Help building a fishroom!

[discus2010]

I am hoping to setup a fish room (wall). I have the basic idea of the stand it'll be 3 aquariums high, with a set of 20, 55, 10 i was wondering how to do the filtration and water changes semi automatic and do the plumbing without glass drilling

[BIGFOOT]

This subject will be interesting because i too want to know the answer to this one.

[Upper Canada]

I have seen advertisments for acrylic overflow boxes which might be an option for draining without drilling, however I have no direct experience with them.

I have attached some pictures previously posted under my fishroom post which illustrates a filter you could build and taylor to the number of gallons to be filtered. I don't know wether you are planning more than one system here or more. I will be glad to help you with the construction details.

I cannot help you with the auto w/c question, although I know some hobbyists have developed it for their use, the lucky devils.

Bob,

Upper Canada Discus

[Upper Canada]

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[Breadhead]

Great looking home made filter, one question though: Where are you having any aerobic filtration??? Looks like all your bioballs are covered with water??? I've been running sump filtration forever, and a mix of aerobic (water trickling through the bioballs) and anerobic (water covering bioballs) filtration was what I always felt was important. You don't have any issues?

Very curious....

[Timbo]

hi breadhead, anerobic is without oxygen, not water-covered

anerobic bacteria will never form in any numbers if they have flow-contact with water with oxygen, they only form to any extent in EXTREMELY low-flow conditions in a restricted flow chamber or deep in a gravel bed for instance, where the oxygen supply is extremely limited. the "exposed to air" bioballs are thought to assist off-gassing and nitrification, but for de-nitrification (conversion of nitrates) to occur, an absence of oxygen is necessary.

if he is doing good w/c's, an anerobic bacter base is unnecessary and even undesirable as it can form sulphates if not properly maintained, wc's take care of the nitrates. both of the "balled"chambers above are harbouring aerobic (nitrifying) bacteria...the last chamber with the glass (or ceramic) beads may have some anerobic bacteria formed in the tiny recesses of the media where there is not much flow, but they too are primarily aerobic populated

[discus2010]

You guys have succesfully managed to confuse me! I am about floating in space in the conversation so how exactly do those things work?Whaat exactly do they do?

[Upper Canada]

Hi Breadhead,

I am able to say that they (I have three seperate systems, each with the same type of filter) are working fine. As Timbo said, plenty of well water goes in every day, in fact I syphon before each feeding and add fresh water after they are fed. The filter you see services 840 gallons, seven 125 gallon tanks.

I have two five foot tall bio towers on another system with rotating spray bars which are filled with bioballs, and I talked to Oliver Lucanus about their use and he agreed that I proceed to fill them with water, ( by raising the outflow hose to the height of the ball level before dumping into the sump) which was my own preference.

The systems also contain Siporex, the one in the picture has 40 litres.

I would be open to further suggestions, and may make modifications down the road but everything is good and the fish are growing like never before and this is pretty simple, which I like.

Note, where the water enters the filter I have a fish net which contains filter wool that is replaced every night.

Timbo,

Thank you very much for your comments,

Bob,

Upper Canada Discus.

[discus2010]

Wait can someone who knows or has or had a fish room on a central filtration system In a step by step instructions commencing with
1. Deciding plan for Stand

????????????????????????????

[White Worm]

2010,,dont be too concerned or worried about every specific detail. You will learn in time by watching, reading and even having a private message with a few people. Its not neccessary to have all that because I have seen other very successful breeders not use all that confusing stuff.

As far as the design of the 3 20's,,are they going to be setup as breeders? Breeders sometimes do better when they are up higher. Same with QT tanks, the less disturbance, the better, jmo mike

[CAGE-RATTLER]

Check out all the fishroom links here to get some ideas.

http://forum.simplydiscus.com//showthread.php?t=39492

[Timbo]

hi again discus2010 :)

there are also pro's and con's to a central filtration system. Quarenteen tanks cannot, by definition, be hooked up to a central, also if there is a communicable pathogen in any of the tanks, it is possible to spread it to all. Cental filtration, in my humble o :), should be left to seasoned keepers such as Dave who are aware of the demands of such.

There is certainly an economy of scale that can be achieved via a central system if you have giga-gallonage to service, but for most of us with less than 1000 gal on the go, individually filtered tanks seem to be the norm.

Dave, I will have to look you up when i'm in T.O. next in February (if you are amenable to a visit:)), love to see your setup in person, the pics look great!

[Breadhead]

hi breadhead, anerobic is without oxygen, not water-covered


I appreciate that, however I'm not an idiot, I was trying to put it in colloquial terms.

aerobic - from the latin aeris: of the atmosphere with anaerobic being the converse, not of the atmosphere.

I guess I would argue that being submerged in water is an anaerobic environment, but agree that it would take slow current (and therefore Oxygen poor) for them to anaerobes to thrive.

Guess I always felt the "trickle" effect over biomedia was a better gas exchange and de-nitrification environment.

Guess we can agree to disagree....

[Timbo]

hi breadhead :)

yeah, literally the term means without atmosphere, but scientifically it means without oxygen and there is plenty oxygen in aquarium water

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anaerobic

or we can agree to disagree, i'm down with that :):)
Tim

[Breadhead]

well, just to keep the fun going...

From your link:

Anaerobic is a technical word which literally means without air, as opposed to aerobic. The presence or absence of air, or more precisely the presence or absence of oxygen in the air, affects various chemical and biological reactions.

One example is that wood which is totally immersed in water does not rot - rotting being a process requiring water and oxygen - see Seahenge.


Seems the example proved my point!!!

[Timbo]

or more precisely the presence or absence of oxygen

i believe it proves my point, but hey... :)

go to the next page on the site unbeliever!! <-- hehe, j/k

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anaerobic_organism


Anaerobic organism
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

An anaerobic organism or anaerobe is any organism that does not require oxygen for growth. Obligate anaerobes will die when exposed to atmospheric levels of oxygen

your turn, this fun :) later bro

[Breadhead]

One example is that wood which is totally immersed in water does not rot - rotting being a process requiring water and oxygen - see Seahenge.

Ok, logical synopsis: Wood totally immersed in water does not have water and oxygen and therefore cannot rot.

Hmm... water but no oxygen...



Obligate anaerobes will die when exposed to atmospheric levels of oxygen

Atmospheric!!! which is much higer (like an order of magnitude or two) more saturated with oxygen than regular ole' aquarium water.

[Willie]

When I was teaching microbiology majors at Ohio State University, anaerobic is defined as the absence of oxygen -- not air.

Willie

[Timbo]

mkay breadhead...you seem to stuck on that example (which doesnt have much to do with actual aquarium conditions)

lets try this then:

http://www.seasky.org/aquarium/aquarium_glossary.html

Anaerobic:
A lack of oxygen. Anaerobic zones in an aquarium are areas where no oxygen is present such as inside live rock or under sand or gravel. Anaerobic bacteria live in these areas where they transform nitrate into nitrogen gas. These areas can also produce hydrogen sulfide and other toxic substances.

http://www.aquadirectinfo.com/filter/nitrate.htm
[quote]Nitrates are left behind in most aquariums because the bacteria necessary to remove them are anaerobic, meaning 'oxygen phobic'. Since the aquarium water is well oxygenated, as is your wet/dry, undergravel filter or other biological filter system, these special bacteria do not grow.

pls let go go of the idea that anaerobic bacteria are present to any extent in a wet/dry or any other functioning filter..they will only function in a special low-flow chamber such as a denitrator <---which i tried for 4 months on my 7 year old 135 reef and found it ineffective to remove nitrates. (salt-water aquarists will often try a denitrator to save on the cost of sea salt used in wc's)

if youd like more examples...google is your friend :)

[Ax]

For person who started this thread, this is the no-drill overflow that works for me for water changes without drilling tanks. If you have money get Andrew Soh book - “Discus the naked truth” there is awesome information that will save you a lot of headaches –you will not regreaded..
The pic or the idea of overflow is not from that book, something I made with 1” PVC so there is no copyright issue just my experimenting.

[discus2010]

how exactly does that work though? i think i am going to see if i can get my aquariums drilled since it seems easier. But I'm still looking for a place where they could do it for me

[Ax]

The picture I draw is actually some what off, the nozzle should be in the water by 2” below the “T” for the overflow, this way when water in the tank rises the pressure blocks the easy way out and the extra will drain out from the overflow “T”. There always will be some water loss that way so predrilled tanks are always more efficient.

[CAGE-RATTLER]

For person who started this thread, this is the no-drill overflow that works for me for water changes without drilling tanks. If you have money get Andrew Soh book - “Discus the naked truth” there is awesome information that will save you a lot of headaches –you will not regreaded..
The pic or the idea of overflow is not from that book, something I made with 1” PVC so there is no copyright issue just my experimenting.



The picture I draw is actually some what off, the nozzle should be in the water by 2” below the “T” for the overflow, this way when water in the tank rises the pressure blocks the easy way out and the extra will drain out from the overflow “T”. There always will be some water loss that way so predrilled tanks are always more efficient.


So how does that help with water changes?

Isnt that more for a constant drip system or external filtration?

or did i miss something?

A line only 2 inches deep from the top certainly isnt going to drain a tank.

[Ax]

This is to fill only.
To drain I newer needed this, I use just a gravel Vac hooked up to the line under the tank, open valve and gravity douse the rest. The overflow "T" is hooked to the drain pipe too, to prevent overflow if you forget about your tank. I am in the process of bulding my setup and I used this on two tanks as a test. Works for me.

[CAGE-RATTLER]

This is to fill only.
To drain I newer needed this, I use just a gravel Vac hooked up to the line under the tank, open valve and gravity douse the rest. The overflow "T" is hooked to the drain pipe too, to prevent overflow if you forget about your tank. I am in the process of bulding my setup and I used this on two tanks as a test. Works for me.


Ok i got ya!

In other words ............ its an idiot proof fill tube ...... lol ..... for those forgetful moments.

[White Worm]

you would probably be wasting a considerable amount of water though. Maybe a seperate overflow on the back like that and the overflow returns through filter and back to holding tank. just a thought.

[SantaFeDiscus]

Discus2010-
I just had a central filtration system set up in my fish room. My fish room has slowly evolved. I have done away with that set up. What I can tell you is just after a few months of having a central filtration system every fish in that system had hole in the head. I had to change everything and medicate every fish. My experience with a central filtration went bad fast. I have now decided to only run heated, bubbled fresh water and avoid alowing water in one tank go into another. I'll keep you posted on how it comes out. I will probably post pics on my fishroom thread.
Fred

[White Worm]

I too have heard nothing but bad things about having central system. I know i wont have it when i set up fish room. Central fill but seperate drain (manual for each tank) with vacuuming and seperate from fill system. Too much damage can come from cross contamination.

[Ax]

I run hydro-sponges on the central air. This is only for water changes. Yes some water loss is there, but it’s only for non-drilled tanks, I am planning to upgrade most of my tanks in the future (3 year plan – it’s only a hobby:o ), so for now to me this is expectable and a cheap way to prevent flooding my basement (not sleeping in the garage:p ). Central filtration system can work from what I’ve seen, but it’s in no way should minimize WC with an exception of Water Recycling system (It includes: Ozone generator; Huge 1/5 volume of all your tanks – send filter with a backwash system, Bio filtration system, Sedimentation tank, Ozone mixing chamber and UV). For me this is not something average hobbyist can afford or have a room for.
Alex.

[ronrca]

Discus2010 and other inquisitive minds,
Check out the links in this thread for a lot of diy ideas to incorporate into your fishroom designs!
http://forum.simplydiscus.com//showthread.php?t=38891