Tropical Fish Keeping banner

My new fish room

29K views 166 replies 21 participants last post by  jjposko 
#1 ·
A few months I found a great deal in a used 125 tank. But my problem was I don't have room to set it up in my room. So I decided to redesign my fish room. I had 4 tanks set up on some shelves but nothing super because I knew I would be changing the room at some point

So I started with a list of what tanks I had sitting around and the size of my room. What I found out is I have a lot of stuff sitting around not being used. It took me about 3 weeks to work out how I wanted to build my rack system so I could use most of my current tanks and not have wasted space. In the end I'm very happy with how it turned out, I will have to buy a few more tanks to fill up the rack but no big deal.


Aquarium Glass Metal


The shelf is 12'8" long the bottom shelf has two 20g tall and two 55g tanks. The middle shelf has a 30g long and two 20g long (has room for another) and the top shelf has seven 10g tank. I don't have any of the tanks hooked together but I have the rack off the wall so I could run plumbing down the back if I wanted to.

This week I'm hoping to build the next rack that will hold the 125g tank. I will be running new electrical next week. All the equipment doesn't need that much power but it's a lot of cords and I want it to look clean/neat.


I still have some work to do to clean it up and remove the HOB filters. Next on my list is to get a large air pump I can use to power all the sponge filters in the tanks. Right now I have 3 normal ones running and they are doing a fine job but again want it to be clean and neat. Also thinking about changing the 10g tanks for five 20g long tanks on the top shelf. That would give me some nice grow out tanks for fry.

So far I have 6 tanks set up plus my quarantine tank. Ran out of heaters and fish for the other tanks. But I will be breeding fish from my own stock to fill up the other tanks I want a BN pleco in every tank and maybe some cherry shrimp.
 
See less See more
1
#3 ·
Same here. Looks like the beginning of a nice setup, one thing I learned is always allow for expansion. Don't skimp on the electrical, have a look at Jehmco for commercial grade power strips, I'm running a couple 4' strips & a 6' strip in my setup. Take humidity control into consideration, as things get bigger this gets to be a bigger concern.
 
  • Like
Reactions: willow
#5 ·
It has been super busy so not much time to work on my electrical, I got the outlet boxes installed, conduit and wire run and got half the outlets wired up over the last week or so. I need to finish the outlets and have the guy come attach it to the breaker box.

If I would stop buying more fish I might be able to get the room done. I keep spending my fish room time doing water changes or doing small stuff on the tanks. It's fun but need to finish the room.
 
#7 ·
I agree it might not ever be done. I want new fish but I'm making my self wait until I have more tanks ready. While I can set up a 2 more QT very easy I want to have a place to move the new guys first.

If the weather would warm up a little I could bring in my 125 from the garage. It's so cold I don't want to move it and risk cracking the glass.
 
#9 · (Edited)
Got my electrical all done. I lost count of how many trips to the store to get just one more thing.

Turns out my screw up buying the wrong wire and being too lazy to take it back so I worked with it was a blessing. I bought 14-3 wire thinking it was three 14 gauge wires but it was four 14 gauge wires. Not a huge deal I was just going to leave the one empty but my electrician said we could run it as two 15amp breakers not just one. So that is what he did, I have lots of outlets now with 30 amps so I can add lots of tanks no problem.


My wife also asked if I would move her Beard Dragon down to the room. I moved him down last night and he looks much happier now.
 
#11 ·
He was in the living room until October then he got moved him to our guess room. It's about time to move him back to the living room but we moved the cabinet out his tank sit on. So now he is sleeping with the fish. :-D (I know it was bad but how often can you use that line?)

He is a cool pet about half the year, but in late fall when the days get shorter he goes into brumation. For those that don't know brumation is kind of like hibernation but he isn't fully asleep. He will stop eating and sleep 23 hours a day, we keep his lights on everyday, wake him up for a bath, and to eat every few weeks, but he just sits in the tank doing nothing until the days get longer and he becomes active again.

I hope in the fish room he won't see the days changing and will only have his light to know if it's day or night so maybe that will stop the brumation, we have talked to others with Beard Dragons theirs don't sleep as much as ours.
 
#14 ·
i learnt about brumation from a reptile site that i found.
the breeder that i actually got my baby dragon didn't even tell me.
 
#15 ·
Nice accidental screw up with the wiring, love when that happens! You'll have no problem with power, I ran a 15 & a 20 to my room, it originally was a 4th bedroom I built in. Kids grow up, move out, pull a 20 to add to the 15 & no problems ever.
 
  • Like
Reactions: mbkemp
#19 ·
yes it worked out very well in the end.

As an electrician, for 20 amp, you should have at least 12ga. 14 is not large enough for all that power, especially with heaters running. You are seriously risking an electrical fire.

Sorry I wasn't clear, I ran 14 ga wire for my new outlets planning on using a 15 amp breaker but the electrician that hooked everything into the breaker book hooked up two 15 amp breakers one for the left side of the room and one for the right side of the room.

The outlets that where in the room to start with is on a 20 amp but I don't know the wire they used. He did test that circuit and it was pulling 3.4 amps so I'm guessing all the heaters where not on at that point.


Spent the weekend cleaning the room up and putting everything into its place. I have a buddy coming over this weekend to help em put my 125g up. I will see about getting some new pics this week.
 
#22 ·
Will take some Pics tonight.

I was thinking today all the wood is bare but maybe I should paint all the wood. I should have thought about that before I filled some tanks but it is what it is at this point. If I painted the rack it would have a nice clean look and seal the wood so it won't get wet, not that getting wet has been a issue in the last few months.
 
#23 ·
Okay time for some update photos. It is still a work in progress so everything isn't perfect.

This is a shot from my door, The tank on the left is a 29g and the large one is my 125g it is empty at the moment still working on cleaning it. I will fill it fully this weekend and allow it to set a week or so to make sure of no leaks before I add fish.

Aquarium Iguania Iguana Organism Freshwater aquarium


Next is the fish rack. It was too big to take just one photo so I had to take 3.

Left side, Middle, Right side

Left side has my 55g on bottom, 30g in middle and empty 10g on top
Middle Gecko and empty 20g on bottom, two 20g L middle and two 10g fry tanks on top
Right side has 55g on bottom, Bearded dragon middle, 5g & 10g empty on top

Aquarium Iguana Shelf Plant Furniture
Cage Aquarium Furniture Table Plant

Room Furniture Building Interior design Shelf



In the corner you can see a small stand with two 20g Tall tanks, my buckets, and other stuff that has found it's way into the fish room.

I'm not happy with my lights, I'm going to see about changing them out but not sure what I will go with.
 
#29 ·
Thanks

The lights on the second self are 6500k and I was a little worried they where too much for my low light plants, causing them not to grow. But this weekend I gave the tanks a super clearing and really spend some time looking at the plants they are all doing very well. When I set the tanks up I had 6-7 sections of java fern that as 2-3" each now I have 20-25 sections all about 2" so they are growing better than I thought they where. My Swords lost all their leaves but have grown new ones just wish they where bigger. I need to get replace some of the smaller lights with the 48" lights. I have another one that is white I could paint it black like the others or just buy a few more the black ones.


whats the other spot for your sink? By the buckets? I would base it on where the plumbing comes from. And jjposko has some really nice leds set up, most likely gonna go with those lights my self....
I was thinking the sink would go where the 29 gallon is. I have a drain and water just on the other side of the wall just to the left of the 125g tank. It is 2-3 feet from the corner. If I put it at the end of the 125g I would have to run the water and drain 8 feet so not a problem. If I put the sink where the 29g is now(left of the 125g) I would have to run less plumbing but I would limit my self on expanding for more tanks. I also worry about the sink blocking part of the view to the 55g, but that feels like the best choice.


Well I have the standard $15 48" lowes shop lights with 6500k bulbs over my betta tanks. I have 2 Current Freshwater + LED 48" lights over my ten gallon tanks which I really like. Then I have my 6000k LED flloodlights test over my 29g tank(2x10w 1 20w). I really like the current LED's but the flood lights seem to be doing great over my 29g tank.
I have the same shop lights from lowes on the second shelf. I will look at the LED lights on your thread, I like the idea of LED but I'm pretty cheap so I went with the shop lights.


Next on my list is working out where to put my next set of tanks.

I built the 125g stand with the idea of putting two 29g under so going to move the 29g over once I get another one. That will free up the 29g double stand I could use some place else. I really wanted to add four 75g tanks this summer but I'm not sure I have the room. I could build a double rack on the wall where the 29g is to hold 2 tanks no problem but if I put 4 on the wall it will cover the heating vent which will effect my temperature in the room this winter.

I could do two 75g and maybe three 40g breeders but that would limit the larger fish. Or I could pick up more 29g tanks, I have room for 3 more of those but after Kong(my oscar) grows out of his current 29g I don't know what I will be putting in those tanks.

I guess I need to work out what fish I want then what tanks to buy.
 
#28 ·
Well I have the standard $15 48" lowes shop lights with 6500k bulbs over my betta tanks. I have 2 Current Freshwater + LED 48" lights over my ten gallon tanks which I really like. Then I have my 6000k LED flloodlights test over my 29g tank(2x10w 1 20w). I really like the current LED's but the flood lights seem to be doing great over my 29g tank.
 

Attachments

#30 ·
Sorry for all those picts in your thread. I thought you were looking for options, not concern over plant growth. You cant beat the shop lights for what they cost and they grow low light plants great.

If you are planning on big fish then the bigger tanks are worth putting in.

Can you re-route the heating vent above/below/to the side to an area that won't get blocked? That way you could accommodate the tanks you want.

I am looking forward to what fish you decide to get and raise.
 
#31 ·
Glad to see your pics, all are welcome.

Right now my plants are all low light and I know going to the high light plants I will have to really upgrade my lights, but like i said I'm cheap so I might just stay with the low light ones and cheaper lights. THat leaves move money for fish and tanks.:lol:

I know I will need two 75g tanks but if I had four I would fill them up for sure. I want to get some convict cichlids but I might use a 29g or maybe one of the 55g and move the Angels to the 29g. I'm working on a list of fish I want to keep I will post it here and get some feedback on what tanks to go with.

I didn't think about moving the heat vent that that would be a idea. Thanks for that tip.


Again your pics are welcome thanks for sharing, I need help narrowing my options.
 
#32 ·
Those current freshwater LED bars are sweet I may have started a few people down this road.... Best part is the leds are adjustable with the remote and its only around a 100 dollar tag. (About the best value I can find) ...... Thinking of combining the flood light design with my light bar (the reflective cone) gonna need to build my glass hoods first.

Side note: current leds wont burn low light plants (mine is at full strength and out of 7 anubius nana 0 are burned)
 
#34 ·
This weekend I will be working on getting all my lights on timers so I don't have to plug them in every morning. That is starting to get old with half on the timer and half not. I'm also going to move my 29g so it is under the 125 where I planed for it to go in the first place. While doing some spring cleaning I found a box full of HOB filters I forgot I had so I will clean those up and throw away any that are beyond repair or parts. I found a few lights also I know one is bad but I don't remember which one.

Hoping to find a faster way to do water changes. I have a few ideas to work on this weekend that should speed things up. I do 25-30% water changes on Tue, and Thrus for tanks with fish that are still growing(all but one tank) and Saturday morning everyone gets a 30% water change a good tank cleaning. I also use that time to moved decor around or change anything else on the tanks. Right now it takes about 90 mins to do everything on Sat but I think I can get that to less than a hour easy.
 
#36 ·
Why not go dirt with the low lights, dustyn's fish tanks on youtube..... Don't buy any of his stuff but watch his vids. Hes real hot on dirt tanks with flouresents. My dirt tank would be growing like mad if the acara's didnt thrash them during a mating dance. Cost me $2.50 to do, and some good old WC's...
 
#37 ·
My water changing now has been improving for the last few months, I have learned a few things to save time (bigger hoses more buckets) but there is still a lot of room for improvement. I have a 3/4" hose attached to a soda bottle to vacume the larger tanks, it drains to fast on the 20g or less so I use the one from the pet store with 1/4" hose. I drain into 5 gallon buckets the I have to carry them about 40 feet to my drain. I have 5 buckets so I can at least carry two at the same time. When I refill I use a garden hose and place it into the tank and fill all the tanks back up while I add Prime.

Last night I change about 85 gallons of water in little over a hour. But that was very little scrubbing of the tanks I vac the gravel some but my major cleaning is done on Sat mornings.

I will be getting the items tonight to make one of these. http://www.tropicalfishkeeping.com/diy-aquarium/water-change-assist-533378/

And I have a idea for a drain so I can drain my water right into that and not the bucket. If I don't have to worry about the buckets and holding the hose while the water refills it should cut my time in half.

Embouck7@ I have thought about going to dirt tanks but I just can't bring my self to make that leap. I have watched some of Dustins videos but I can't handle to much of his sales pitch, so I only watch a few then move along.

I have live plants in 3 of my tanks and I really like the way they look, all my others have fake plants. I got the shop lights with 6500k bulbs thinking it would help my swords grow but so far not so much, maybe going to dirt would help them really kick off. I was able to find some driftwood locally so I have thought about updating my tanks to a better aquacscape and if I change to dirt that would be the best time.

I will have to look into that a lot more. Thanks
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top