Finally, a fishroom!

[GaryE]

Progress. The racks are mostly built and there are fish in the fishroom. Yesterday I brought over some killies - Aphyosemion dargei, citrineipinnis, biteniatum and ogoense. These fish don't have English names because they are not pet shop friendly - very few places sell them and they are available via hobbyist networks. It's just as easy to say "Aphyosemion dargei" as it is to learn "blue red and yellow stupendous showoff toothcarp". I just make the Latin English, in my head.

I've spent almost all of my life in very urban places - I grew up playing in alleys and seeing dirt as the messy stuff between the concrete. Yesterday, a herd of deer were feeding outside the fishroom window, and one of them was watching me work on the tanks through the window. It was alarmed at first, but then it just checked the level of activity out between bites of food. I'm pretty sure that if that deer had thumbs it would run a killieroom.

Thankfully, I do have a cement floor in the fishroom, so I can feel closer to my natural habitat as I adjust to the new place.

Yesterday was really warm, at around 12c, and today should be the same as soon as the fog burns off. It's nice not to need a jacket. It is odd to have the fish area in a separate building. The neighbours came over to say hello as my endless ferrying of 10 gallon tanks between house and garage amused them.

My next issue to sort out is the windows. I am going to have to see what this does with algae. I have 3 windows to deal with - ideal for fish colours as long as the glass isn't coated, and fantastic for plants. But the effect on the tanks remains to be seen.
Hey, I've only had fish in there for 16 hours now.

 

[Colin_T]

Yesterday, a herd of deer were feeding outside the fishroom window, and one of them was watching me work on the tanks through the window. It was alarmed at first, but then it just checked the level of activity out between bites of food.

The deer were thinking "Damn fishkeepers, there goes the neighbourhood"

Yesterday was really warm, at around 12c, and today should be the same as soon as the fog burns off. It's nice not to need a jacket.

LOL, I know that feeling. When I was on the street I was wearing a pr of jeans and long sleeve shirt during winter and it was 3C at night and 14C during the day. Everyone else was wearing jackets, gloves, beanies, etc, and saying it's so cold. But the body adapts and gets use to the hot or cold and I was walking around in jeans and a t-shirt when it was 7C.

 

[Wills]

Any updates to this Gary? Would love to see some photos too.

Wills

 

[Back in the fold]

How big is your linear piston pump ? Does just one run all your needs ? Do you run it off a manifold or what ?

 

[GaryE]

Yup, a manifold and the pump is at 67lph at 1.5 psi - a Jehmco 60. I'll get some pictures up.

Right now, the level of insulation is backfiring, and I need to reduce the heat a bit. The sun through the windows has my tanks at 23, and I'm aiming for 21. Adjustments. I was concerned about winter, and Spring/summer ambushed me.

I have to modify my window screens because of bears, bobcats and raccoons wandering around. The guy next store figures they might notice the smell of the fish and the raccoons or bears might have a go at the screens. It's an easy fix, but this boy from the City is learning stuff. It could be tall tales, but I'm used to different predators where I come from. There was a bear ambling around 5 minutes' walk from here yesterday.

No one's writing "Winnie the Pooh and the Rainbowfish" on my watch.

 

[GaryE]

Slow but steady movement. I posted a thread about greenwater, which had the magic effect of making the water that wouldn't go green turn green 2 days later. So I now have a food source for my Daphnia moina I bought eggs of online. I can see a few hopping around in their tank, and I hope they can breed themselves into a decent number as a year round food source. My Daphnia pulex, which I culture outdoors, are going into their tubs today. They have been a food source in other set ups, from May to September. They have to be sheltered from the summer heat, and I couldn't find a local source so I'm late this year.

My whiteworm cultures are also finally producing. They took a long time to rebound with the new place, but I can now offer the worms and live artemia, soon to be supplemented with the Daphnia.

I have one tank full to bursting with Melanotaenia boesmani Aytinjo juvies, and another with a good but not as successful group of Glosslepis wanamensis, about 2 weeks younger. It's good to secure my rainbow populations, but I still have hardly any killies producing. They like steady temperatures and things have been moving between 21 and 24 here.

I've decided one rack has to move - I like making changes that I think are clever but that probably aren't. Other projects, short term?

1. Get the killies producing eggs.
2. Increase window security as raccoons and a bear have been around, and I'm told they find the smell of fish very attractive. I want to be able to leave the windows open at night in the dead of summer. so bars it will be.
3. Start aquascaping, tank by tank. I need to get some guppy grass and java moss.
4. Start preparing so that when it warms up and I wouldn't need heaters, I can try breeding some tetras. My water is very soft, but I can also rig up a rain barrel. I'm a bit concerned about salt in the air and rain, as I am only a few hundred metres from the ocean, and can see it from one of my fishroom windows.
5. Go for more longer walks and short hikes since every beach around here seems to have different rocks. I recently found an erosion collapsed cliff with chemically neutral rocks broken into tall thin sharp slabs. The sea hasn't softened the edges yet and they are going to look very good in tanks.

 

[GaryE]

Making progress.
Here are a few shots of my folly. I estimate it'll take 2 years to get it to where I want in terms of plants and systems.
The green tank is on purpose - daphnia food.
Each 10 gallon/40 Litre houses a pair of killifish. Groups of killies I've bred are in 20 gallon, 80L tanks. The larger tanks house a variety of other fish.

The sound system is ancient, and was resurrected from exile deep in storage. Hooked up to a desktop, it is a positive in this man's cave. Fish and music? They go together for sure.

 

[Colin_T]

your fishroom is bigger than my entire unit

 

[GaryE]

your fishroom is bigger than my entire unit

It is larger than some apartments I lived in earlier in life. Housing where I am now is not expensive, which is a reason we moved here for retirement. I'm on the outskirts of a once thriving industrial port city, after most of the industry was shut down. It seems once you get to the edges of towns here, almost every place has a large garage/outbuilding/shed that people fill with junk. This one was crammed with broken home appliances the previous owner intended to repair some day. Some of them are simply crammed with mouse droppings and spiders. They never seem to be used as garages.
The temptation to build a room inside and insulate it was just too much. A good roof, outside insulation, double paned windows. If the wife throws me out I have a home.
I'm in culture shock, as a guy from inner city crowding for a chunk of my life. Tomorrow I'm going to buy metal bars for the windows since 3 out of the 4 neighbours who have looked it over have noted that if bears smell the fish and I have windows open at night in summer, I will have problems. "That sounds reasonable" seems to have shifted in my world now. I have black bears, bobcats, raccoons, skunks, herds of deer, coyotes and probably moose and sasquatches in the wooded areas around the back. This is a long way from alley cats and rats....

 

[Lynnzer]

Totally jealous but you can keep the bears, bobcats et al.
My small spare bedroom with 5 tanks in it, and a 6th doing a dry grow cycle for plants, looks minute against yours.
If you could get a Twitch livestream going so people can watch the activity in the room, I'll be watching for certain.

 

[Back in the fold]

What a great fish room ! Just as an FYI , small black bears can eliminate a car window with one swat so don't skimp on your bear proofing.