izone2240 Posted June 7, 2012 Report Share Posted June 7, 2012 Hey guys what's up ? I'm currently trying To build a fishroom I'm aiming for a low maintenance room as I work full time so the plan was to have the tanks with a hole drilled in the bottom and have it with a tap put in ( What size should be drilled ? And anyone know where to get water tight taps ??) so I can do a waterchange at the turn of a tap =) .From there have the water go to some roof spouting leaning on a angle so water doesn't overflow if Im doing more then one at once ,all going to a PVC pipe that I plan to drill trough the wall so I can reuse it on the garden.what is eveyones thorts on recurculating systems ? .I do know it makes maintenance easier but I don't like the idear of 1 fish contracting whitespot randomly if it's always in the water then evey other fish I have get it that would suck big time =(.I would like to have some idears of fish that "pay there rent" I already have a list but if anyone has some good ones let me know .I plan to run a sump like container in the middle of the room so I can age the water before putting it in to the tanks trough a pump and hose if all goes well I'll construct a PVC system.HEATING ?? what Is the cheepest way to heat the room in the longrun I plan to insulate with pinkbats drywall heavily painted with polystyrene as the last layer Panel heater ?? Heatpump ?? fanheater ?? .filtration ok so it's going to run off an air compressor so the question is SPONGE FILTER OR BOX FILTER is there a tank limit size for them ? TANKSIZE what is the best tanksizes for most types of fish e.g a breeding group of fancy guppys would 2ft ,1ft,1,ft be fine or should I go 3ft ? Anyone have the size for egg hatching/fry tanks ?? and how many grow Out tanks should I have for each speeches ? I was planing on trailing a plywood tank running around the unused space below the tanks with a pond liner in it to make raising livebearers a little bit more affordable I'm just looking for tips to get it right the first time =D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blueether Posted June 7, 2012 Report Share Posted June 7, 2012 I'll comment on the heating, in a well insulated room I would go heatpump, and intank heaters if a tank needs to be warmer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaxxnz Posted June 7, 2012 Report Share Posted June 7, 2012 Hi, great project you are getting into..but a small advised, there are no real profit in breeding and selling fish.. I am currently setting up a breeding room too, i got 32mm hole drilled on tank..32mm drainage pipe should do the trick.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
izone2240 Posted June 7, 2012 Author Report Share Posted June 7, 2012 Are they hard to install ? 1 last question is it worth getting a eo unit I know our water is pretty good in new zealand so I don't know if it's worth it or not as I don't plan on having planted tanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
izone2240 Posted June 7, 2012 Author Report Share Posted June 7, 2012 And I'm not looking for profit just for the fish to help chip in for there home Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheepsnana Posted June 7, 2012 Report Share Posted June 7, 2012 If you want to make some money back, you need to find something that is in high demand, but low supply. Best of luck with that. Guppies will sell if you get a rare colour, which is only rare until you sell them. We got a beautiful tuxedo red, when all the petshops had yellows and blues. Now you cant find a shop that isn't selling exactly what I thought was rare. But by the time I've got blues breeding, they'll be back in the shops. Some really nice fish are the special types of pleco's, but some of these have a lot of difficulty breeding in captivity, and they're not cheap to start with. However, I really do like the fishroom idea. Heating - panel heaters are good for taking the edge off a room, for true heating, use a heatpump. Make sure the room is well insulated. With the sump idea - If you must have one sump shared between tanks (and for a fishroom - you probably will), I would try to have multiple sumps so that it's only 3 or 4 tanks sharing each sump. It's more expensive, but it's better than 7 or 8 tanks sharing a sump. Grow out tanks - With eggs spawning every two weeks, I would like to have at least two grow out tanks per spawning tank, so I can even out the growth and keep a close eye on them. Some plants can help with filtration, and they help some fish de-stress by providing hiding spots. As for the size of each tank, I personally believe that anything under 60L is cruel. The bigger the tank, the bigger you buffer is for dealing with spikes. With the aging water, I would keep this as independent of the rest of the system as possible, because if something goes wrong with your water supply, it could be a massive issue to try and disconnect it to sort it out. It may also pay to think of a failsafe for the water removal to your gardens... You don't want to forget that you left it draining and come back to find the fish in the yard... Most people would keep an eye on it, but sometimes things come up. Best of luck, hope it goes well. Please take lots of photos for us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanmin4304 Posted June 7, 2012 Report Share Posted June 7, 2012 In a previous life I had a purpose built fish house with 60 tanks heated by a two bar heater with a fan. I wired the fan so it went all the time and only one element went. The room was well insulated and the heater hardly ever came on. You cannot have too much insulation or too much water. The water acts as a heat sink. It does not take much heat to heat the air but a lot to heat the water. Once the tanks are heated and loaded with fish you will need to change the air once or twice a day and this will not take much heat. I used to breed 50000 fish a year but even then it is very hard to make a profit. The more you breed the bigger market you need so you have to sell to wholesalers. It takes a while to establish a reputation so that they will buy off you instead of their normal supplier. You need "bread and butter fish" and then you can try others later. One problem you have is that there are already very good breeders in Christchurch who have established markets and are breeding the "bread and butter" fish. The water in Christchurch is good enough to breed most fish straight out of the tap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
izone2240 Posted June 12, 2012 Author Report Share Posted June 12, 2012 So do you guys use a central system with a sump or run alone systems? And what about for fry tanks as I've herd that they are quite sensitive to water conditions Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanmin4304 Posted June 12, 2012 Report Share Posted June 12, 2012 I had mine with individual tanks and manual water changes because I set it up for quarantine. I know one person here with automatic water changes and a community sump with filtration and commercial UV. He uses two heat pumps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caserole Posted June 17, 2012 Report Share Posted June 17, 2012 I used to run a central system with 2 large uv tubes and auto water changes/overflow sumps etc.. It's very convenient and the water was always crystal clear. As to fry tanks I just turned the water flow off if it was required. I would worry about fry sensitivity with in reason( from species to species ), loss of fry to the over flow is a bigger problem. I found using cold tap water at 1lt a minute on a 2000lt system had next to impact on the temp even during winter, I think the worse temp drop I had was 1C, most often it was under .5C. Even when there was no noticeable temp drop the cory's spawned all the time. In saying all of this I have now dismantled the central system as I still had problems. Fish DO come in the country with undetected bugs and virus + I needed more separation/control for what I'm breeding now > guppies, the fry got in the sump and went through the pump and into tanks they did not belong >> undamaged. Also setting up a central system can be very expensive for just for the plastic pipes and the the holes in the tanks , tank connections, values etc..... it cost me $3000.00 in pvc plastic a lone! Another thing is how much water is in flow, you need large enough sumps to capture this when the power cuts out and it will !..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
izone2240 Posted June 17, 2012 Author Report Share Posted June 17, 2012 Thanks for the help guys knowage is power when it comes to these guys carnt know enough so please keep it coming Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
izone2240 Posted June 17, 2012 Author Report Share Posted June 17, 2012 Ok so from what eveyones said it seams like a better idear to run stand alOne tanks with spinge filters.where would I buy a central air pump from as I cannot seam to find any under a grand =(. Ok so time for an update I've just spend the day given the garage a cleanout and rearrangement so measurements I have to work with is 15 ft long 8/9 ft wide and 7 ft high this should work for now as i work full time to pay the bills like eveyone else to pay for this this I have now realised that makeing any money off them is now possible unless you have a wherehouse full I WISH I DID ! Also I found a brand new sink to use in there so that should be helpful I would put pics up but currently just using a phone to write this so it's not possible 1.Does anyone know how much it costs to get power hooked up to a garage ? As I do NOT fell save running it off an exstion cord ? 2.I have a spree hose connection which I plan to run out to the fishroom what do you use to store your water in before use ? 3. I have been pricing up heating and a heatpumps out of my price range so what other optunes are there I plan to over insulate with pink bats 4. Are there any breeders in Christchurch that could help me out to stock up my room once it's done ? 5. What size tanks would work to breed afcrian chiclids e.g electric yellows as there a fearly bigish fish or is it better to have them on a bigger community tank and them swap them into other tanks when ibthibk there holding ? 6. Anyone had any luck with breeding loachs in nz ? 7. I also need to know the dimensions of fry/egg tanks and does everyone just use meth blue in them withban air stone/small spinge filter 8. I need someone to build some tanks for me at a reasonable price if anyone knows anyone. (in Christchurch) =D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanmin4304 Posted June 17, 2012 Report Share Posted June 17, 2012 If you intend to get serious it would be a good time to start making your own tanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caserole Posted June 17, 2012 Report Share Posted June 17, 2012 I cannot seam to find any under a grand I've just picked up a Pondone 12000 ( does around 50-60 sponge filters ) for around 250 inclu GST @ Wholesale so it should retail between 400 - 750, I think compressors are cheaper but to noisy for me. 1.Does anyone know how much it costs to get power hooked up to a garage ? As I do NOT fell save running it off an exstion cord ? It cost me around a grand, prob. a lot more now ( price of copper keeps rising ) 3. I have been pricing up heating and a heatpumps out of my price range so what other optunes are there I plan to over insulate with pink bat Don't put FISH tanks at floor level, use that space for water storage either glass tanks or ply lined with pond liner - what ever is cheapest. As Alan said ... get as much water in the room as possible - and it's a place to store your water for changes. I need someone to build some tanks for me at a reasonable price if anyone knows anyone. (in Christchurch) There is a list some where on this site with tank builders, or as Alan said learn to make your own it's not hard nor is glass cutting with the right equipment. P.s it may be cheaper to buy from out side CHCH if there is not a cheap tank maker there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
izone2240 Posted June 17, 2012 Author Report Share Posted June 17, 2012 I have tried my own tanks before but it has worked out less then great I had a pen shaped cutter with oil and was told to tap the glass with the other end the cutter but I would keep cracking the glass so gave up in the end is there any cutter you guys could recommend ? And yes thats alot more reasonable I planed to have it in the entry room along with the live foods to help heat the brine shrimp and to cut down on the noise it will make Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ryanjury Posted June 17, 2012 Report Share Posted June 17, 2012 Good luck It is relatively easy to cover costs but very hard to make money and (IMO) would kind of ruin my hobby for me if I was hell bent on making money out of it.. I run 50 odd airstones off an air compressor they are big and noisy but cheap and seems to work out well for me, whatever you buy I would make sure you have 2 on hand in case one fails, it is guaranteed that it will fail on the Sunday of a long weekend and the shops will be closed then when they open there will be nothing big enough and all your fish will suffer.. As for wiring I have no idea what it would cost to do legally but as stated already copper isn't cheap.. You could probably do it cheaper by doing some research into the legal requirements and seeing if you can source the cable and run it all yourself and then just get a sparky in to hook it into a CB on the meterbox and sign it all off. Go on trademe and hunt around for a portable heatpump, I picked one up for $120 for my fishroom you just have to have a vent going outside, I have found that I don't need mine to heat I need it to cool because the 1 compressor and double fluoro I run overheat the room and cook the fish. Plenty of breeders down those ways, maybe join the club and hunt around the forums and I am sure that they will help out. It can sometimes take a while to get in touch with descent fish worth breeding, and if you start pumping out rubbish people wont deal with you for long. If you are serious about african cichlids then you will need big tanks and you will need to only run 1-2 species per tank to avoid producing hybrids.. If you were going to do a colony of electric yellows then initially you could get away with a large 3ft (150Lish) but ideally in a 200L+ 4ft tank. No idea on the loaches, I know that clowns haven't been done. Dimensions of tanks depends on what you are breeding, how you are going to breed them, how often you are going to do water changes, what sort of filtration you are going to use and most importantly what you want to do and what works for you.. It is a bit hard to give generalisations because it depends on too many variables. My advice for you would be to start off small and start breeding a few species you like and get some experience and just build up slowly as you figure out the best ways to do things and what fish/methods work well for you, and also get some appreciation for the work involved.. If you are doing a breeding room then sometimes it is best to hunt around for people breaking down their breeding setups and buy standard sized tanks and racks, ie racks of 2fts or 4fts etc.. If you want to go for all new tanks you either have to have good sources to buy glass from and get good at cutting it and making tanks or spend a fortune. Good luck Oh and regarding the water change system I have a dripper system installed in my room, it is rough as guts and cheap but works well. Just has 17mm (I think would have to check) holes drilled in each tank, then has 13mm irrigation elbows siliconed into each tank with netting on each intake to stop fry going down, all these goto a drain, and then I have used 13mm irrigation stuff with droppers to run line into each tank, just plug the hose in and the water gets changed, I only do small water changes often with it but it seems to work well, because I am only running clean water into the tanks and each tank has its own drain there is no risk of disease transfer. Ok so from what eveyones said it seams like a better idear to run stand alOne tanks with spinge filters.where would I buy a central air pump from as I cannot seam to find any under a grand =(. Ok so time for an update I've just spend the day given the garage a cleanout and rearrangement so measurements I have to work with is 15 ft long 8/9 ft wide and 7 ft high this should work for now as i work full time to pay the bills like eveyone else to pay for this this I have now realised that makeing any money off them is now possible unless you have a wherehouse full I WISH I DID ! Also I found a brand new sink to use in there so that should be helpful I would put pics up but currently just using a phone to write this so it's not possible 1.Does anyone know how much it costs to get power hooked up to a garage ? As I do NOT fell save running it off an exstion cord ? 2.I have a spree hose connection which I plan to run out to the fishroom what do you use to store your water in before use ? 3. I have been pricing up heating and a heatpumps out of my price range so what other optunes are there I plan to over insulate with pink bats 4. Are there any breeders in Christchurch that could help me out to stock up my room once it's done ? 5. What size tanks would work to breed afcrian chiclids e.g electric yellows as there a fearly bigish fish or is it better to have them on a bigger community tank and them swap them into other tanks when ibthibk there holding ? 6. Anyone had any luck with breeding loachs in nz ? 7. I also need to know the dimensions of fry/egg tanks and does everyone just use meth blue in them withban air stone/small spinge filter 8. I need someone to build some tanks for me at a reasonable price if anyone knows anyone. (in Christchurch) =D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caserole Posted June 17, 2012 Report Share Posted June 17, 2012 Actually a pen oil filled is what I use, maybe you had very old glass as it is less compliant. In saying that I broke down and cut up a tank I purchased 20years ago last week and it behaved just fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrienne Posted June 17, 2012 Report Share Posted June 17, 2012 May I suggest that seeing as you are in Christchurch you factor the earthquakes into your build, both with tank strength and stand bracing. I would hate for you to get everything up and running only to have it all come down again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaxxnz Posted June 18, 2012 Report Share Posted June 18, 2012 Jeees Guys after all these infos I getting weary of my central American cichlids setup.. :slfg: Iam abit lucky on short stock and going for hybrid only..any great advise please on how to cross breed?? This could be never ending story.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KrazyGeoff Posted June 18, 2012 Report Share Posted June 18, 2012 Iam abit lucky on short stock and going for hybrid only..any great advise please on how to cross breed?? This could be never ending story.. yeah, just don't cross breed. That's the stuff for Josef Mengele. But you could at least make your own topic, this one was nice and clean! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
izone2240 Posted June 29, 2012 Author Report Share Posted June 29, 2012 Hey guys bit of an update so I've just bought the insulation it's r rated to 4.0 so im hopping thatl help to keep the heat in the room in theres a window in there that I plan to use for live foods and green water ect .I've been priceing up glass sheets in Christchurch and it seams to be very exspensive so I'm thinking I'll make most of my tanks out of clear Perspex does anyone know the rule for it ??? I.e 6mm for 100l and under then 8mm for 150L or 10 mm for say a 250L and whats the deal with bracing and life you get from it I plan to use glass tanks to if I can find some more and I'm still looking For a heating source it's looking like it's going to be a plywood walls painted a nice blue I think with racks made out of wood with a bracing at the top of the room so it will connect the tops of rack/stand to each other to try and stop it from coming down in a quack any more tips for that ?? Anyone ??? .might have to run it with exstinshion cords for awhile as im waiting for repairs on the house to be done . P.S Thanks fir the help guys keep it coming Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jackp Posted June 29, 2012 Report Share Posted June 29, 2012 R4.0 should be heaps in terms of insulation, however you will lose quite a bit of heat with the window (unless it's double glazed). In terms of material thickness for the tanks, volume isn't really relevant, the most important dimension is tank height (short wide tanks don't need to be as strong as narrow high tanks. if you insulated the window (or even did a d.i.y double glazing job) you may well get away with useing the lights to heat it. it's also sometimes a good idea to paint the walls a light colour and use high gloss paint, this way you get better use out of your lighting as it reflects off the walls. if you're using extension cords make sure you use good quality ones (comercial grade), they will perform better when drawing higher currents. same goes with multiboxes. also with the glass see if you can get offcuts rather than whole sheets. it will work out a lot cheaper. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
izone2240 Posted July 10, 2012 Author Report Share Posted July 10, 2012 Ok guys time for a update I have been working in my weekends off and have now just got half of it insulated and I have decided to cut the window out o the fishroom one of the walls say 8 ft wide and 7 ft high is going to be dedacated to chiclids I'm going to try and keep then in bio tope aqurirems do I'm going to need some help with this and tank sizes for them that would work with that amount of space suggestions on easy to moderate breeders for these that will get along and I have also decided that all the tanks will go into a central sump for filtration and easy of care with a float switch so that I'll never have to top it up and new water is added without me having to do anything.I would also like to know a good tank size for a black ghost knife and some friends for him that he won't eat lol .and ales I plan to try out fighters now that I have the space to any help with a breeding setup for them would be great thanks guys Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zuri08 Posted July 10, 2012 Report Share Posted July 10, 2012 depending on what types of cichlids u are wanting to breed u will be wanting four footers for breeding and 3 foot grow outs with some smaller for fry raisers.the biggest part for breeding will be getting qualty stock and most likely have to grow up some youngs and choose best specimens or if you are really lucky you could buy someones breeding groups if any1s got any.would like to see some progress pics Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
izone2240 Posted July 24, 2012 Author Report Share Posted July 24, 2012 Ok update time Im halfway done building the 4th wall at the moment and am still clueless on a few things =s I really dont know what to use for the Walls now as my test peace on plywood painted with water resistant paint worked perfectly but the plywood was far to warped. From the paint to be used so I need some ideas ???? 2. So I'm not having any tanks under the 1ft mark which I plan to use for a sump but still need some ideas of filtration to use say bio balls and filterwool with a uv ???? Back to the update I'm going to be wielding up the stands I'm trying to figure out how thick iit will need to be to hold the wight of the stands and how I'm going to quack proof it is currently beyond me.=S I have decided on how I'm going to do my chiclid conner of the room it will be as follows Top row 4ft discus full Color tank 4ft wild coloration tank Middle row 4ft lake Malawi tank 4ft lake tanganyika tank Bottom row 4ft Lake victoria tank 4ft American tank Still trying to work out compatabilty for them And not knowing what types we have available to us here in nz is not very helpful. And anyone know a good size to make sone kilifish breeding tanks ??? And beta breeders ? Ps will put pics up if anyone knows if you can use photobucket from your phone Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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