Garage tank

[jasper5150]

Ok. I have a 10 gallon that I picked up last year. Been sitting in my garage collecting dust. My main 20 gallon is over run by cherry shrimp. My plan is to move 50 or 60 over to the garage tank so they can keep breeding and help to support this tanks existence. 
The problem is my garage is not heated.  It’s insulated but is still cold. My thought is to enclose it with rigid foam insulation and use a higher powered heater, 200W, to keep the temp where it needs to be (pictures included). Is this too much?
As of today, doing a leak check of the tank. Added 8 gallons of water and marked the water line with removable ink. In the interim, created the enclosure of rigid foam and put together the sponge filter setup. Also have a large clump of Java moss to put in here once I start the cycle.

I had an extra large ACO sponge filter laying around. Only thing is it’s big for the tank. So, I modified it to a shorter version. 
water and garage temp at 47 degrees. The main door doesn’t get opened often so hopefully the temp will go up. 
That’s about it for today. Will give a progress report tomorrow!
 

Edited February 21, 2023 by jasper5150
Tried to rotate photos

[TheSwissAquarist]

Nice! What kind of cherry shrimp are they? (Colour) 

[jasper5150]

On 2/17/2023 at 10:31 PM, TheSwissAquarist said:

Nice! What kind of cherry shrimp are they? (Colour) 

Just your standard cherries. I would like to get them to the point where they are a deep red which means I need to cull them out. New to doing that so going to be a big learning curve. 

[TheSwissAquarist]

On 2/18/2023 at 6:02 PM, jasper5150 said:

Just your standard cherries. I would like to get them to the point where they are a deep red which means I need to cull them out. New to doing that so going to be a big learning curve. 

Culling them by selling the “OK” ones and by putting the dirty brown shrimp into your community tank? 

[jasper5150]

Probably sell OK ones and give away the  brown guys. Want to keep a good colony of reds in my community? Have been selling off some from the community tank as a mixed “grade”. 

[jasper5150]

The tank has been running for a couple days and definitely no leaks. Took it about three hours to go from 46 degrees up to 77 degrees. The foam may be helping to retain heat. Bought a glass lid and put that on today. Also bought a large dump of Java moss the local fish shop was selling. It’s full of the good stuff from whatever tank it was in. Should help get the cycle going. Want to use this as a QT before I add my shrimp. Wondering if the Maracyn will kill off any BB that would be growing? 
I’ll add a photo later. Have my furry friend relaxing on my lap at the moment. 🐈

[Theplatymaster]

On 2/20/2023 at 7:50 PM, jasper5150 said:

I’ll add a photo later. Have my furry friend relaxing on my lap at the moment. 🐈

pls post a dog picture. 🥺🙏

[jasper5150]

Sorry, no dogs in my house.  Sometimes our cat thinks he is a dog

[jasper5150]

If I’m going to make it QT first, what are thoughts on bare bottom or substrate?

[Theplatymaster]

On 2/20/2023 at 8:01 PM, jasper5150 said:

Sorry, no dogs in my house.  Sometimes our cat thinks he is a dog

fine cat picture please?

On 2/20/2023 at 8:58 PM, jasper5150 said:

If I’m going to make it QT first, what are thoughts on bare bottom or substrate?

what fish will you be QTing? for something like corydoras a layer of sand is best, but something like a Neon Tetra wont care.

[jasper5150]

I would like to add 4 or 5 more Cherry barbs to my 20 gallon but feel they may predate my shrimp. Even though they have quite a bit of plant cover. Also would like to add more cories one add a group of endlers to the 20. Tough decisions

[Chris]

I personally feel that for a QT barebottom is best. Easier to keep after waste on the bottom of the tank and makes maintenance a little easier in what are typically new, non-planted extremely freshly cycled (and sometimes slightly overstocked) QT tanks. 

Its a bit more common in the reefing world, I think, but I've seen some people keep their QTs set up like normal tanks (complete with plants, substrate, decor, snails, etc) and just moving fish in and out. Makes them harder to catch and, if they're shy, it makes them hard to observe, but provides a more natural environment that's more stable (due to the plants consuming nitrogen and the higher surface area for bacteria to live on), and is a bit easier on the eyes. 

I think going with either one or the other is best - if you're going to go barebottom, keep it nice and clean. If you set it up like a normal tank, you can probably relax maintenance more. 

Edited February 21, 2023 by Chris

[jasper5150]

Thanks @Chris.  So far, the tank is just doing its thing on my work bench in the garage. I will leave it bare bottom and keep the Java moss in it.  Also have an old decoration I’ll add for more hiding and comfort during QT.  
I have yet to use Ich-X but have heard it stains the silicone.  Any first hand experience? Not a big deal but was curious. I will check the parameters today.  Curiosity is creeping in.  

On 2/21/2023 at 3:10 AM, Theplatymaster said:

fine cat picture please?

what fish will you be QTing? for something like corydoras a layer of sand is best, but something like a Neon Tetra wont care.

I would like to add more cories. I think they are too cute. I have some Pygmy cories in my 6 gallon.  They seem to be doing good. Been in there for a few months with a lone guppy and more cherry shrimp

[Chris]

I've definitely had ich-X stain silicone, so most of my tanks have black silicone these days to avoid that issue. I've got two tanks with clear silicone, and both had ich-X in them years ago - the silicone is still a bit blue, but not bad. Right after use, it's pretty noticeable. 

[jasper5150]

Tested the water in this tank yesterday.  With a big clump of java moss from the local fish store, hopefully full of BB, my thoughts it wouldn't take long to do its thing.  This is what I found out:

ammonia  0

Nitrite  0

Nitrate  a little more than 0

Great!! My mind has been swirling on what to QT before converting to a shrimp grow out tank.  Pygmy cories, brilliant rasboras, maybe some neon tetras.  All would be going to the 20 gallon high tank.  While doing all this, I have a bucket of water that I had sucked out of the 20 gallon tank sitting in the garage.  Still has some mulm in it from the light gravel vac I did.  I looked inside and I noticed some trails of sorts in the mulm.  Figured it was snail trails from some that may have been sucked up.  Nope!  I found a lone cherry shrimp hanging out in this bucket of 4 day old tank water, sitting in a cold garage, still alive!  Mind blown! I grabbed my instant read thermometer and tested the temp of the bucket water.  This stuff was at 46 degrees.  This shrimp is a strong little dude.  I scooped up some of the water in a plastic container and netted the survivor.  Took it over to the tank and set up a drip line to slowly get this guy acclimated to the water and to raise the temp slowly.  After an hour the temp reached close to 60 and I floated the container in the tank to get the water up to tank temp, 77 degrees.  Poured dude and the water in the tank.  Dropped in a food pellet and watched for a few minutes.  He immediately went to the sponge filter to check it out.  Before I turned in for the night, he was cruising all over the tank.  I'm hoping he makes it.  What a crazy story.  I now know how hardy these little guys are.

Before I added the shrimp to the tank, I did open and pour in the two bags of Betta bio active gravel that were in the tank staying nice and warm.  Only covers about a third of the bottom, which is fine.  Might get some light colored sand to put on the other side as a contrast so I can see the shrimp.

On 2/21/2023 at 3:10 AM, Theplatymaster said:

fine cat picture please?

what fish will you be QTing? for something like corydoras a layer of sand is best, but something like a Neon Tetra wont care.

 

Here is my furry friend 

 

 

 

[jasper5150]

Have been busy getting this tank all set up to be a dedicated red cherry shrimp breeding tank.  Purchased some live java moss, the clump in the tank was very much not alive, micro sword, hornwort and some stem plants.  Sand substrate was added.  No matter how much you rinse this stuff, it leaves the water cloudy.  Had some rocks I purchased last year but haven't used. Glued the java moss to some.  Also added 5 ramshorn snails.  I think these guys are cool.  I know they will breed and multiply but as long as I keep the excess food levels low, they should maintain a proper population.  Last addition was a finer sponge filter to remove those suspended particles the course filter can not catch.  Best part being it is the same size inside diameter as the ACO sponges and the center core of the plastic piece snaps right to the ACO one!  Now I can have the best of both worlds in the same space.  Put the finer sponge material on the top so I can just remove it easier to clean since it will need to be done more often. 

 

The rescue shrimp is doing good.  Has molted since being put in here.  I did add a Wonder Shell but it had molted before adding this.  There are two smaller shrimp in this as well.  They were found when doing a sponge squeeze from the 20 gallon.  I haven't seen them but with all the new hiding spots, hoping they are still going strong.

Tested the water after doing the set up. Ended up with a 0/0/0.  Gh and Kh were a little lower than the other tank along with the Ph.  Will check it again in a couple days. 

 

 

[jasper5150]

Well, going to hold off on the cherry shrimp. Had the opportunity to get a few endlers. They are now in this tank running through the Med Trio quarantine. Hoping they work out because I would love to have them in the 20 gallon. Also a couple shrimp stowaways. The ratio of male to female is off. Way more males than females. Hope that doesn’t cause an issue.

[jasper5150]

In the last couple months, the small group of Endlers turned into a growing civilization!  Moved over half to the new, larger tank and left some in this tank while the new tank settled in. Went through a nasty algae bloom, turned the water green for over a month. Just stayed diligent with water changes to pull excess nutrients out. Eventually, it cleared itself right up!

Don’t have the room in the new tank so will need to look at ways to reduce the population

[jasper5150]

I kind of like the pattern on this shrimp

[jasper5150]

Pulled out a couple handfuls of floating plants today. Making it hard to feed these guys. Also moved the light to the front of the tank. Able to see the fish better and gives the micro sword more direct light. Hope that helps it grow a bit more. 
Will need to move the adults to the big tank soon so I can let the fry grow out.

[jasper5150]

Unplugged the heater on this tank. Garage is at 77, tank at 73. With the heater it ran at 78. I’ll just keep an eye on it. 

Have quite the layer of floating plants!

[jasper5150]

After 3 months, I plugged the heater in since the mornings have been in the low 50’s. I have also started a new add-on project to this area. 

Took advantage of the Petco 50% off sale and purchased 2 more 10 gallon tanks. My thought is to make them grow out tanks for the Endlers. Separate them male and female. Use the third as a hospital tank. So far, have added some substrate that was hanging out along with a few rocks.

Purchased a sheet of acrylic to make my own lids for these. Cost $17 for a sheet compared to $18 per tank of Aqueons glass covers. This allowed me to drill a hole mid cover to pass an airline through for the sponge filter. Waiting for an airline splitter, check valves and additional sponge filters to arrive. 
For plants, I have an excess of moss in one of my tanks I’ll use along with water lettuce. I’ll update again when the tanks are up and running. 

[jasper5150]

Everything is all set up and running! I used two already seasoned sponge filters in these new setups. Also added Fritz Zyme 7 to both tanks. The gravel was part of the secondhand purchase of the 29 gallon. For lighting, I lowered my 4’ LED shop light. Then came the fun part. 

For close to 2 hours, which seemed like days, I scooped and separated the males from the females from both the original 10 gallon and the 29 gallon. The ACO net made quick work of gathering the fish. Used a smaller net to catch individuals out of the catch container. Mostly fry and juvenile are left in these original tanks. 

My daughter wanted to write the info on the tank and when I told her this tank was mostly fry and juveniles, she put them in detention on bad behavior.

 

I started to see an outbreak of ich in the 29 gallon. I’m fairly certain this was due to overpopulation.  Was dosing with Ich-X but the time intensive upkeep on doing 30% water changes during the med process was wearing on me. Thought I would do a quarantine tank but realized trying to get a couple affected fish from a school of 70+ was a pain in the a$$! Didn’t notice any ich on the males just the females. When everyone was moved to their new homes. I figured I would give aquarium salt a try. Never have tried it but heard it was a very effective treatment. After reading a couple posts on the main site in the Advice center I went for it. Did a dose of 1 Tbsp per 2 gallons. This was recommended for issues such as Ich. Within a day I saw a huge difference! Most of the spots on the affected fish were gone. I couldn’t believe the speed of recovery. Let the tank marinate for 5 days before doing a 20% water change. Also added more Fritz Zyme 7 to help boost the bacteria. 
All the fish seem to be doing so much better. The males are brighter and the females are still voracious eaters with no signs of Ich. Now I just need to find homes for them. 

[Ruud]

Pretty cool thread... I am juggling the same though, putting some breeding tanks in the garage. But have to isolate first as its very cold in winter and humid, and need to rework electricity a bit. You can do a lot with a handful of 10G and have fun!

Keep it going, i am following!

 

Ruud 

[jasper5150]

Thanks @Ruud  This has been fun and challenging. I purchased foam board insulation to put around the tanks when the weather starts to get colder. Also, the 100 watt heaters in the tanks, preset at 78, should help keep the tanks warm through our winter. Gets to low 30’s even 20’s here. Garage is insulated but not heated.