Weekly water change on the terrace tanks

There are 8 tanks: 10, 4 x 20L, 2 40b and a 50. One 40 and ione 20L are divided in half. So far only 5/8 have fish.


The only thing you see in the pic besides the tanks and furniture that is permanetly out there is one 20 gal. Rubbermaid. everything else is bgought out there from other places and returned after the work is done. I use 80 feet of hose to fill the containers with water at temp. I need 100 gallons. I use 4 or 5 of the 5 gal. orange buckets as well.

And the water goes out the door


The white hose on the chair is part of the 80 foot run which uses two hoses/ On the table next to the red flashlight is the Eheim hobby pump and hose used to refill the tanks from the buckets.

Some of the fish that are in the tanks:

That's a nice set up.

Thanks

The problem is it is only good for a few months. The enemy is nightime low temps. I run at least 10wpg of heaters on the tanks, maybe a tad more. I can combat regular ovennight lows down to about 55F. If it is a one noight event I can go lower by covering the tanks in towels and blankets. So sometime in mid-May I set things up and get the bio-farm going to cycle the filters. Sometime in lat Sept or early OCt they have to be emptied of fish and shortly there after of water, decor and the sand,

It is a lot of work to do the weekly maint.since I have to use equipment ffrom other places where I have tanks. Two years ago was to be my final season of summer tanks. Covid stopped 2020. I did not do as many tanks last year and thought that was the last year. Bu my fish are prolific spawners and I have too many and am tying to move a lot of them out, including breeder stock. I also got screwed by the guy selling my fish retail. I have new sellers now and hope to never need the summer tanks again and to be retired from the hobby before the end of spring 2024 when I would turn 76.

You are working too hard. I hope you don't give it up completely. Maybe scale back to one or two tanks that are easily managed. I use one of those 44 gallon Brut containers as well. They are rated food safe and having water right at hand is nice. I don't miss that running back and forth to the tub with a bucket business at all.

Have you ever thought of just going to two 150g tanks? The larger the water mass the less fluctuation in temperature.

at that many tanks/work I would've gone with a drip system already...screw them buckets

A drip system is not possible there. The closest source for water at the needed temp. id 80 feet away. There is no plumbing at all on the terrace. To put in a drip system for temporary tanks would have run many $1,000s and probably would have required building permits for structural work.

And this for tanks which will only be up and running for about 4 1/2 months and then never again? I pump water into the buckets, I pump water out of the tanks and I pump the water in those buckets to refill the tanks. And for a drip system to work it requires that one either drill the tanks or get overflows for them all and there is another $500 or mor and more hopurs of work.

It takes me about 4 hours to set it all up, change the water and vac the tanks and refill them. The filters are all Poret foam cubefilters which only need to be cleaned very 3 or 4 weeks.

I live in a lovely house in the woods that was originally built to be used for weekend and summers and not as a full time family home. It has no basement, it has two buildings. My tanks are in both buildings and in four different rooms, five if you count the 8 on the terrace. Right now the total is 27 with 4 holding no fish yet but which are fully cycled and being kept that way and getting weekly water changes.

Those terrace tanks are there to hold fish for sale. I have a number of the pricey B&W Hypancistrus plecos from the Rio Xingu in Brazil which have been kind enough to spawn in my tanks. Those summer tanks make it easy to segragate the fish for sale so that every time I do not have to break down either a breeder or grow tank to nab fish.

Finally, there is the fact that I am retiring from the hobby and the goal is to reduce tank numbers to one by the start of 2023.

If you had all the tanks in the same room, you could insulate it to help reduce temperature fluctuation. Also the tanks would help keep each other warm.

Have you thought about insulating the actual aquariums with 2 inch thick sheets of polystyrene foam. Have foam under the base of the tank and on the back and 2 short sides. Have a decent coverglass on top and the temperature would be a lot more stable.

That room is designed to be a screened terrace. I would not gain much time by insulating the tanks and it would be a messy job. I have been doing this for many years. But over time it went from 3 tanks to 4 and then 5 etc. I should have been done with this but Covid changed everything.

All my tanks have glass tops. I have sufficient heats to handle nightime temps down to 55F/ The thing is, once they are regularly lower than that the daytime ones are working there way in the 60s. I do not want to be working out there in water when it is 60F.

Right now I have assorted rare pleco offspring and breeding groups to sell that likely number in the range of 350 to 400 fish. My well water seems to contain a natural fish aphrodisiac.

I forgot to post a picture of the one solid wall on the terrace where the tanks are.

Wow.
Speechless for now about your tank setup, but I love that sign in the last photo...

And, "lovely house in the woods" is most likely the biggest understatement I've read on the interweb today

You've earned a bountiful retirement, and have solid plans for it

Just don't become a stranger here, OK?

I am just getting too old to keep up with all the tanks physically. But I am sure I can continue to type long after this.

That was my sign when I would sell in the vendor room at weekend fish events. I gave that up a couple of years back as i had to start perparing a week ahead and then another two days to unpack on the return. I used to set up real tanks with cycled filters On the Thurdasy evening before the even stared the next day. Typically I had to turn of the lights and lock the room at 3:30 or 4 am when I finished.

The best part of those weekends was talking fish all day for over 3 days.

Wow! I'm a lot younger, and can't imagine all the work involved just in maintaining those summer tanks! You're doing incredibly, really. Reminds me of my father who is 85 now, but still tough and capable, and worked part time even into his 70s, just to have something to do it his time besides his hobbies and projects at home! He needs my help now, more so since breaking his hip, but he still does as much independently as he can. Your generation is a hardy and self-sufficient one!

Those plecos are incredible! Do you know how much they usually sell for, retail? I can see why you delayed retirement when those beauties breed for you.

I hope that you do keep one or two personal tanks, just for your own pleasure once you scale down the rest of them. I'd imagine it would be hard to go from having that many, to none. But only if they're fun for you and relatively easy to maintain of course. You've more than earned a retirement! I haven't interacted with you much before, but your reputation precedes you, especially here, and it's clear that you've contributed greatly to this hobby. Thank you for that, and I hope you continue to post here as well.

AdoraBelle Dearheart said:

Reminds me of my father who is 85 now, but still tough and capable, and worked part time even into his 70s, just to have something to do it his time besides his hobbies and projects at home! He needs my help now, more so since breaking his hip, but he still does as much independently as he can. Your generation is a hardy and self-sufficient one!

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Your dad needs to do weights to strengthen the muscles and bones so there is less chance of him falling over and less chance of breaking something if he does fall down. He will have more chance of getting up by himself if he does weights.

Everyone over 50 should be doing weights. They don't have to become Arnold Schwarzenegger but they need to have a stable muscle mass for the body to function properly. And weights strengthen bones and reduce the number of visits to the hospital or doctor.

Everyone, grab a 2 litre milk bottle and lift it as many times as you can in 10-15 minutes. If it feels too light, use more weight. Then do 20 squats. If you can only do 5 or 10, then do that. Build it up. Try to do 10 push ups each day and 10 sit ups. Build it up over time.

Get an exercise bike and peddle while watching television in the evening. You can watch the news while building and strengthening your legs. Strong legs means better balance and less chance of falling down.

Or, as an alternative have 27 tanks in two buildings and 5 rooms. Along with them have 8 x 5 buckets, 6 x 2.5 cal buckets and a bunch of equipment- pumps, hoses, trash cans, stepladders and a few hoses that add up to 100 feet that you roll out and then roll up when done.

Heck at this rate I could live forevery and in the end I will have changed about an ocean's worth of water......