Best aquarium sizes for a breeding rack in your experience and where to buy in bulk?

[South Florida]

Hello.  I am starting a process of building a breeding pallet rack which will be 7 feet tall and 6 feed wide.  It will be able to hold thousands of pounds as it's a commercial rack that you would see Home Depot using to store heavy items.  This will have an auto change system to make my life easier.  I used to breed fish my entire life but now I am getting into it seriously after moving to South Florida and my house being built on a concrete pad so no more anxiety about my wooden floors caving.  

What size tanks do you recommend from your experience when it comes to breeding?  I was planning on doing 20 gallon highs on two shelves and one shelf full of 10 gallons.  The front to back with of the rack is 28 inches so can fit multiple sizes but I'm more concerned about getting the right sizes in there to make my life as ideal as it gets. 

I plan on breeding these fish:

• Cories
• Angels
• Livebearers
• Apistos

 

Please let me know if you have any suggestions and where I can buy tanks in bulk.  I tried looking online at Petco but they only have like 2 in stock for each size.  Hoping to get the Petco discount if they're running it on tanks soon.

Thank you.

[Tony s]

Check petsmart also. They’ve begun carrying Aqueon tanks as well. 

[gardenman]

Try putting an ad online (Facebook, etc.) A lot (and I mean a lot) of people try keeping fish then give up and park the tank in a basement or garage. There are more unused fish tanks out there than there are tanks in use. A lot of people are wildly unrealistic about the value of a tank. You'll see people asking $100 for a basic ten-gallon tank.  If you can find reasonable sellers you can fill a fish room with good tanks at a fair price.

I've always been of the belief that a smart pet shop would buy back used aquariums, reseal them (if necessary) and sell them at a discount. Buy them back at $0.25 per gallon ($2.50 for a ten-gallon) then resell them at $0.50 to $1.00 per gallon knowing that whoever buys the tank will be back to buy other stuff to fill the tank. Even buy back broken tanks at $0.10 per gallon and disassemble the tanks and then use the intact pieces to build new. Labor costs could be an issue but getting unused tanks out of a basement or attic and back into use should help the LFS. 

If you have a local Walmart, try hitting them up. I bought my last ten-gallon tank from them at a decent price. They don't stock a lot at a time but there are enough Walmart stores around and they restock once something sells, so you could eventually get the tanks you need. 

[Tony s]

On 8/30/2024 at 9:14 AM, gardenman said:

I've always been of the belief that a smart pet shop would buy back used aquariums, reseal them (if necessary) and sell them at a discount.

There is a guy near Goshen Indiana that does exactly that. Searches all day for cheap tanks, then refurbishes them. Built a 2-story garage and runs the aquarium shop from there. Completely freaked my daughter out going inside. "Dad, you can't go into somebodies house!!!" 🤣

[gardenman]

On 8/30/2024 at 9:57 AM, Tony s said:

There is a guy near Goshen Indiana that does exactly that. Searches all day for cheap tanks, then refurbishes them. Built a 2-story garage and runs the aquarium shop from there. Completely freaked my daughter out going inside. "Dad, you can't go into somebodies house!!!" 🤣

A smart man. I know it would hurt new tank sales and the new tank wholesalers might not like it, but I think the potential is there for it to be a good business proposition overall for an LFS. More tanks in use means more sales of aquarium-related stuff where you can make money. 

[Tony s]

On 8/30/2024 at 10:32 AM, gardenman said:

but I think the potential is there for it to be a good business proposition overall for an LFS

I would think so. I don't think there's much money in hardware anymore. But getting something on the cheap, and redoing it changes that equation. But, and it's a big but, you have to have the people you can trust to make it work.

[Tony s]

Back to the tank sizes @Guppysnail or @tolstoy21 May have favorite sizes. They do a lot of breeding

[tolstoy21]

 

On 8/30/2024 at 11:12 AM, Tony s said:

Back to the tank sizes @Guppysnail or @tolstoy21 May have favorite sizes. They do a lot of breeding

 

I use a lot 20 highs.

Honestly though, I don't love them. They fit my rack density well as they are a good trade off in being big enough to breed in, but not overly large so as to waste space.

Personal favorite size tank in my basement fishroom -- 40g and 60gs. If I had nothing but unlimited space, I would do all 40g and 60gs.

For display tanks in my living area, I prefer 125g and up. I only have one tank in the living area or my house, which is a 125. But one of these days I would like to go larger!

[TOtrees]

I think 20 highs give the most flexibility when you weigh all the design/use considerations. You can squeeze a decent number on a shelf; they can be used for breeding setups; they can be used for grow outs, lid and light options are readily available. My racks, like many others, have different tanks on top middle and bottom. 10s up top, 20s in the middle, and a mix on the bottom, but can go up to 40 breeder, or even 75.

15s are also nice, same footprint as the 20 high, but more room to get in under the shelf above. But sometimes you want that extra height/space (eg angel juvies). 

[Guppysnail]

I am not a fan of 20 high at all. I have 1 and  hate it. 20 longs are my breeders and 10 and 15 are my growouts with 2 20 long growouts for my larger dwarf cichlids that have a few hundred eggs at a time. 
I would swap to all 15 g growouts instead of 10 but it’s the only size I can’t get at the big box 1/2 off price. I can only get them for $50 each and well I just can’t afford that. 

[Schuyler]

I would check out some of the videos of Dean's fish room. He breeds mostly the same fish.