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About Me

  1. 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?
  2. Intro: I'm starting up this thread to document my 29 gallon planted tank build. After a bit of a tank loss disaster a few weeks ago, I decided to move from shell dwellers to a planted community. This tank was previously a 20 gallon long, so I decided to upgrade to a 29 gallon since it has the same footprint and can utilize the same stand, along with the fact that I tend to appreciate the extra height in planted tanks so that the plants can really grow vertically and go wild. I've attached some pictures of the previous setup. I enjoyed that tank for quite a few years and got to raise generation after generation of Multis in there. Now for the new tank. Stock: I really don't have my heart set on a specific fish for this tank, so I'll probably get it setup, let the plants grow in, and pick out some stock that catches my eye at the shop. I've been thinking some livebearers could be fun since I haven't done a platy or guppy tank since I was a kid. Perhaps a friendly community of various tetras, rasboras, and danios? I've also been kicking around the idea of getting a pair of apistos, but not sure. I've even considered tiger or odessa barbs, but honestly I probably would want a little bit of a larger tank for either species. Right now I am keeping my options open. Would love to hear some suggestions if anyone has some fish that they're enjoying a lot right now. Equipment: Co2 Injection - I'm going with a more high-tech setup on this tank. I generally run all of my tanks with CO2 because I find that it is generally much easier to achieve the rapid and lush plant growth this way. I ordered a Coop regulator (I generally use aquatech, but figured I try out the coop's product) and will be picking up my Co2 cylinder and diffuser this week. Probably just going to go with a standard in tank ceramic diffuser. I thought about a reactor, but I find they don't perform as well with canisters that have a flow rate under 200 gph so I'm steering clear this time around. Filtration - I picked up a Fluval 207 yesterday. I don't love canisters, but really like the minimal in tank equipment and silence that they bring to the table. I've also always liked the Fluval canisters and have been running a 404 on my 55 gallon tank for nearly a decade with no issues. Lighting - I've used most of the planted aquarium lights that have come on the market over the last 10 years and figured I would give the new 30" coop light a shot. My first impressions are that it is VERY bright when run at 100% output and has a very nice color temp. The housing is sturdy and I'm looking forward to seeing how it grows plants (which I am sure it will do just fine). Tank - Just a good old fashioned 29 gallon Aqueon glass tank with black trim. Can't go wrong here for the price. I've got a 7 gallon UNS ultra low-iron glass cube that I really like and while the difference is notable, the price for one comparable in size to the standard 29 gallon is pretty crazy. Hardscape/Substrate: I stopped by an awesome new aquascape supply company that opened up here in Denver this past year and had never seen more awesome wood and rock in my entire life (AquaRocks Colorado if you're in the area. Definitely worth the trip.). While nice wood and rock costs a pretty penny, I find that it generally really does elevate the look of a tank. I picked out a really awesome piece of Malaysian driftwood and some nice seriyu stone to compliment it. The driftwood will undoubtedly be the centerpiece of this tank and I am really excited to see how it looks when the tank grows in. For substrate I am rolling with good old fashioned Eco Complete. I have been on a bit of a sand kick the last few years, mainly because I love how natural it looks in a tank, but I find that nothing grows plants better than good old fashioned gravel or eco complete if you fertilize well. I have other tanks running UNS controsoil and while I also like that substrate a lot, I find that the lifespan of eco complete, which is indefinite, to be a major selling point compared to specialty soils that break down pretty significantly over time. I have attached a few pics of my initial thoughts on the layout and will be getting the substrate in there and filling up with water here in the next few days. I hope you all enjoy following along!
  3. Hello All, Finally after wanting a fishroom for the better part of the past decade it is finally happening. I will be using this as a way to keep track of the progress and how things change throughout the fishrooms lifespan. The plan for this fishroom is to be a temporary fishroom until the basement gets finished a few years down the line. The room is 6'9" x 9'9" with a ceiling height of 84". There will 3 racks that will be 3 high with tanks. 6" between each row. There will be a 2ft stand that houses 6- 20gal highs, a 4ft stand that will house 2- 75gal and 6- 5.5gal. Then a ~7ft stand divided roughly in the middle for 4-40gal breeders and 11-10 gals. So 29 tanks in total. The room was cleaned up on Sunday, May 28th with a fresh coat of blue paint. Monday I began cutting the legs for the first 2 racks that I need immediately(2ft and 4ft) I have 2 tanks in the basement that need to be moved before this weekend as what they are currently on is getting demoed. Last night, I finished the cuts of lumber for these stands and hung the air loop. Tonight the plan is to get the stands built and painted/stained.
  4. We have been working on our new fish room for the past several months and thought we would share a little of the build with everyone. I'll update this thread as we go along and include individual tanks and the other walls as well. Rack System: 1-5/8" Pre-Galvanized Unistrut, 1/2" Hardware and 1/2" Plywood for the aquariums to sit on. Air: Central air system that loops through out each row of aquariums and throughout the room. Filtration: HMF Lighting: Fluval 3.0 Top Row Aquariums: (10) 10G & (1) 20L . Middle Row: (5) 20H & (2) 40B. Bottom Row: (2) 120G & (1) 60 Cube. Electrical: Each row is protected by (1) GFCI, has multiple quad outlets above the aquariums and is in PVC conduit & bell boxes. Substrate: Black Diamond Blasting Sand except for the snail breeding aquariums, they have crushed coral. All bottoms and sides of the aquariums are painted black. All aquariums but the dedicated snail breeding aquariums have plants. Several years ago when our kids started moving out we had begun a different fish room. We had it going for about a year and Michelle's mom moved in with us so out it went but the below photos are what it looked like. It was no where near the size of what we are building now. A couple of more kids moved out and fast forward to last year and we started out with a rack and a hand full of 10G aquariums. Well that didn't last long and we went full on into building a fish room. Below is the bottom row rack portion being built for the aquariums to sit on. We had planned on doing 30XH but we couldn't get them so we opted for 60G cubed in the middle of the 120G. Here is my wife painting the 1/2" plywood that all of the aquariums sit on. The following photos are of the progress made (when I remembered to take photos.) Our grandson had to make sure that Pawpaw's measurements were correct :). Here we are putting in the air valves, we installed (2) valves for each 10G & 20H. The 20L and 40B got (4) valves each. We are planning on a fry system on this short wall above the return vent. We are planning to run double air pumps and we have each wall & air pump to where a valve can shut off the air flow so that we can keep air going while working on different sections / pumps. We are finally installing aquariums! We had the bottom row aquariums delivered today and a 180G for the center piece on the other wall. If you have any questions please ask and we will do our best to answer them and we will keep updating this thread as we go.
  5. I haven’t done a brine shrimp pond in years and I decided now that I’m hatching baby brine shrimp every day, it was time to grow some adults. first I had to get rid of the duckweed from the pond. I left in the muck and little bits of plants. The salt will kill them and fuel some green water once the sun hits it for a few days. It always amazes me how much salt goes into saltwater. I did 50 cups of salt for 100 gallons. This instant ocean salt I had already. I don’t like it as much as fritz salts but for a brine shrimp pond it’ll do. I’m running a usb air pump with a never clog air stone mostly to just mix the salt and keep the water from getting too stagnant. I’ve run the brine ponds before with no airation and I find it runs a little cleaner it seems with air.
  6. As some of you may remember, I started researching filter solutions for micro tanks a few months ago. After getting the knowledge I needed from that thread(thanks everyone!) I set to work designing a filter, over and over again since I couldn’t decide what I wanted. I think I know what I will do now, so I decided to start this thread to keep me motivated. My plan for the light is simple. I will 3D print a lid that fits over the bowl, and install 18 LEDs in a piece of CNC machined acrylic that fits in the lid. The cherry on top is connecting a power switch to the original gumball dial for light control. For the filter, I will 3D print a custom bulkhead that houses both the intake and return lines to keep it as small as possible. The return line will run inside the intake line and split out at the filter, which is a 3” PVC pipe filter I designed awhile back. It will fit in the gumball machine base so I won’t have to look at it 😁. I have already sanded the machine itself, so all that is left is to paint it, but I will do that last so as to not scratch it while test-fitting various components of the build. I have attached a few photos of what is done so far, and I will update this thread every time I get something done. Enjoy! The gumball machine before sanding: After sanding: Custom Bulkhead design: Acrylic that the LEDs will attach to:
  7. I have an idea. If you can do a geographically accurate biotope aquarium, why can't you do a historically accurate aquarium. Sort of a historotope if I'm allowed one neologism here. At an estate sale a while back, I acquired a 1930s era aquarium with a metal frame and a slate bottom. This is not one of those stainless steel MetaFrame aquariums everyone (including me) had back in the 1960s and the 1970s. It is clearly something much older. Everything about the aquarium was in good shape when I got it, and it was watertight. Last year when I was using it to grow mosquito larva outside I forgot to bring it in when it got cold. When ice formed in the tank the expanding ice blew out one of the glass sides. So, what might the rules be for a historotope? Rules: You are only allowed to use equipment available during your chosen time period. You are only allowed to keep fishes that were available during your chosen time period. You must use historically accurate foods. You must use historically accurate plants. You must use historically accurate substrate and decorations. You must use historically accurate maintenance methods. Since I have the aquarium (once I get it repaired), my chosen time period will be the mid-1930s in the United States. My first step is to get the tank water tight again. I will post more later as this experiment progresses and your thoughts and suggestions come in.
  8. this is the journal for my 20 long planted tank equipment 30in finnex stingray aquarium co op 40 gallon sponge tetra whisper 100 air pump split with a 10 gallon(I know its massive for just a 10 and a 20) 100w eheim heater with inkbird controller ecocomplete substrate piece of Malaysian wood current video current stock 3 neon tetras I have 6 more in qt 1 pygmy cory I will be upping the school to 6-12 some plants(java fern, anubias it was sold as nana petite but I'm not sure, random stem plant, 2 crypt wendtii bronze, random crypt my lfs had, tiger lotus)
  9. I am getting ready to start my fishroom build in the house we moved into about a year ago. In all honesty it is for now really going to be a rack and it is in the laundry room but I am putting in a lot of the infrastructure and have plans on how it will expand in the future. to start off I have shot a video on a custom overflow solution that was designed and suggested to my by @Dean’s Fishroom. It's an exciting option that will make servicing my 10 gallons super easy. I'll be following this post in the thread with photos of the current space, drafted plans of the rack and systems and then progress on the build.
  10. Hi! Don't know where else to post this journal, seeing as it's a DIY build for animals, but for reptiles instead. I'm not gonna go into too much backstory, but I decided to document my progress on building a snake enclosure rack to store my two 120 (4 x 2 x 2) gallon and one 180 (4 x 3 x 2) gallon snake terrariums! These next posts are catch-up from about a month or two ago: Late-November to Early December(?) First one is of my newest tank, my 180 gal, for my Japanese Rat Snake! Sadly one of the glass panels that was shipped was broken on arrival, but I got a new one from the company! The fully assembled 180 gallon, it's huge! (peep the Legos, I'm a nerd) Had to rig up my own light fixtures for it, but it's not my first rodeo. I made a TikTok on how to make a light fixture if anyone is curious as to how to make their own. Takes about 15 minutes to make! I bought a T5 fixture off of Amazon that's the exact same used for reptile enclosures for about $35 (for two!)
  11. So I dont have water to my garage.. I need a good way to get water to my garage without plumbing it in. My thought process was I could plumb water to the room but itsabout 20 feet away. I have 2 hose spigots close and want to utilize them. I dont want to hard line the water although it would be the best. I was thinking a sort to "jumper" connection from the spigot to the garage. IDK just thinking out loud. Give me some ideas and input please !! Ill add pictures tomorrow.
  12. I have just moved and now that storage isn't an issue I have been granted permission to do a fish room in the basement storage room. To do that, I'm requesting some thoughts from the nerm experts on a few things I'm struggling with. First up is shelving. I was originally going to buy a heavy duty storage rack but I now think I can use some existing built in wooden shelves that are already down here. Here is a pic. I believe I will need to reenforce it in the middle and on the ends. Does anyone see issues with it working though assuming I reenforce well? I will put a row of 20's on top and 10s on the bottom. Next is water. I've got plumbing as seen in pic but no utility sink, which I need. Question for you fish plumbers. Can you run a utility sink that is only handling fish water into a floor drain or does it need to get tied into to sewer plumbing? My final issue is heating. Luckily I like a lot of cool water fish but I see no way to heat the room given its size (1k sq ft) and enclosing the fish portion isn't an option yet (maybe down the road). I've got two vents that are open but even with that, it doesn't stay warm enough to keep my tanks above the mid 60s. Don't know about summer temps yet. Is there any way to heat multiple tanks more efficiently than individual heaters as needed? For water I will be doing a python system assuming I get the sink figured out. Eventually I will do a dechlorinated filter system maybe with RO with overflows into a sump bucket that I can tie my sewer system or take outside to a holding tub for watering the garden. Would love any thoughts on how best to handle things and thoughts on my issues. Thanks all.
  13. Started the build of a set of raised garden beds where I am incorporating a 100 gallon mini pond. My wife and I have been planning it for a few months now, and we finally pulled the trigger a couple of weeks ago by ordering the wood and pavers from Lowes. We are merging my hobby of fish keeping with her hobby of gardening. We demoed out a set of 4 raised beds we had before to make way for the new, larger beds. We are increasing planting are by about 50 to 75%, and going from 6 inch deep beds to 22 inch deep beds (4 1x6 boards stacked). If you could the pond area, we are close to doubling the planting area. There will be 3 raised beds. The beds are made out of 1x6 and 2x4 cedar, using deck screws to hold them together. The one in the center will have the mini pond. I am hoping the dirt around it in the bed will help insulate the pond so the fish can live outside year round. We are in Louisiana, so we rarely get below freezing and typically get at least into the 50s Fahrenheit during the day. The other 2 beds are L shaped around the pond bed making a big rectangle. So far, we've built the pond bed and one of the L shaped beds minus one board. We've also laid most of the pavers. Lowes owes us about 1/3 of the wood, so we are at a holding point until they bring the rest. I am stocking the pond with rainbow shiners, so based on my climate I think they'll be fine outside year round. I'm further south than a large portion of their range. I'll probably pull a few inside for the first winter or two to be safe. I am also going to have some kind of pond plants, but haven't figured out which ones yet. Suggestions are welcome! I am going to do a gravel and some river / pond stones as the substrate. Gravel for some aquatic plants and the stones in a few piles hoping the eggs and fry can find some hiding spots. Anyway, as the build progresses, I'll update with pictures and more info. Let me know if you have any questions or suggestions!
  14. My partner and I are a freshwater aquarium obsessed COUPLE. Yeah, you read that right. We both love keeping fish, which means in our household it’s double the hobby, double the tanks, and double the opinions on water changes. Over the past year we have outgrown our downtown apartment and have purchased a new home. Which means an epic fish apartment move and a new 842 sq ft basement dedicated to this amazing hobby. We have a closing date range of mid-Sept to October, so naturally all we care about is getting our current tanks moved and building out the new fish space. I am hoping to share this journey with you all by providing updates as they happen. We are true Nerms that are balancing full time jobs and other responsibilities, but always find our hands in a fish tank (or a few fishtanks) at the end of the day. -NeoNerd
  15. Hello fellow fish enthusiasts and journalists! Over the next several months I'll be purchasing a home with a large basement room that will house my entire fishkeeping hobby. A contractor will be adding water access and a drain to the space in May/June and I'll be making a lot of decisions about shelving, number and size of tanks, an air flow system, lighting, and most importantly a big water quality issue (which may require setting up a RO/DI system. I'm hoping to get feedback and ideas along the way, as well as critiques and answering any questions about why in the heck I made the choices I made. I imagine there will be many orders made to Aquarium Co-Op before all is said and done so you'll see familiar products in as I get under way. Starting in the next few days I'll post pictures of the space, a little background about how my dad used it before, and share some of my ideas. Come and join the Fishdude on this exciting (and expensive) journey!
  16. Waterfall Jungle Tank Build Hey all! Towards the end of last year I was browsing etsy and came across this handmade resin medusa statue (that I unfortunately did not take photos of). She was handpainted so I coated her with a few layers of white krylon fusion spray paint. The resin the artist used was aquarium safe (always message and ask!). I really wanted to make an overgrown, jungle-esque, tank with the statue as the centerpiece. Eventually I want it to be covered in moss and look ancient. I built the tank and stand and have had the plants growing in but I am actually going to tear it down this weekend and redo the scape and planting. I accidentally piled the substrate up way to high and I am not a fan of the look. I wanted to create this journal to show how I built this and to say what did and did not work. The Stand The stand was pretty straight-foward but I did want it to have a natural and minimalistic look from the beginning. I purchased an 8 foot butcher block from the hardware store and used that to make the entire stand including the legs (I wanted them to match in appearance). Wood was stained, I didn't take progress photos since I did not think I was going to share this build with anyone. I also assume most people have built basic stands before. I did want to have a bottom shelf which was built into the stand. dog tax final stand. It actually ended up not being as stable as I thought it would be when the tank was on the tank so I did make one change. I used some basic 2x4s to create a skirt that the bottom shelf sits on and removed the two ledges. They did not provide as much structural support as I thought they would. I did want to keep the top skirt-free for the aesthetical look, I find the bottom skirt is perfect for this stand. The Aquarium The tank is a low iron 25g cube from Seapora.I bought it from my lfs but this is an online listing for it: http://www.reefsolution.com/catalog/aquarium-canopy-stand-aquariums-cube-25gal-crystal-series-cube-aquarium-p-10124.html?osCsid=9fd7b31b3b0bfc84b0d4cc1d0bbbbb22 My initial plan was to have a waterfall on top of the tank. The issue is that every other build I saw used a paludarium style tank where the back glass was taller then the front glass to support the waterfall. I did not want to have it sitting inside of the tank so I decided to build a support wall for it to sit on. I ended up using a little under 3" of footprint at the back of the tank to create the support as well as a compartment to hide the filtration and heater. I used corrugated plastic since it is easy to cut and is rather durable. https://www.michaels.com/plastic-corrugated-board-by-creatology/M10567770.html. FYI! Silicone does not adhere to this very well at all. It wasn't an issue for the compartments and support but it did become an issue when building the waterfall. Sanding it down helped the silicone stick to it much better. Now it looks pretty ugly in the back, I wasn't too worried since I knew that the back would be hidden from view. I layered the pieces in a "T" repeatedly to provide good support for the waterfall sitting on top, it also kept the back panel from bowing in. I used fiberglass window screen on the openings I cut out for water flow to the back. This is to keep critters and anything else from being able to go back there. I made three large cut outs so there is plenty of flow. Here you can see the holding box that the waterfall is built around as well as the "steps" for it. Lots of silicone to waterproof it. I ended up splitting the back compartment into three sections: the left was a planter, the center was open for the filter, pump, and heater, and the right was all support for the waterfall. A top view as I was still building up the support. I cut a window into the planter (similar to the back panel) and used the screen to allow water to flow into the planter. I did not take any photos but I ended up adding 2 more planters that do not receive direct water flow from the tank, they are siliconed to the back of the tank so I can add more terrestrial plants around the waterfall. I bought quite a bit of black slate and black lava rock to use for this build, I like the look of these rocks personally and thought they fit the overall aesthetic well. You can see the little holder for the waterfall where the water is pumped into. All of the tubing is hidden by rocks which are glued or siliconed into place. I used black all purpose pond foam at first but the cure time was too slow, it did create a good base for the rocks to be glued on though. I unfortunately did not take many photos during this process but it was lots of rock layering on the sides. I bought a bag of small black lava rock that I glued to the back panel to hide the ugliness and to create my own diy background. This is the finished tank with the background built. You can see how high the substrate is and why I want to lower it. It takes away more area for the fish to swim in and really is not necessary. I knew I wanted this to be high tech with co2 and good lighting and I went back and forth on the light to use. I was initially going to go with a Kessil but the fact that you need to pay $100 just to control the light is insane and unacceptable. I did want a pendant style light hanging from the ceiling, not a strip/bar light. I also wanted it to give a beam/center light appearance in the tank to create depth, shadows, and a more dramatic look. I ended up going with an AI Prime which I am very happy with. For the substrate I used fluval stratum, only because I like the natural look of it and I had 50lbs of it sitting in storage. Otherwise I personally prefer to use a mix of fluorite and stratum as my substrate. The final shot In the left hand planter I currently have pothos, basil, golden creeping jenny, and arrowhead growing. I also have some red mangrove in the tank as well, you can see the stems sticking out. It has been doing surprisingly well in all of my tanks and is sending out air roots. You cant really see all of the plants from this angle though. I ended up sticking some pothos into the tank on the righthand side to add more greenery. I haven't planted the two back planters but those will be planted once I redo the tank. I'm thinking a nice fern in one and another bushy plant in the other (would love any suggests from you all). I also added some sheet moss to the rocks, you can see some of the white silicone that I want to cover with more moss. Changes I want to make: I am not overly happy with the waterfall itself, I plan to add more rocks and silicone to redirect the water flow a little since it doesn't flow as evenly as I hoped. Lower substrate depth Fix the crooked statue, I thought I wanted her to be slanted to look ancient/apocalyptic in a way but I'd rather have her sit straight Rearrange the scape and plants. I planted some val in there that I really regret, I forget how fast it spreads and I do not want a vallisenaria tank so I will pull that. Otherwise I want to add some red or pink plants (pink flamingo? if it's ever in stock) and rearrange some of the existing plants. I installed a little fog/mist machine but I did not make the holding box deep enough so it only works if the waterfall cap (that has rocks on it to cover the holding box) is tilted off or taken off entirely. I want to mess around and get this working properly I'll keep this thread updated with any changes I make, hopefully I can get this looking how I want it to be soon.
  17. terrariums/jarrariums are quickly catching up to aquariums as my favorite and they are even more dangerous because they can be small. not much you can keep in a small tank but you can in a terrarium. and there are no water changes and if set up correctly, no maintenance besides plant trimming and an occasional misting. no filters, heaters, etc needed. sales pitch over 😂 this was my jumping spider’s previous terrarium set up: not too bad but im not a fan of tank gravel and i wanted to make it bioactive with scavengers/detritivores like isopodes which cant live in the gravel. and the remake: you can see her at the top center lots of ivy in the back that is going to take over hopefully soon. alder cones as small pine cones i really wanted to give her lots of branches and decorations to climb on and wanted it to look like an overgrown forest. im pretty pleased with it. plants: moss (a wildtype i dont know from my backyard, sphagnum, spanish, and sheet), arrowhead, english ivy, and the plant that is sold for aquariums but is terrestrial that i cant remember the name of. substrate: rocks as a drainage area, bioactive terrarium substrate mix, topped with a mix of fluorite and stratum. the terrarium substrate ive had in a tub with a culture of springtails in it. ill be adding more of my little projects in this thread 😊
  18. The purpose of this thread is to document my trials and tribulations while trying to build a "simple" aquarium stand. And let me just say, I have mad respect for the King of DIY; he does a ton of giant projects all by himself! For us beginners though, there some things that he leaves out. This will hopefully help people see what they are getting into and to avoid the mistakes I made. I have minimal tools (dremel, drill) and live in an apartment. I'll show you how I tackled this and how long it takes, along with the *real* costs. You know what I mean, you did something wrong so you have to buy something to fix it, etc. Here's what we're trying to build, for 20gal aquariums: I began last weekend. Per Joey, it only took him 45 min to slap this thing together. I consider myself fairly handy, so I should be able to do that, right? LOL NO. Since I didn't have a saw, I was planning to rent a miter saw from Home Depot. My husband was dubious about this, so we got a miter box and saw to try to cut the 2x4s. This did not work. My husband is a pretty fit guy, but the miter box just wasn't a good idea. There were too many cuts and we couldn't even get through one. This was, in part, due to the fact that we didn't have a sturdy table (just those cheap Ikea ones that wobble quite a bit.) So I would say avoid this route unless you have experience using it. I decided to have Home Depot cut it for me. The first two cuts are free, and 50 cents each after that. I was not counting on the associate being high as a kite though. I explained what I needed and he looked at me with that dreamy "I don't care" look, so I just had him cut some plywood (to make the shelves useful of I ever stop using it for aquariums.) The 8ft boards barely fit in the SUV, but fit it did. Oh, and did I mention, you have to go through and pick out the best boards? Yes. You must go to the stack of 2x4s and look at each board. Some of them are not even rectangular. Some of them are very crooked. Some are missing chunks. You don't want any of those. Your boards won't be perfect, but they should be fairly straight with no major defects. For my project, I took home six 8ft 2x4 boards. Note that 2x4s are NOT 2" by 4". They are actually 1.5" by 3.5". Make sure your measurements/calculations reflect this. I rented the miter saw and reviewed the little safety video detailed in the instructions. It was actually really easy to use. I was careful to use eye and ear protection and gloves, although the gloves were not really necessary (they made it more cumbersome when marking off measurements.) To best use the miter saw, you are really going to want to use a clamp, and I dished out like 20 cents for a carpenter's pencil. It helps make marks more accurate because it can mark closer to the edge. (Not strictly necessary but nice.) As I said before, I did not have a sturdy table, so I opted to saw on the floor of my patio. THIS IS NOT ADVISED IN THE SAFETY MANUAL. Do so at your own risk. When you start drilling things together, MAKE SURE YOU DOUBLE CHECK WHICH ONES YOU PUT TOGETHER! I made this mistake, and that's why I am here doing this project a week later. I felt like a special smart person and decided "I'll even wood glue these together!" That was a bad idea. Additional updates pending. I am still working on this today so I will update after. Sneak peek: troubles include stripped screws, incorrect bits, trying to remove wood glue, and a broken drill bit.
  19. Hey all, Staring this thread. I am just getting back in to the hobby. I have kept saltwater in the past, but decided freshwater, and freshwater folks are more my speed! I am going to start with a 20 Gallon long. Well..... 2 20 gallon longs to be specific (more on that in the future). My first one however is going to be set up like this: 20 gallon long tank planted tank. (I just picked up an embarrassing amount of tanks at a recent half off sale) hygger Amazon programmable light (I debated getting the flu all 3.0, but ultimately decided that if this amazon light can give me 70% of the fluval I’ll save the $100 for now) HOB filter I have from before, hot rodded aquarium Co-Op style. Also planing on adding a sponge filter for quick cycling any other tanks. eheim Jager 50 watt heater Stocking List: Plants! Probably go to LFS and decided at that point which ones. 8 Harlequin rasboras 6 Kuhli Loaches 6-8 of another school (Endlers?) 1 betta Malaysian trumpet snails possibly a wood shrimp or bamboo shrimp. I was going to wait a little bit, but the half off tank sale got me hooked. I’m planning on cycling with plants. I have attached a picture of the empty glass box, a lot of supplies are still in storage/on the way. Im excited to bring you all along with me. Derek
  20. Hi all, I recently built an aquarium stand which I have documented here: It's a little long though, so I wanted to ask a question separately with hopes of getting more eyes on it. I built the stand as best I could (first time build!) and while I'm pretty happy with how it turned out, I have a big issue with the second shelf. My aquarium does not sit flush; there is a very obvious gap between the aquarium and the shelf. It was tough to get everything level and it looks like I failed in this particular instance. Is there any way to add some foam or a yoga mat or something to allow it to level? Right now a full tank would certainly crack and that's no good. If anyone has experience leveling tanks, please let me know. Most of the info I have found online talks about leveling the tank by leveling the stand, but that's not what I'm after. The tank is an Aqueon 20 long with a plastic rim (no fancy rimless tank or anything like that.) Thanks!
  21. 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.
  22. Hey everyone! This thread will map out my steps towards one of my African Cichlid tank builds. I will go into as much detail as I can and I hope this helps push some of you to get into Cichlid-keeping, especially Africans. In my opinion, they really are the pinnacle of the freshwater hobby.😉 So the tank in question! The tank was my birthday present, to myself😂 Mum and Dad gave me the money, you can guess where I spent it😉. Here we are talking about a shallow 120x40x30 tank, holding 144L with some bespoke features. I opted for a custom build, mainly because of the dimensions and I wanted optiwhite glass. I’m not sure what it’s called in the US, but it’s basically the clearest glass on the market across the pond. This tank features a braced top, allowing for glass sheet lids which can be individually removed. Since African Cichlids are such pigs, I went for a feeding hole on each sheet to help get food around the tank. I opted for black silicone, just to keep a bit of variety between my tanks. This tank is essentially a 40G LowBoy, which doesn't sound like enough water volume for Mbuna's, but the focus of the tank is the footprint, which I would guess competes with 75G's? Sorry we don't use gallons across the pond so I have no clue!😂 Filtration will be a modded Fluval 307, allowing for plenty of mechanical, biological and chemical filtration. My favourite thing about canister filters is the mechanical filtration you can do with them. Yes I could run just sponge filters and the fish would be fine, but for display tanks I always want clarity. Sponges are great for biological filtration, not so great for mechanical. The 307 is set up as so- 2x foams supplied by Fluval Basket 1: Fluval Prefilter rings, Fluval BioFoam + (Supplied) and 1x Fluval Quick Clear Pad. I expect the foams to miss quite a bit of gunk and so I'd like the large particles to get trapped as low as possible, in what I'd consider secondary settlement. Then, I've gone for the supplied foams to trap what's left before the single quick clear pad traps the finer particles. This finishes the mechanical filtration in the canister filter. Basket 2: Seachem Matrix-2L total. I'm not really expecting to cultivate a lot of denitrifying bacteria, but I don't think I'm too bothered. I'll have to do water changes regardless anyway, so a full cycle will just be a bonus!😂 Basket 3: Seachem Matrix, 1x Fluval Quick Clear Pad and 100ml Seachem Purigen The idea behind placing filter floss at the final stage of filtration is it forces water through the pad and then straight to the Purigen, allowing minimal bypass. Chemical filtration is unnecessary, but again I like to opt for it in displays. Other equipment which will be used in this tank- 1x 200W Heater 2x SunSun JVP-1102 Wavemakers (Depending on whether the sand can tolerate 2) 1x 120CM Nicrew Planted LED 1x Digital Light Timer Eggcrates & hardscape Now the fun bit, the stocking! Given it will be a tight fit, I've opted for relatively docile species and dwarf ones where I could. Iodotropheus Sprengerae Makokola Reef Pseudtropheus Cyaneorhabdos Maingano F2 Labidochromis Caeruleus Nkhata Bay F2 Chindongo Saulosi Taiwan Reef F2 I should add, do as I say not as I do!😂 This isn't a setup I wouldn't recommend the average fishkeeper does, as aggression levels are usually difficult to maintain in African Cichlid tanks and maintenance in general is higher. As I will be using tap water, water changes can be as large and as frequent as they need to be. The fish will bought as young juveniles and given the chance to establish the hierarchy early on, to save problems later on. I hope to grow out and maintain a 1:4 ratio. Backup tanks are always a must too. Tap water parameters, on average- 7.4PH 11dKH 16dGH 0.5 ppm Ammonia (Max) 20-40ppm Nitrate (Varies year round) Now I need to get on with building the stand! 🙂
  23. This tank build is the culmination of my two threads of; Drilling a tank and Building an aquarium canopy. My inspiration for this tank came from LRB's rainbowfish tank he usually livestreams in front of. I also wanted another tank with botanicals like my blackwater/tannin 75 gallon tank. Equipment wise i want to keep it fairly simply. Two Finnex 48" Stringrays and an Oase BioThermo 350 for filtration and heating. I want to try the Oase canister filters because of the easily removable pre-filter. I will the run the filter through 3/4" bulkheads instead of the supplied spraybar for a cleaner look. Once I had the tank drilled (as seen in the below thread) I applied a black vinyl background. I use the Blue Life USA brand. I used a bottle with some weight to hold down the vinyl over the drilled holes. The vinyl is applied with soapy water so once its dried for a day or so I trimmed out the bulkhead holes with a razor blade. I glued 3/4" 90° barb fittings into each of the bulkheads using all purpose cement because these are ABS plastic bulkheads. Attaching the tubing from the Oase was a little difficult but not impossible. The Oase tubing is only 5/8" ID but from past experience I figured I could stretch it over the 3/4" barb by dipping the tubing in some boiling water to soften it. The black ABS barb was too blunt to get the tubing over. I actually had to use a different 3/4" barb to stretch the tubing enough. Once I had it over the gray barb I held it under cold water to set the shape. Then quickly pulled it off and was able to get it over the bulkhead 3/4" barb. The fit was pretty snug but I added a band clamp just to be safe. Once the bulkheads and tubing were fit I attached the inlet and outlet for the filter. I'm using a strainer adapter on the inlet side along with a Medium ACO sponge pre-filter. For the outlet I'm using Loc-Line. I used a 3/4" Loc-Line adapter to split into two 1/2" nozzles so I can adjust the flow, one to point at the surface and the other downwards. Lots more to go on this build.
  24. In the panning process of a custom 60"L x 30" H x 24" W planted angel display tank. Debating weather to put a glass lid or just leave it open. Wondering if folks have thoughts other than evaporation and fish jumping of what might be the best way to go?
  25. Hi everyone! Going to try out this journal thing. I currently have a Home Depot rack with 11 tanks on it. I drilled the tanks and ran a drain to a sump pump in another room, and I have a linear piston air pump powering them. I fill a 32g trash can with tap water and Prime for water changes. Here's what it looks like: The things I'd like to improve upon by building a fish room: I'm powering the entire rack (4 lights, 9 tank heaters, 1 AquaClear) with a single 15A non-GFCI outlet, and there isn't another outlet nearby. So I'm going to carefully plan outlet locations/breakers/GFCI/etc. In addition to the tank heaters, I have an electric oil heater warming the room to 75, but the room is pretty large, and includes a stairwell to the first floor. Ideally I'll be able to heat a smaller room to a consistent temp, and do away with most of the in-tank heaters. I'm going to plan an automatic water change system, so this is a good opportunity to incorporate that. I'd like to add a sink, so that I can do things like rinse test tubes or make brine shrimp without running up and down the steps. I have an idea to do 2 separate lighting circuits, so that I can have much lower brightness lights on for longer during the day without growing a lot of algae. I'd also like to make the room a lot brighter overall. More tanks! I'm already running out of room, so I'd like to plan for at least 40-50 tanks, but will likely start closer to 20-25. And probably wishful thinking, but I think I can keep the room more organized if I plan storage/etc better. This part of our basement is naturally split by a support column, I-beam, and soffit for HVAC ducts. These make the ceiling pretty low, but I think I can make it up with thin shelving and spreading out a bit more. Here are the dimensions I'm planning on: The bottom wall will be new, and that door will be the entry door. The right door goes to storage and our HVAC system. The top door is a thin room with our electrical panel, water heater, and oil tank. I'm hoping I can fit a ~75-100g water tote in there. Here's the space after draping some plastic: And the other side where the fish rack currently is: I spent last weekend framing it out and installing a door. Here's what it looks like now: This was my first time using steel studs. They're really great! You can carry 10 through a house under one arm, they cut easily with metal shears, and the room wasn't covered in sawdust when I was done. They were also about the same price as wood 2x4s. I chose them because the other basement walls were already steel studs, and some suggested that basements use metal instead of wood framing due to moisture. I had to get creative with keeping the existing drain and air PVC functional: Next up is electrical! Hoping to find some time this weekend to wire outlets and install new breakers.
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