Best way to heat a fish room

[itiwhetu]

I didn't know that I have all my air pumps in the fish room. I guess I should figure out how to move them out of the room

Don't run small air pumps invest in one big pump to drive the whole room. Don't run individual filters have all your tanks on air driven filters.

 

[Indyhobby]

Would the only place to find something like that be to buy it online?

 

[itiwhetu]

Would the only place to find something like that be to buy it online?

I used the old compressor from a refrigerator, then put the air through a Carbon and Dacron filter before feeding the air to the tanks, through a 13mm ring main with 4mm drops to the tanks. There are dozens of ways to do it depending on your budget.

 

[Indyhobby]

My budget is pretty low that's why I was hoping to make a little bit of money from breeding the fish

 

[itiwhetu]

My budget is pretty low that's why I was hoping to make a little bit of money from breeding the fish

Once you get more than about ten tanks most people will need to start to breed fish. The hobby becomes very expensive very quickly. Breeding the correct fish for your local market is then the next challenge.

 

[Colin_T]

I used to heat the bottom row of tanks with aquarium heaters and have a fan in the room to circulate the heat. My fish room wasn't well insulated and the tanks sat on 18C, which is what I had the heaters on during winter. If the heaters are set on a higher temperature, and the room is well insulated, you might be able to just heat a few tanks and they will warm the room.

Sealing up air gaps will make a huge difference to the warmth of the room. Even one tiny gap can let cold air in.

Most power consumption in fish rooms is the lighting. A couple of solar panels on the roof will help reduce the power bill, or install a skylight.

You can port air pumps to get more air out of them. You just use a drill to make the holes in the air chamber, bigger. Bigger holes means more air flow. More air flow means more air and a cooler pump. But they make a bit more noise depending on the pump and how much you port them.

 

[itiwhetu]

@Colin_T reminded me of something I only had lights on the celling between the tank stands. That provided enough light for the tanks. Then I had portable lights that I would move around tanks for observation.

 

[Indyhobby]

I also keep plants in a lot of my tanks but I just have the tank light on 4 hours a day the bill was pretty low until it started to get cold

 

[Indyhobby]

Besides that I usually just use the light through the window

 

[itiwhetu]

From my perspective a fish room is totally different than having a lot of tanks in a room. A fish room is a functional space to breed and sell fish from. So, it is a place for production, rather than observation.

 

[Indyhobby]

One reason I have plants is because apistogramma are much more inclined to breed in a planted tank and I also did the same thing with the rams don't know if it helps them though

 

[Colin_T]

I also keep plants in a lot of my tanks but I just have the tank light on 4 hours a day the bill was pretty low until it started to get cold

Insulate the base, back and sides of the tanks with 1 inch thick polystyrene foam sheets.

Have a coverglass on top of each tank to stop heat loss. Use glass that is 4-6mm thick because it is less likely to chip and crack compared to thinner glass (say 2-3mm).

If you have a window, make sure it is double glazed or put a 4-6 inch thick block of polystyrene foam in the window when the sun goes down. This will stop heat loss overnight.

Seal up the room to trap heat and the power bills shouldn't be too bad. But aquarium heaters do use power so the better insulated the tanks and room, the less power used.

Plants should have around 12 hours of light per day. If they get less than 8 hours of light per day, they won't be growing well. Your lights will also help warm the room so a well insulated room should warm up during the day when the tank lights are on.

 

[Indyhobby]

Insulate the base, back and sides of the tanks with 1 inch thick polystyrene foam sheets.

Have a coverglass on top of each tank to stop heat loss. Use glass that is 4-6mm thick because it is less likely to chip and crack compared to thinner glass (say 2-3mm).

If you have a window, make sure it is double glazed or put a 4-6 inch thick block of polystyrene foam in the window when the sun goes down. This will stop heat loss overnight.

Seal up the room to trap heat and the power bills shouldn't be too bad. But aquarium heaters do use power so the better insulated the tanks and room, the less power used.

Plants should have around 12 hours of light per day. If they get less than 8 hours of light per day, they won't be growing well. Your lights will also help warm the room so a well insulated room should warm up during the day when the tank lights are on.

I never thought of insulating the tanks themselves

 

[Indyhobby]

Thank you all for your help

 

[itiwhetu]

Thank you all for your help

Ask questions if you have any