephenP2003 has kept a really beautiful one...
Another totally different direction you can go is for a stunning Discus tank. Aquarium Official YouTube Channel is the cat-nip channel for some of us newbs who need a Discus fix from time to time...
But for me, another option could be a temperate (cool water) U.S. Native stocked tank. Hydrophlox Shiners are a stunning schooling fish. Here's a stream simulation setup...
No matter what, let us know what you go with!
I am concerned about the weight, hence my questions about the stand. I may do five legs instead of the three Cory does for his if I go for cinder block and 2x4s.
Those shiners are gorgeous. They are now on my must have list! I don't know that they will go in the 90, but I absolutely have to get my hands on those at some point. Thank you very much for the suggestions!
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On 1/28/2022 at 11:07 PM, lefty o said:
id put water in it for starters😈. cinder blocks and 2x4's or 2x6's will work. id put a big ol' pile of tiny fish in it.
I was thinking hydrochloric acid would be a good start. 😉 Any preferred tiny fish?
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So, as of tomorrow, I am probably getting a 90 gallon tank for an absolute steal. It will easily be the biggest tank I have ever owned. It does not come with a stand so will cinder blocks and 2x4s work as a stand or will I need to reinforce it more? Also, since its the biggest tank I've ever had, I am open to any and all suggestions for what to put in it. I have a few ideas, but I want to get ideas from other people too. Those of you who have read my fish room journal know someone asked me about a show tank. I think this will be it so fire away.
Edit: The tank is two inches wider than the standard cinder block (18in instead of 16.) Could I use 3 8x8x8 cinder blocks instead of one 16x8x8 per level? Would that decrease the strength of the stand?
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No photos today (basically because no one wants to see pictures of air pumps), but installed a couple of air pumps to replace broken ones.
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The answer to this question is highly relative. If you are heavily stocked (you aren't), water changes are probably more necessary. If you have plants, that likely reduces the need to change water. That's why I put plants in every tank, even if its just floating plants. Smaller tanks are also inherently less stable so it may be harder to maintain stable parameters. If your parameters are good (as @FrozenFins outlined), you probably don't need to change. However, sometimes, even if parameters are fine, you may want to water change. Some species are prompted to spawn after a large water change for example. So TLDR: it's complicated but its not absolutely necessary.
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On 1/22/2022 at 11:22 PM, GameCzar said:
That's the ones, I spotted them on Select Aquatics a while back!
I did as well. When I first got them, I didn't know who Sage was. I may well have bought from him, I don't remember who I got them from originally.
On 1/22/2022 at 11:31 PM, Griznatch said:Wow, that's a good amount of space. Lots of room to grow 🙂
Provided I can find more electrical outlets. 🙂 I need to install a slop sink this spring to make water changes easier because right now I'm lugging buckets downstairs. 🙂
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On 1/22/2022 at 11:12 PM, Atitagain said:
Looks good so far, that is a nice amount of room. Do you have an air system? Plans on getting one? It seems like you have mostly HOBs do you ever use canister or sponge? And you definitely seem interested in breeding will this be a breeding operation fishroom or will you have show tanks as well?
No air system, that might be in the future plans (along with an autowater change). The rack is exclusively sponges and matten filters. Working towards going exclusively to sponge. Most of my equipment is hand-me-down that came with the tanks. As HOB's break, I'm replacing them with Co-op sponge filters. Right now, no show tanks in the room. I have a show tank (55) upstairs in the living room of the house. I may put a big show tank downstairs at some point. I'm gearing up to breed mostly though.
On 1/22/2022 at 11:16 PM, GameCzar said:Those fish are gorgeous! We considered those for @TheCzarista's Wonder Woman tank because of the coloration.
Presume you mean X. doadroi which, if you do, I agree. 🙂
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First of all, welcome back to the hobby! That is a beautiful tank you have there. Are you planning to add any more livestock? What size is the tank? In terms of over feeding otos, you can overfeed anything. But if your parameters are stable, and your otos have nice round bellies, you're probably ok.
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On 1/22/2022 at 8:52 PM, Fish Folk said:
I've never kept or bred Shellies, but I'm eager to learn. Just reviewed this video. Early comment indicated possible need to add magnesium and potassium for breeding.
Ah I had not tried that yet. Thanks for the tip.
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Hey all
So I have had 4 sunspot Brevis in a 30 gallon tank for a while with lots of shells and rockwork for something like a year, maybe more. I'm unsure how to sex them (can you even do it?) but I would hope I have at least one female. I've had no spawns. Nothing that even looked like breeding behavior. Originally they were alone, but I added some non-aggressive barbs as potential dithers, thinking that might work. Still nothing. My parameters are all fine for the species. Does anyone here have experience breeding them and if so, any tips you can pass on would be helpful. Thanks
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Awesome work! Nothing excites people, particularly kids more than baby fish!
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On 1/22/2022 at 4:59 PM, Fish Folk said:
Love it! Loads of room in there. So happy someone else is breeding X. doadrioi. May I ask: where did you get your original stock? I keep a little colony in a 20-gal long. Once you’ve got a few mature males and a bunch of females, their numbers do indeed jump!
I got mine through Aquabid about three years ago. They were being sold then as X. eiseni San Marcos, but I dug into it and realized X. eiseni San Marcos had become X. doadroi San Marcos. And yes, their populations are like rabbits...and my experience is, they are effectively bulletproof. I even had one get caught in a net when I was moving it, broke her spine. She recovered is still living happily and is currently pregnant. When I moved them into the new house, I did not realize the outlet I put them on was on the same switch as the basement light. They went three days without heat or filtration or water movement in a tank I freely admit was overstocked. No casualties.
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On 1/22/2022 at 4:53 PM, Griznatch said:
Welcome to the forum. Show us pics when you get it all set up!
I just started a journal thread with how it looks now. Didn't do pictures of all the tanks, but its a general overview. 🙂
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Hey all,
So I figured I'd show everyone what the fishroom looks like at the moment as well as take advantage of the ability to journal to remind myself what I did and when. I may also use this as a way to take notes on the lineages of my fish and keep track of breeding records. With that said, here is the fishroom right now.
The two standalone ten gallons are both filled with Xenotoca doadroi who have literally bred faster than any guppies I've ever owned. Probably going to list some on Aquabid once I get comfortable shipping fish.
The larger group of tanks consists of 3 30s, a 20, 5 tens, and 6 5s. Some of the 5s are vacant as yet (probably going to be used as fry tanks unless I can find something small I want to breed in them. Suggestions welcome.) The nearest 30 is Neolamprologus brevis, sunspot, and African blue-striped barbs. The twenty is a pair of Apistogramma panduro, three red lizard cats, and six marbled hatchetfish (I think its still six, they're impossible to find in the floating anacharis). The large rack has platies, guppies, swordtails, mollies, A. mcmasteri, and convicts. The far 30 pair have Kribs, cherry barbs, a very slowly breeding species of Priapella, Poecilia picta, an Oto, and a group of panda corries I never see. Every tank has at minimum floating plants, and some have planted ones as well.
Its not quite done, I need to install a light on the bottom row of tanks for the plants there. I'd consider adding more but I'm running out of electrical outlets and I'm supposed to get some work done in the basement soon (ish) so no more tanks for now. I'll update once I get the light installed with a photo of the rack.
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Julidochromis Need Dithers?
in General Discussion
Posted
I have recently acquired my first group of Julidochromis (dickfeldi), and all they do is hide. I haven't seen them out from under their preferred rock once, even when I feed. Parameters are perfectly fine. Do they require some kind of dither to be more active or are they just still getting comfortable?