fish house tips

[aberdeen aquarist]

woohoo, my wife has agreed to let me use the shed in our garden to keep fish or birds in!!!!
i was wondering if any of you have done this before and if you have any tips or advice on how to go about it?
all comments/advice will be gratefully received.

 

[ste2k3]

I have a 10'x10' fishhouse. you will need to insulate it with 2" polystyrene. as for tanks, you can either filter each tank seperatly or set up a centralised system. you can either heat each tank or space heat with an oil filled radiator.

you will need to tell us:

what size
what fish
and how you intend to filter/heat them.

 

[aberdeen aquarist]

its about 8ft by 6ft, i was going to space heat and use a hi blo air pump to run sponge or box filters. i'm not sure about the fish yet, most probably some tetras and dwarf cichlids. i will be using wood for the framework so i guess 2 x 2's or 2 x 4's will be called for. do you have to use a solid base like concrete or can you get away with wood?

i also want to have a few birds in there, do you think they will cause too much mess?

thanks for helping ste2k3.

 

[ste2k3]

firstly, i don't know anything about birds so I don't know if they would be ok. it will be quite dark and very hot and humid in there so if they can stand that, then they should be ok. the hi blow air pump will be ok. I would go for a concrete base. saying that, it depends on the weight of the tanks. the largest of my tanks will weigh over 5 tonns so I have a 8" concrete base reinforced with steel mesh. if you are only having small tanks like 2' etc etc, then you may get away with using wood. if you do use wood, make sure it is well reinforced. 2x2 timber will be fine for the stands.

remember: once you have insulated it, it will be smaller so make sure you include this in your plans.

 

[aberdeen aquarist]

ste2k3, hell i forgot about the humidity i guess i wont be keeping birds then this means i have to rethink the layout again
your tank must be huge if it weighs 5 tons!!!!!!!!
i did remember, the dims i gave earlier will be after insulating.
does your fishhouse cost a lot to run, do you breed enough fish to contribute towards it?

 

[ste2k3]

the electricity bill has gone up about £100 a year, BUT, I have about 500gallons of water being pumped, heated and filtered. a 2000watt oil filler radiator and a 5' reef in the house which has 150watt halides and loads of pumps etc.

I don't breed fish cos most of my fish are 2' catfish etc and oddballs although i have breed some juwel cichlids but I don't think I'll et enough to run my fish house.

it seems quite a lot just to run a fish house but hey, its only like paying membership fees to a golf club or something etc etc.

 

[cichlidmaster]

the electricity bill has gone up about £100 a year,

Geeeezzzzz..I need to move!!

My electric bill alone runs $200.00 - $300.00 a month!! My gas bill (heat in the winter) runs about the same per month.


CM

 

[KnuckleHead]

When building the walls 2x4s are they way to go. The insulation should be the highest R factor you can get your hands on. Dont cram the insulation in though as that will defeat the purpose. For sheet rock get the type called greenboard. This is used in bathroom type enviroments where high levels of moisture is expected. For the flooring wood will be fine. Place you floor joists 8 inches aprat to support the extra weight. Be sure to use pressure treated lumber as normal stock will warp heavily under the humidity. All of the above costs a little more then standard but will save your butt in the long run.

 

[ste2k3]

Cm- you have a lot more tanks than me though.

 

[aberdeen aquarist]

much more fun than golf anyway
oh god, now i can feel the wrath of golf lovers rising up against me!!!
thanks for your help everyone

 

[ste2k3]

LOL