FISH HOUSE

[quintessential]

HI EVERYONE,

I AM ABOUT TO MOVE INTO A NEW PROPERTY (400 yrs old, but new to me )

ANYWAY, I NOW HAVE THE OPPERTUNITY TO HAVE A VERY LARGE FISH HOUSE FOR BREEDING.
IT WILL BE ABOUT 20' X 15'.

I AM LOOKING FOR INFO ON THE BEST WAY TO SET IT ALL UP. ie. DO I HEAT THE WHOLE ROOM OR INDIVIDUAL TANKS?
DOES ANYBODY KNOW ABOUT LARGE FILTRATION SYSTEMS?
ARE THERE ANY KILLI FISH BREADERS IN THE NORTH WEST OF ENGLAND?
I HOPE TO START IN A MONTH OR SO , ANY HELP WOULD BE WELCOME.

THANKS.

 

[andywg]

I would definately advise on having a central filtration system (if possible drill all the tanks) to minimise on filter expenditure.

For this style of filtration do a search in pics and the betta forum for betta barracks - those people have essentially built mini fish houses - and then you can see how to control the return flow.

HIH

Andy

 

[Tolak]

Heat the entire room, it's cheaper than a bunch of electric heaters. Insulate well, and get a dehumidifier, along with providing some sort of ventilation to remove humidity, as this can cause a mold problem.

Break up the tanks into a few different systems, this helps to avoild a disease outbreak that can be spread to all the tanks. If 1 tank comes down with something, it gets spread to every tank in the system.

With many tanks, you want to set up some sort of automated water change system http/www.angelfish.net/yabbse/index.php?...y;threadid=2988
shows a nice system. Mods, please don't delete this link, this site is not in competition with TFF! Quintessential is looking at doing a big project here, if it were me (someday maybe I hope!) I would be looking for all the help I could get. Thank you!

Tolak

 

[BigC]

I used to live in the north (Bradford, white rose territory) I now live in Northern Ireland. I have built many a fish-house in the past each one superseeding the previous (learning by mistakes and adapting & incorporating new ideas) Pay particular attention to insulation the more the better. Incorporate more in the roof and build a sub floor and place some insulation under it as well. Once you've that sorted out you can then go on to address the heating aspect of the whole thing. If you have insulated well then you can space heat relatively cheaply using fan heaters coupled to thermostats. Even with this method your top teir tanks will be a few degrees warmer than the ones nearer to the floor, so you will have to choose your species to suit. For sucess in keeping and breeding killifish, water conditions are paramount and I would strongly suggest you buy some corrugated perspex sheeting and attach this to your fish-house roof. This will allow you to collect rainwater via guttering and into a water butt. This water can be mixed with tap water and tested to gain the right conditions for a particular species. I bred many a species using this method including some of the more demanding killis like Rivulus Xiphidius.
With that size of fish-house why not incorporate a pond, make a box from 2x2 and plywood and insulate this with polystyrene then add a pond liner (light blue allows you to see the fish rather than the normal black) I had these in my fish house, the ponds are excellent for growing fish on. Panel around the sides and top edges to make it look smart.
Another good idea is and air pump linked into a ring main. buy some 1" plastic overflow pipe and four plastic elbows. to fit inside your structure at roof level. place you pump a one end of your fish-house and drill and tap into the pipe using airline connectors and silicone. then you can bleed out anywhere in the main into your tanks. (Ideal when using sponge filters) Provision will also be needed for you foodstuffs ie: hatching brineshrimp. microworm,grindalworm etc,etc,etc. I have included just a few tips here. if you need any help on specific areas of Killi keeping please let me know.

 

[quintessential]

Thanks to all,

As I said at the moment I'm only collecting info, and all is welcome.

My passion is KILLI'S but there will be enough room for other fish also.

I went to price up a garage this weekend and I can get one 24ft x 15ft the down side of this is it will cost about £2,500 on top of this will be the concrete base and then of course the fitting out will be a few £££££, fortunateky I have a very understanding wife.

The thing is, with this kind of axpenditure I have to get it correct the first time.

When the time comes (soon I hope) I will post pics as I progress and make a story board from it so you can all join in and throw your ideas at me.

Bye for now...............Phil

 

[quintessential]

Just a small update.

The house purchase went belly up so I'm sick as a chip Looks like the long long wait for my first fish house just got longer.

 

[smithrc]

gutted for you

I'm collecting the materials for our 'shed' at the moment
Celatex for the floor waals and ceiling - wood for the walls etc.

Quite looking forward to having it setup - we've got 7 tanks for it and plans for breeding are already going mad

It'll happen soon enough - just hang in there.

(ours is only going to be 10x8)