ilwis Posted October 24, 2012 Report Share Posted October 24, 2012 hey im setting up my fish room and will be setting it up for breeding i plan on having about 9 tanks for adults each 1000 x 400 x 400 and im trying to figure out sizes for grow-out tanks and fry tanks also the ratio of tanks per breeding tank eg one breeding tank, 2 grow-outs, 2 fry tanks? or more fry's with more grow-outs? primary fish are African cichlids tho my wife wants to do some fancy guppies and platties any ideas on sizes of the tanks? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F15hguy Posted October 24, 2012 Report Share Posted October 24, 2012 IMO have 1-2 tanks for adults and as many growout tanks as possible... the larger the better the big tanks make fish grow quicker unless you want to do 50% water changes 2 x per day an oversized tank for grow out will earn its keep. I have 2 growouts atm and im only doing cheap zebras and im already out of room I could easily populate 20 growout tanks but no way in hell would I sell them. I have purposly let several batches go just because I cannot see a market for them (albino tropheus an Jacobfreibergies (excuse spelling)) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ilwis Posted October 24, 2012 Author Report Share Posted October 24, 2012 after hours and hours of searching high and low i think i may go for 9 tanks 400x1000x400 (breeders) 12 tanks 300x600x300 (grow outs) 20 tanks 380x250x200 (fry tanks) i still don't know if this is a good ratio or not but it seems to fit nicely in the room so unless anyone can make a suggestion? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ilwis Posted October 24, 2012 Author Report Share Posted October 24, 2012 IMO have 1-2 tanks for adults and as many growout tanks as possible... the larger the better the big tanks make fish grow quicker unless you want to do 50% water changes 2 x per day an oversized tank for grow out will earn its keep. I have 2 growouts atm and im only doing cheap zebras and im already out of room I could easily populate 20 growout tanks but no way in hell would I sell them. I have purposly let several batches go just because I cannot see a market for them (albino tropheus an Jacobfreibergies (excuse spelling)) i would love to have huge growouts but im a little limited for size in my room. personally i think albino fish would be kinda difficult to sell as most people love the coloring of the fish but just a question do your albino tropheus have blue eyes? is that 2 growouts per breeding pair? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanmin4304 Posted October 24, 2012 Report Share Posted October 24, 2012 I made my tanks 600x600 because that was the maximum I could reach to the back of the tank comfortably. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tropheus Posted October 24, 2012 Report Share Posted October 24, 2012 dont bother with fry tanks for malawi cichlids. the 300x600x300 will work fine for them. just keep a few fry tanks for Tangs if you gonna breed them aswell. I have 9x 1500x800x800 which I find to big and doesnt work well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ilwis Posted October 24, 2012 Author Report Share Posted October 24, 2012 from what ive read fry grow slower if the tank is too large as they use more energy to swim around in it. is there much truth to that? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tropheus Posted October 25, 2012 Report Share Posted October 25, 2012 Probably Tangs but I have no problem with my Malawi. If you are near west akld come have a look at my setup. Might give you a better idea. Just PM me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F15hguy Posted October 25, 2012 Report Share Posted October 25, 2012 thats 2 growouts for the fry I strip from the Mbuna tank, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
livebearer_breeder Posted October 25, 2012 Report Share Posted October 25, 2012 from what ive read fry grow slower if the tank is too large as they use more energy to swim around in it. is there much truth to that? very hard to say, assuming your feeding the same and doing regular water changes, (2x50% water changes a day on large tanks must be a joke, fish will grow incredibly fast if water changes occur every second day with 4-8 smaller live food feedings spread throughout their daylight hours). I would argue that daily water changes, frequented more than once could be a hinderence to the micro environment your trying to create, especially dependent on your local water conditions. on one hand more exercise would not only increase the longevity of the circulatory system but also increase the mass of muscle tissue inside the fish. and on the other Less room/exercise creates the potential for fatter fish, this COULD (i put this in caps, because it literally is JUST a possibility NOT a probability) detrimentally effect there life spans and at the same time it could not, however you will find most fish will still find ways to keep themselves busy in smaller tanks, all it really stops them from doing is ever reaching their full potential for speed over distance. however i would condone something like a group of midas in a 2 foot. Small fish species or species that do better in crowded numbers, no worries, i only have small tanks but i put a lot of care into them and to be honest enjoy them far more than large tanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F15hguy Posted October 25, 2012 Report Share Posted October 25, 2012 IME fish grow WAY WAY quicker in larger tanks. cleaner fresher water, less pollutants.... as long as sufficient food is supplied (this is where I think the problem occurs, harder to find food in a larger tank) I tend to feed paste food as soon as the babies are big enough and they come to it instead of them searching for lil bits of flake/brine shrimp Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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