MYMARK Posted April 21, 2009 Report Share Posted April 21, 2009 Im about to set up a heated room to breed guppies in, and wondered if some old hands at the game could throw their two cents in as to whats important and whats not. Better to get things right in the planning stage so any advise would be gratefull. thanks Mark. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanmin4304 Posted April 21, 2009 Report Share Posted April 21, 2009 I have seen many people over the years get very enthusiastic about getting lots of tanks and breeding heaps of fish, then give it all away after the power bill arrives. I used to have a purpose built fish house 12ftx8ft with between 50 and 60 tanks (depending on what I was doing) and the whole room was heated with a one bar heater that hardly ever came on. The most important thing is to insulate the hell out of the room to keep your running costs down. The next is to have as much water in there as you can because it acts as a heat sink. It is easy to heat the air once you have the water warm. Other than that I would suggest you think carefully about what you want to do and try to design the setup so that all the work is minimised. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MYMARK Posted April 23, 2009 Author Report Share Posted April 23, 2009 Thanks Alan. Planning on a 6 ft sq room to hold 15 tanks. Still working and married with kids and lifestyle block, so no time for a big setup. Had 5 tanks in drafty shed last winter costing 125 a month and then went completely cold water , guppies still interest me. So now is the time to put in a small well insulated room. Plan to heat several tanks and hope the rest get up to temp, will just keep heating tanks until they do. Do I use natural light or just fluros, tank sizes 900x400x400 and 600x300x300. all filters run by air, thinking of bionoodles with water flow created by airstones. going to try having bare tanks apart from filter to make water changes easier. Will have header tank in ceiling for water changes. Brine shrimp hatchery on back wall should feed the young until summer then plan to put all but best fish outside in black lined ponds. Does it sound like Im on the right track. regards Mark. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanmin4304 Posted April 23, 2009 Report Share Posted April 23, 2009 Natural light is good but realy needs to be from the top, in which case you will need skylights and best to double glaze to hold the heat. You will need lights as well. I set mine up so it complied as a quarntine room as well so each tank had a light over it. In addition I ran a 12 volt system with a small bulb over each tank and used them as pilot lights. This attracts the brine shrimp and has the fry feeding at night as well (and growing quicker and better). If you are half handy working with glass now would be the time to build some decent sized live bearer traps fot the gravid females to be in. If you have good sized traps you will obtain all the fry and stress the females and fry a lot less because they can be in there a lot longer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MYMARK Posted April 24, 2009 Author Report Share Posted April 24, 2009 Thanks Alan, more good advise.These larger breeding traps, would they be made with two end pieces of glass and another two pieces glued to form a V between the two ends , with a match stick gap at the base. If so , for a 600 x 300 x 300 tank, trap height of 290 , width of 290, and side panels of 290x290 would leave a good gap under trap for fry to drop through. How do these dimensions sound? Let me know if you think I should be going longer. I like the sound of bigger traps as the bought ones are far too small and stressful. On the room front I have tracked down some coreflute to line the walls with. As for your 12 volt night light system, I am dead keen on LEDs so will try hooking up a small solar system, I like the fact that bbs will be attracted to them. Thanks Alan a few more things are coming together, will order glass next week after your feedback. Regards Mark. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanmin4304 Posted April 24, 2009 Report Share Posted April 24, 2009 You can make the traps as you suggest or like an upside down tent. You can also add a stainless steel or glass rod above the bottom crack because the females often lie over it and can get damaged. I used to make the trap with enough clearance side, bottom and ends in order to easily siphon off waste and catch babies. The bigger you make the setup the easier it is on the fish and yourself. If you make it like a tent, with some practice you can lift the tent,fish and some water and place it in an adjoining tank while you clean the original or catch fry. A couple of solid straps on the trap will keep it off the bottom of the holding tank. A small length of glass or plastic tubing with a hose connected will help in siphoning gunge off the bottom. It is a bit of a mission but plastic tube can be bent in hot glycerine to make it easier still. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
livingart Posted April 24, 2009 Report Share Posted April 24, 2009 well done alan solid advice Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MYMARK Posted April 27, 2009 Author Report Share Posted April 27, 2009 Have just bought 10 sheets of 3mm glass ex glass house. so will try my hand at cutting glass to make some nice large traps. Will keep you informed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twinkles Posted April 27, 2009 Report Share Posted April 27, 2009 can i butt in and ask.. do you think they'd like traps made out of coloured/opaque glass? I'm thinking of making a nice big one soon but thought perhaps making three sides and the bottom out of something opaque might help her relax? I know in the small one i've got they spend alot of time swimming at the side trying to get out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aaron11 Posted April 29, 2009 Report Share Posted April 29, 2009 omg u should see how many babies i get out of my 90 litre tank !!! 15 tanks u gonna have millions lol :bounce: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanmin4304 Posted April 29, 2009 Report Share Posted April 29, 2009 I have always made them from clear glass so don't know if opaque is better or not. I think fish are more comfortable if the light is from the top. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
christian Posted April 29, 2009 Report Share Posted April 29, 2009 Good luck with the build let us know how you get on. Hardest thing will be getting decent colored guppies Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MYMARK Posted May 1, 2009 Author Report Share Posted May 1, 2009 Picking up 12 sheets of polystyrene 55x2300x550. Should be a good start to insulating fish room, will line that with coreflute. All I need now is time to dismantle tank stand ( concrete block and 100x100 timbers) and tanks, rehouse fish, then I can start building. I can see this taking a while. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zev Posted May 1, 2009 Report Share Posted May 1, 2009 Progress pics would be nice, but be careful that Caryl doesn't find out what you are up to and demand an article for the Aquarium World magazine! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olly Posted May 1, 2009 Report Share Posted May 1, 2009 Progress pics would be nice, but be careful that Caryl doesn't find out what you are up to and demand an article for the Aquarium World magazine! why do you think hes doing this while Caryls on holiday? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MYMARK Posted May 15, 2009 Author Report Share Posted May 15, 2009 Have started dismantling tank stand, what a job. I did the full on wiring job up thru the concrete blocks and timbers. Have just about relocated all fish, now for the tanks. Bigger job than i thought. will keep u posted. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SamH Posted May 30, 2009 Report Share Posted May 30, 2009 Sounds like it should be good. When I had guppies, all the new born fry used to swim to the suface, only one or two would swim at midwater and none at the bottom. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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