Fish Room

[Nick]

Next month or maybe the month after I plan on building some storage shelves in our very large laundry room. I figured while i'm at it I should add enough room for 4-8 tanks (depending on size). Any suggestions for setups that might not be so obvious when constructing? Tank size suggestions? (I hope to bread some Tangs and some malawis).

[Cadman2000]

... Any suggestions for setups that might not be so obvious when constructing? ....

By this question do you mean obvious to others that your building fish shelves or obvious when your done that the shelves will hold tanks. If your looking to hide the tanks for when your not working with them Pivot Door Slide might be an option. You would have to double your frame up to support the tanks, but everything could be hidden behind the cabinet doors and give the room a clean look for when you do not want to display your tanks.

[GrizzlysDad]

Or do you mean that your significant other won't realize what you are building and later you can say "hey, I could put a few tanks on those storage shelves 

As for tank sizes, it depends which species of Malawians and Tanganyikans you plan to breed.

[Cadman2000]

Or do you mean that your significant other won't realize what you are building and later you can say "hey, I could put a few tanks on those storage shelves 

As for tank sizes, it depends which species of Malawians and Tanganyikans you plan to breed.

Tony that is what I was referring to with my first comment, but I was trying to be a bit more subtle.

[Ron]

IMO the best thing is to think about what dimensions you have to work with, overall LxWxH, then deconstruct what are the biggest tanks that will fit in that space! 

[Nick]

Or do you mean that your significant other won't realize what you are building and later you can say "hey, I could put a few tanks on those storage shelves 

As for tank sizes, it depends which species of Malawians and Tanganyikans you plan to breed.

HA!...I already had that conversation. I was telling her about building the storage racks and even a folding table and a place to hang delicates..than I got all excited and said "and I can put some fish tanks over on this side for breeding and growing out fish!". The conversation that followed ended with her turning around and walking away while I tried to explain how "cool" it would be...HAHAHAH. it was great.

[Nick]

Im thinking that ill want to breed capedichromis and protomealus, and some shellies, julis, and maybe if i can fit a big enough tank in.... Fossochromis Rostratus....Ive seem them before online but some reason last night i came across them again and I really really would like to have some. I know they are larger so i would have to figure out a way to put a big tank in there...I dont think that will work.
As of right now im looking at a roughly 4'x3'x8' area to put tanks. Ive got a wash sink down there already so i was half thinking about running water where i can turn a few valves to and fill all the desired tanks at the same time. As for the draining ill keep using my hose attached to the sink. A central air line too maybe.
Everyone here suggest sponge filters I assume? or should I stock up on a hand full of h.o.b filters?

What size tanks do you guys suggest? 1 55 i figured and some 20s or 29s?

[Nick]

... Any suggestions for setups that might not be so obvious when constructing? ....

By this question do you mean obvious to others that your building fish shelves or obvious when your done that the shelves will hold tanks. If your looking to hide the tanks for when your not working with them Pivot Door Slide might be an option. You would have to double your frame up to support the tanks, but everything could be hidden behind the cabinet doors and give the room a clean look for when you do not want to display your tanks.

I like that idea but I dont know if I am quite that handy yet. No problems building basic frames but I dont trust myself with hinges.

[JeffroM]

Hydro Sponge filters are best IMO.  HOB filters can be helpful on larger tanks too, but shouldn't be required.  For the Haps you mentioned I would recommend 40g or 50g breeder tanks.  For the shell dwellers or Julis you should be able to use a 20g long or 29g.

Random general thoughts:

1) Make sure what ever you build can be moved in (or out) of the room your putting it in.  Can it fit through the door way?
2) Make an area to keep supplies.
3) In addition to the the tanks needed for breeding plan for grow out tanks!  Below is a rack of 10 gallon tanks that I purchased from GrizzlysDad and then sold a few years later to SuperTurtleman.  It was extremely versitile for fry.  Also plan on a few 2.5g and 5g tanks.
4) When getting breeding groups don't go overboard.  A single quality pair can usually produce more fry each year than you could ever possibly grow out and sell.
5) Putting tanks side facing out saves a lot of wall space (i.e. how the tanks in the picture are oriented.

[Nick]

Jef,
Most of what you mentioned is part of what I had planned. Keeping the tanks stacked like that is pretty much exactly what I was hoping for.
As for the breeding I figure ill start with what I have already. I alrready have some Protomealus, juliis, shellies, and some other tangs.

[Ron]

As of right now im looking at a roughly 4'x3'x8' area to put tanks.

If you built the right stand and could survive with minimal space to access the tanks, stacking 3 4'x2'x2' 120 gallons would fit!

Here's what I did with a space close to those dimensions (~54"x20"x92" IIRC):


That's 3 48"x12.5"x18" tanks.

If I didn't have other smaller fry tanks, making it wide enough to put a 10 gallon width might be better and then you could have 3-4 10s across the very bottom and 2 4' tanks on the upper 2 levels. Then you'd have a smaller tanks for fry/small tangs.

[Nick]

Ron- I like the looks of both yours and Jeff's. I'm betting I end up doing something similar. I just went and did an actually measurement and it looks like I only have 3ft, give or take, of wall space to use. I think that will be enough though. I will just have to suffer through the want for something larger. I guess i really need to think of how practical this will be with the possible breeding pairs I already have. I could get some Leptosoma, Nigripinis, Multifaciatus (already have babies in the Tang community tank), some Julies, and Protomealus and thats about it. The Protomealus are a lock and so are the Julies. After that im not sure what else i want to do.
Right now I have my 90g all male show tank, a Tang show/community tank, a empty 10gallon and a 35 with my new Protomealus in it. If i consider those into the equation that gives me 1 grow out tank for the Protomealus. Should I be using a 35+ for the actually breeding pair too? I can get away with 20s for the julies but not sure about minimum or optimal tank size for the actual breeding pair of the rest.

Sorry for the mindless typing guys, I'm just trying to spit it all out. And thanks for all the feedback already too.

[Nick]

Well its been more than a month but Im fairly confident that the room will be built within the next few weeks. I just got my hands on 5x20g, 4x 2.5g, and 1 30g cubeish, 20g long, and 2x10g.
Looks like a lot of people use styrofoam under their tanks instead of setting them on the wood. I assume this is to provide a automatic leveling aspect. Is that correct?

[Ron]

Looks like a lot of people use styrofoam under their tanks instead of setting them on the wood. I assume this is to provide a automatic leveling aspect. Is that correct?

I do it to level out any imperfections in the stand itself. I'm pretty careful building them, but figure it's best to not risk it. It's not enough to level a tank sitting on a stand that was "eye-balled" to be level.