10 Gallon Guppy Breeding Rack Build

[Cory]

I've been bringing in more livebearers into my fish room. My desire to build and tinker never seems to go away. My fish room has gone through a lot of changes and I think I'm on the other other side of "bigger tanks are always better". I'm essentially replacing ponds, and 30 gallon tanks with 10 gallon tanks.

The larger tanks/ponds were great on paper, but in practice, took forever to look good, took a long time in maintenance. The 10 gallons will be small end facing out and easy to scrape algae and will be kept bare bottom with a few plants so that I can play with some guppies and breeding them. This build log will show my process so that others can get ideas like I have from seeing other's build theirs.

The plan so far is 14 10 gallon tanks. I saw on Reddit and here on the forum that Lowes had a rack that was longer than the typical 77 inch long rack. This allows the bit extra room to fit 7 10 gallons, short end out. Each shelf is rated for 1500 pounds. The 3/4 plywood will make sure it can support them, because they are only 20 inch front to back and the stand is 24 inches. Sitting not on the supports can cause bowing and 3/4 plywood helps minimize that.

I bought a piece of 3/4 plywood and the rack to start the build. I forgot the rustoleum paint and roller for the backgrounds. I'll post the tank painting process next I think.

[gabdewulf]

We started doing plastic wrap and glue on the rack boards. Keeps the paint from peeling which might oldest rack (5 years) has done from all the moves. 

[xXInkedPhoenixX]

I've always loved my smaller tanks. I've never understood why people always said to me that big tanks are "easier". With my upcoming 196 gallon community tank I'm totally daunted by the project if I'm completely honest with myself. I guess I'll learn when the project of converting my 3 smaller tanks to that big tank is completed! 

 

Kind of along the same lines of you redisovering small tanks and your love of live bearers....

 

@Cory I wanted to say, after listening to the live stream (via recording) where you lament the days of forums and recorded/indexed information. I'm glad to see you back active on THIS FORUM. There was a recent time that I felt the forum was being passed up for the facebook group, that we here were not being mentioned anymore, and that ultimately the forum would be abandoned for social media. I understand (though I won't participate) how some social media platforms can be useful, but this forum has been nothing but helpful to everyone who joins it including myself. So while you lament the "days of old" with forums that have sadly seemingly passed....this forum has been the small aquarium in the corner of your room that has been teeming with life. So thank you for starting it, and thank you for coming back to us. 

Edited November 6 by xXInkedPhoenixX

[Cory]

2 minutes ago, xXInkedPhoenixX said:

I've always loved my smaller tanks. I've never understood why people always said to me that big tanks are "easier". With my upcoming 196 gallon community tank I'm totally daunted by the project if I'm completely honest with myself. I guess I'll learn when the project of converting my 3 smaller tanks to that big tank is completed! 

 

Kind of along the same lines of you redisovering small tanks and your love of live bearers....

 

@Cory I wanted to say, after listening to the live stream (via recording) where you lament the days of forums and recorded/indexed information. I'm glad to see you back active on THIS FORUM. There was a recent time that I felt the forum was being passed up for the facebook group, that we here were not being mentioned anymore, and that ultimately the forum would be abandoned for social media. I understand (though I won't participate) how some social media platforms can be useful, but this forum has been nothing but helpful to everyone who joins it including myself. So while you lament the "days of old" with forums that have sadly seemingly passed....this forum has been the small aquarium in the corner of your room that has been teeming with life. So thank you for starting it, and thank you for coming back to us. 

I think the hardest part for us is being able to "mention" all the things. New and old products, events, socials, social media, text message sign up, newsletter, RPP stores, Local Club Finder, Help Center Etc. Usually it's not intentional that I don't mention something it's that I simply forget with all the other things going on 🙂 My routine is to check in on the forum every morning and night at the minimum for the last week or so. Routines help me stay on track.

[xXInkedPhoenixX]

 

8 minutes ago, Cory said:

think the hardest part for us is being able to "mention" all

 

I get that, completely. I also know you are also very busy and often overwhelmed. Everything I said though, totally out of respect for what you do. It's a lot. We're all here in our own way to support Aquarium Co-op's vision. What I said is not in anyway a criticism, just glad to see you back. :-) 

Edited November 6 by xXInkedPhoenixX

[Chris]

That's the same rack I used for some of my 10's and 20's, although I did get a smaller version. Works great for me! Not had a complaint since I set it up. Not even seen any rust issues, even with the saltwater tank on it.

 

I chose to do a 2x4 under each tank corner, but have wished I'd done the thicker plywood route. That extra inch you lose in height to the board really crams things up when you're already hurting for vertical space a bit.

[Cory]

Painted the tank ends today. Hoping to drill and install them tomorrow.

 

I like to use oil based paint. I've always use rustoleum black oil based and a roller. I usually do 2 coats. I used windex and a razor to prep them. I prefer to use rubbing alcohol instead of windex but didn't have it on hand easily and wanted to get the paint process going. The razor takes off the silicone drips when the tanks were built.

[Riiz]

Do you have a goal in mind with the guppies? I'm about to start the same project but sticking with just 8 aquariums in the garage, because my spouse doesnt like the look of a fish farm in the house.

[Rezeki]

Hah, I convinced my wife to let me buy a rack and throw it in my office where nobody except me ever goes, and threw 8 tanks in there. I'm already out of space. I've got black chinned livebearers galore, and am working with some local stores to slowly offload all of them so I can get on with the next project.

 

Glad I found this thread! I'm sure I'll get some good ideas to improve my setup

[Schuyler]

Now I'm curious, do you have access to wholesalers for buying standard tanks like these or are you just walking into the 50% sale and saying "I'll take all your 10's"?

I remember the cashier giving me weird looks when I bought just three 10's

 

Also, do you have really good ventilation in your fish room? Seems like that would build up a lot of fumes 

[Cory]

20 minutes ago, Schuyler said:

Now I'm curious, do you have access to wholesalers for buying standard tanks like these or are you just walking into the 50% sale and saying "I'll take all your 10's"?

I remember the cashier giving me weird looks when I bought just three 10's

 

Also, do you have really good ventilation in your fish room? Seems like that would build up a lot of fumes 

I've got pretty good ventilation. I actually just order them from a wholesaler and pay more than 50% per gallon sale. Every time I try to get in this case, 17 tanks. It'll take on average 3-4 trips. Each time at a petco/petsmart. I'll run into fans and this ends up taking minimum 1 hour per stop minimum. Sometimes 2-3 per stop. So if time is tight, I just pay more and have them ready when I need them.

[Cory]

Today was the big day. Did I get enough parts? Dean showed up at 11am and we set out to setup 14 tanks with auto water change from start to finish. I took some pictures along the way to show the process. We made the rack modular so it could be moved and stand alone for those who are renting a place.

 

We started by assembling this rack. This rack comes in a smaller box and you have to use bolts to assemble supports.

Once we had it roughly assembled we moved it in front of the wall and played with it for 30 minutes figuring out what height each shelf would be.

Then it was time to cut the plywood. We but it so it would fit inside of the lip of the shelves and used a countersink so it would lay flush where the bolts were.

Next it was time for me to drill the aquariums. I bought 17, in case I broke some. I'm happy to report I drilled 14 without any breaking. I used cheap diamond hole saws on amazon. I swapped the bit every 5 holes. As you use them they take longer to cut and I find I start getting broken tanks. You can find the ones for 1 inch bulk heads here: https://amzn.to/4fBPyZU

I used a jig, a bit of water, and the end result was a hole in glass.

Here is what it looked like with the 14 tanks on it with plywood. You can see the ends of the plywood bowing as there wasn't enough weight to keep it from doing it. Fixed later when water is added.

While I was drilling, Dean was installing the bulkheads on the tanks. I used 1 inch ones from our website: https://www.aquariumcoop.com/products/aquarium-bulkhead-fitting-slip-x-slip?variant=40053053325381  Then we started on the drain pipes. We used 2 inch drain pipe system, so that 1 inch pipe fits inside, and can be lifted out if we need to remove a tank for any reason.

Here you can see what it looks like with the drains installed, and the white pvc going into each 2 inch Tee stand pipe.

In this picture you can see the white pvc horizontal pipe. This is 3/4 inch line to fill the aquariums with water for the auto water change system.

Next you can see we used black PVC for the air system, because some of the black pipe would be visible from the front. Purely cosmetic.

One last closer look at the 3 systems. The drains, the fill lines, and the air system. All 3 are mounted on the stand, with zip ties or metal plumbers tape. Then the 3 have unions to connect to the wall with my existing system. It was then time for me to go captain insaneo and walk the stand back to the wall so we could plumb it in. The end result of the night, 12 hours later, 14 tanks with light, auto changing water.

I didn't have enough black pvc elbows at my house, they were at the retail store in my parts bin from the store build. So I ordered up more elbows and the flat screens. Those will arrive in the next 7 days or so to be able to fill them up all the way. I'm using the Aquarium Co-Op Light at 10% on these tanks.

A big thanks to Dean for helping. This would have taken me 3-4 days as I often let myself get pulled away for work. Also my wife Katie for making us fresh baked cookies at 10pm.
Next I'll be cutting some greenhouse panels to make lids for these.

 

[Riiz]

@CoryAmazing progress so far. Seeing what you've accomplished this quickly is really making me excited to start my own guppy rack as well. 

 

I got a couple of questions for you. Are all the sponge filters powered by the same linear piston air pump that runs your fish room? Also what water temps are you running your guppy rack at?

[Cory]

1 hour ago, Riiz said:

@CoryAmazing progress so far. Seeing what you've accomplished this quickly is really making me excited to start my own guppy rack as well. 

 

I got a couple of questions for you. Are all the sponge filters powered by the same linear piston air pump that runs your fish room? Also what water temps are you running your guppy rack at?

I’m running a second small linear air piston pump, to power my system. The dang 800 gallon takes a ton of air to push down that deep.

I’m not sure on the temps yet, need to let it settle on that rack.

here are the first guppies in it.

 

[Chris]

18 minutes ago, Cory said:

I’m running a second small linear air piston pump, to power my system. The dang 800 gallon takes a ton of air to push down that deep.

I’m not sure on the temps yet, need to let it settle on that rack.

here are the first guppies in it.

 

Looking good! I had this thread in my head, so I stopped at the LFS and picked up a trio of Black Metal Lace guppies. I don't usually go for solid black/white fish, but the pattern on these guys is pretty sweet. Females are bland, though - even for females!

 

Glad to see Dean is giving you a hand. That guy is awesome!

[JMC]

Thank you for sharing this great setup. Very well done but would expect nothing less from you and Dean. 
 

I am looking forward to learning what each tank is going to be for. We’re raising mixed guppies in a couple of tanks but as we see variations that catch our eye we are realizing we could use a lot more tanks to be more selective with our breeding system. 

[Rezeki]

Very cool build. Whenever I upgrade houses (next one will be the dream house), there'll definitely be a drain that's easy to hook into in the fish room.

 

Relevant meme after the start of today's live stream.

 

[Atitagain]

Very interesting set up, it’s neat to see from the beginning. Thanks for sharing.

 

Are all 14 tanks for the guppy breeding project? It seems like a lot but I only breed for fun. I have a 3 tank setup for guppies going, it’s been fun so far but even 3 tanks is a lot for me.

[AM aquatics]

On 11/6/2024 at 4:21 PM, Cory said:

Painted the tank ends today. Hoping to drill and install them tomorrow.

 

I like to use oil based paint. I've always use rustoleum black oil based and a roller. I usually do 2 coats. I used windex and a razor to prep them. I prefer to use rubbing alcohol instead of windex but didn't have it on hand easily and wanted to get the paint process going. The razor takes off the silicone drips when the tanks were built.

Do you have a video on how to drill a tank 

[Cory]

18 minutes ago, AM aquatics said:

Do you have a video on how to drill a tank 

Definitely.

 

[AM aquatics]

47 minutes ago, Cory said:

Definitely.

 

Was it the 45 mm drill bit?

[Cory]

42 minutes ago, AM aquatics said:

Was it the 45 mm drill bit?

I specifically use these ones, and yes 45mm. https://amzn.to/48TVhrW

[Riiz]

On 11/11/2024 at 1:45 AM, Atitagain said:

Very interesting set up, it’s neat to see from the beginning. Thanks for sharing.

 

Are all 14 tanks for the guppy breeding project? It seems like a lot but I only breed for fun. I have a 3 tank setup for guppies going, it’s been fun so far but even 3 tanks is a lot for me.

If you are trying to line breed for a color or other attribute, it is said that 7 tanks are optimal if you want to do it in a quick manner.

[Cory]

I finally got the parts to install the elbows on the 10 gallons. So now I can add the last 25% of the water. Also gotten 3 new species of fish for the rack. Also moved a couple fish from the 40 breeders to this that got caught up in the next 😉

[mrPickles]

Looks great! I really want to build a setup like this w/ a bunch of 10 and some livebearers, nanos and shrimp. I can't always get the variety I want in the bigger tanks.