Pegasus Posted March 29, 2002 Report Share Posted March 29, 2002 Hi everyone, Anyone out there got any decent ideas for a fish house? I’ve 12.5acres, one or two sheds, that at the moment are either full of accumulated junk, or commandeered by the family. Seen some strange places over the years, ones in old aircraft hangers that were heated by a small furnace, others that were semi underground because of council regulations. The guy had dug a pit around four-foot deep and set his tanks up at either side of the pit. The roof was sat on walls about a metre high and the whole thing was hardly visible over his six-foot fence. His tanks, he had about thirty, were heated by gas, with a minute jet burning under each one. The small flame burned against a copper mesh and asbestos plate under each tank. One strange place had about fifteen tanks and the water was heated in a main storage area then pumped from tank to tank. The idea was ingenious, but if he had a prob in one tank it spread to the others in seconds. Don’t fancy that in the least. If you tell me about your fish house, heating, lighting, keeping costs down and such, I might get some fresh ideas. Regards Bill (Pegasus) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cees Posted March 30, 2002 Report Share Posted March 30, 2002 I don't have many details but heard someone once say to get an old 'refrigerated' container if you have the land to put it on. You know, like the ones they have on container ships. They're supposedly well insulated. Instead of refrigeration you would need only a small amount of heating Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pegasus Posted March 30, 2002 Author Report Share Posted March 30, 2002 Choice idea Cees, but somehow I don't think the missus would quite go for it. I'm still working on persuading her to let me get back into the hobby :smile:Perhaps the hole in the ground might be a good idea, then I can hide from her. Regards Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fee Posted April 4, 2002 Report Share Posted April 4, 2002 We run all our tropical tanks on one system, but we will be putting in another system some time this year, so we can separate high range from low range. All the fish seem to thrive (from Mono's to Discus to African Cichlids), even though it is kept at neutral To start with we had a few loses, but now we have good biological filtration up and running everyone is happy. The tanks are about 1m long and are separated into three by glass panels. Each panel has a gap underneath, with a small sheet of U/G plate. Water enters through a tap in the first tank and leaves through an outlet in the last. There are 9 of the 1m long tanks altogether. The water then travels through chambers (Life Guard Series) of Mechanical, Heat (Jager 300w), Chemical and Fluidised Bed before entering a wet/dry with sponge, filter wool, Bio Balls and ehfi substrate (there is another Jager in this filter). It then travels through a UV sterilizer before returning to the tanks. Because of the UV we find that bacteria etc. does not spread from one tank to another. Obviously if a problem begins in the first tank in a line of three it can spread through its 2 neighbours, but this has as of yet not posed a problem. We have had no serious outbreaks since the UV was installed (Before hand we had Dropsy spread like wildfire, and couldn't sell any fish for weeks!!!). Obviously this is probably not the best system in the world but maybe you can take some ideas from it. It spent hours of trial and error on the behalf of my Husband, my Mother and Myself, so hopefully someone can benefit. The hardest part was the "plumbing" ie the pipes travelling to and from the tanks. Water often behaves in ways you least expect! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cees Posted April 4, 2002 Report Share Posted April 4, 2002 My fishroom has been in operation for the last 4 years. The hart of it is a 2 layer bench with space for 20 600x300x300 mm tanks. (I've had only 10 installed, never got around to getting the rest) and another 10 smaller tanks. All tanks have a hole drilled in the bottom with standpipes fitted (25mm pvc, nylon washers, standard pressure pipe fittings from plumbing world). Water is pumped from a sump by an eheim (2250 I think) up to the top level (about 1.2 meter head) in 15 mm pvc. Each tank receives water through 6 mm tubing fitted to the 15 mm pipe with a grommet (hydroponics shop). Water returns to the sump through a 100x50 mm rectangular pipe (stormwater downpipe). It passes through a biofilter made out of two 10 liter buckets. One filled with shotgun wads (spelling??) the other no bottom and upside down as a stand. Each tank receives about 2-4 complete turnovers each hour (depending on whether the pump and pipes are clean). When I'm really active with the fishroom I do 10% water change daily (sort off, turn on the tap for a few minutes, sump has an overflow into the drain). I've focussed mainly on guppies. Trying line-breednig for a while. At the moment it's a real mess. The pump, the filter and the complete system has been runing non stop for 4 years. I've had only once the heater failing. No disease to speak of. The filter even has been taking care of 'dead fish' that I had not noticed. I gues, if an when I install the next lot of tanks I would need a bigger pump that's all Or perhaps a second pump with a second sump. The room is very well insulated. Plywood on the walls sealed with gloss paint. A little fan on a timerextracts air for several hours each day to keep the humidity down. No mildew problem. That's it folks btw, initial layout a bit more expensive but runnig cost now les then NZ$1/day and I can even leave it for a week or so without problems. [ This Message was edited by: Cees on 2002-04-05 03:47 ] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pegasus Posted April 4, 2002 Author Report Share Posted April 4, 2002 Thanks Fee and Cees for the interesting replies. It's a project for the winter months (I hope ) so Ill consider all my options before I start. Thanks again Bill (Pegasus) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rene Posted July 3, 2002 Report Share Posted July 3, 2002 i use a insulated shipping cotainer it works a real treat running costs are about $10 per week for my 33 x90 litre tanks each tank has a 60cm florescent tube light which seem to heat the container well the only heating i have is 2.5 kw thermostatetly controlled fan heater which i turn on in the winter just in case my air supply isfrom 2 large air pumps which could cope with another 30 tanks im sure i have 3 layers of tanks the lowest sit on around 23-24 degrees the top on around 27-28degrees celcius Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pegasus Posted July 4, 2002 Author Report Share Posted July 4, 2002 Thanks Rene. Sounds a bit expensive for a container. Cees suggested a similar plan. I built a cottage for my oldest son several years back, which he has now vacated. If my single tank has several offspring, (which I hope it will have) then I hope to convert the cottage into a refuge for my fish. Bill. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darylh Posted August 5, 2002 Report Share Posted August 5, 2002 Hi Bill, I was just wondering about the reasoning behind the council regulations that required a fish house to be underground. This is something that I had thought about doing myself ... putting my fish house under an existing concrete slab at the front of the house. Earth is a great insulator. It puzzles me why anyone would be required to do it though. Obviously Oz (Victoria in particular) hasn't cornered the market on strange council regulations. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pegasus Posted August 6, 2002 Author Report Share Posted August 6, 2002 Hi Daryl, Many fish houses in the UK were underground, many of them being old air raid shelters and such, but the main reason for building below level was so that a permit was not needed as it was not really classed as a structure in the true sense of the word. Plus, if you began erecting a building (even a garage) in your garden you usually had the neigbours down your back. Permits are required here in NZ also for buildings over 10'X10'. I have just ended a long session with them over it Drainage is the only prob if you intend going subterrainian, but as you say, it's a great insulator, and the roof need only be a metre off the ground level, and could be all glass if needed. Basically all that is needed is a walkway about a metre wide and five or six foot deep. The tanks sit at ground level on either side of the trench, with the low roof above. Perfectomundo Regards, Bill (Pegasus) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darylh Posted August 7, 2002 Report Share Posted August 7, 2002 Interesting ... I'm sure we wouldn't get away with it in Victoria ... you probably need a permit to build a bird-bath here. It would probably require a safety fence as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Warren Posted August 8, 2002 Report Share Posted August 8, 2002 I use my garage. About half the garage is lined with 50mm polystyrene all round (floor included). There are currently 32 tanks ranging from 10L to 750L with approx 7500L total. 3 Tanks are set up for quarantining new fish, but the rest are on a central filter. Will be adding 12 more soon. The system works great, almost no maintenance thanks to automatic water change and automatic pH control. It takes about 45 minutes every 2 weeks just to wipe the glass and siphon the muck from the bottom of the tanks. The system has been setup for over 2 years now and have not had any disease. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cees Posted August 8, 2002 Report Share Posted August 8, 2002 ... automatic water change tell me more Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Warren Posted August 9, 2002 Report Share Posted August 9, 2002 I cheat! It's probably not really automatic, rather it is continuous. I have a trickle of water (approx 300L/day) entering the sump. The excess overflows out a waste pipe at the other end of the sump. Its not as good as actually removing water then adding it again but its a whole lot less time consuming. At around 4-5% water change a day, it keeps the whole system pretty fresh. Combined with pleated cartridge filters (like on small swimming pools) the water is very clear and odourless. No need for carbon! It costs a bit in winter (heating 300L of water uses a lot of electrical energy), but I'm working on a heat pump system at the moment to reduce it (DIY again). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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