New fish room project.

[Discus-Hans]

Okay, tomorrow the landlord will do the last cleaning and some changes in the building and it will be:

Let the games begin..........

Last week we got the tanks in so let's start the pictures.

The truck
Half empty (was a little late with the camera)
All tanks inside
My friend Pat took some time off to help (Thanks Pat)

Hans

[Discus-Hans]

btw. total that came in for the new part:

120 x 20 gallon
50 x 65 gallon with divider

All tanks drilled,

Hans

[Darren's Discus]

Hans,
looks like some fun coming your way,If you did'nt live in the wrong part of the world i'd be round to help !:D



cheers

[fishmama]

This will be an interesting thread to follow! Thanks for sharing...looking forward to more!

[AADiscus]

Looks like you are gonna have alot of fun playing with those new tanks. Did you ever get our bn's?

[thang45]

120 x 20gal. That is a lot of tanks, I wish I could do something like that. :)

[Kenny's Discus]

Hans, looks like a nice project is on the way. All the best to you.:)

Kenny

[paletka]

Hi,
looks like a very nice project. All the best to you and good luck.

Chris

[Elite Aquaria]

Hans,

Looks like a lot of fun...20 gallon tanks...humm...plan on breeding a few fish with this fish room...;)

Good luck and thanks for sharing the progress.

[phidelt85]

Wow, that's a lot of freakin' tanks. Keep us updated; will be fun to watch the progression.

[Discus-Hans]

Thanks friends.

Darren, yeah yeah easy talking now you're safe on the other side of the World lol lol

Moik, the 20 gallons are for pairs, but not for breeding. We get in our sales tanks a lot of pairs/eggs, but I never had the time or space to put them in their own tank to see or they are REAL pairs. We get a lot of requests for pairs and now I can give them their own tank so we can guarantee and sell 100% pairs.
This is not the only reason, it's also a kind of back up.
Let me first say NO we have no intention of breeding our own, simply because we've don't have the time to breed Discus.
But we saw ,I think it was 2 years ago, that nobody all the sudden was not allowed anymore to bring goldfish in. If that ever happens to Discus, we've our pairs here.

Angela ??? OUR ?? no idea?? or did you mean YOUR in your post??
If so, I can get them anytime from a breeder/wholesale (he has 10,000 in stock at the moment) but I wanted to see or a hobbyist wanted to make some money. But till now, not many reactions.

Hans

[Discus-Hans]

By the way, a little side note here.

Maybe nobody noticed but I've asked Al to remove me as a sponsor of the forum. At the moment I start to notice that people start to use the forums as a kind of black mail to get things done.

The last one was that a customer of one of my dealers, 1 hour after he/she received the Discus he/she send an email to my dealer and I quote:

I want a full refund or a full credit for these Discus. I will if not satisfyed put this out to the forums I am a member of.

From now on, and let that be clear, emails like that don't get a reply anymore from me or my dealers. I'm willing to discus any problems but in an adult way, I stay behind my Stendker Discus AND my dealers, always have and always will.

I first didn't want to post on the forum at all anymore, but I will be posting in this thread and in this thread only.

By the way, 24 hours later after the Discus settled in the customer admit that he/she jumped the gun and made excuses so after all this all was over nothing.

And Al if you need help or anything else you've my phone number, don't let this post scare you to call me :p

Hans

[brewmaster15]

LOl Hans,

Best of luck with the hatchery addition....I'll be watching along in earnest.... maybe pick up a few tips along way...

Take care,
al

[Discus-Hans]

Okay this was my packing table and packing water storage, it's moved to the new part, so set~up can start.

[Discus-Hans]

When I've to cut a lot of the same size, I make "stops" on my table to cut everything at the same size.

[Discus-Hans]

I've to make a lot of the same frames, to make it easier to put them together I make blocks on the table so every part of the frame is put together in the blocks, only thing I've to do is drill the holes and put screws in. Works a lot easier and faster with only 2 hands lol

[Discus-Hans]

All screws in and lift the frame out. done and nexttttttttttt

[Discus-Hans]

The same I do with the "legs" from the set up. All legs have to be the same and the blocks were the frames rest on have to be on every leg at the same position. I make a stop (the end that rests on the floor) and make two blocks on the table were the block has to come on the leg, think the pictures make it clear lol

[Discus-Hans]

Stud over the positioned blocks, drill hole, screws in and ready, nexttttt

[seanyuki]

Wow another big project for you and just by cleaning those new
tanks takes hours/days. Thanks for sharing those photos.
You really have changed the Discus World.

Cheers
Francis

[Discus-Hans]

Not much pictures today, lot work done although it doesn't show lol
Start on the rack, tried to fit the tanks and......YES I figured it out right lol they fit.

[Jason]

Lookin' good Hans:) If I can make a suggestion though, you should put something under the legs so the wood isnt sitting on the cement wicking up water, I use bricks or hockey pucks.

got any pics of a silver pigeon snakeskin?

[Discus-Hans]

Thanks Jason.

Don't like the bricks under it, makes it harder to vacume under the racks, liked the puck idea. Looked for hockey pucks, no were to get, out off season.

We don't get much water on the floor, only with catching Discus, I checked the "old" legs after 3 years no problem at all, so those will be on the floor too.

Didn't get much done this week, to freaking busy packing Discus.

Only got the "box" ready for the filter system, Friday, Saturday and Sunday will be better, no shipping only a few pick up customers.

[discusbananas]

Wonderful,keep up the good work,I hope to be starting a new fish room in 6 months time.BTW how many tiers will this be?

[mench]

Sweet,now for sure we will have to put you down for a "Road Trip"....Yea you have heard that before,but now that the docs have got my old self back on track you will be getting a visit..and my bud Gary has been bugging me to go down to visit you LOL.
Good luck with your project and great idea about the pairs..
Mench

[Discus-Hans]

Bananas, normally we go 2 tiers high because we've to catch from the tanks all the time. This rack (I make 2 of those) are for 20 gallon tanks for pairs. Those will be filter system at the bottom, and 3 tiers with tanks, the top row is a little high but we don't have to work in those every day.

Mench.................I believe you when I see you lol


Hans

[Kenny's Discus]

Hey Hans, very very impressive setup and racks as always. :) If I can build like you I would have gone 5 tiers high lol...

Again thanks for sharing Hans.:)

Kenny

[Discus-Hans]

Kenny if you ever need help, tell me and we work something out.
Find a local club who need a speaker, I do a talk, stay a little longer and help you on your way lol lol

Okay, today worked on the filter liner (was more work as I thought to get it in in the way I wanted, put the rack in position and put some tanks in to check the sizes of the pipes needed,

Hans

[Wahter]

Hans, please hang onto those photos and notes - I'm trying to get the local fish club's people to invite you down here again (this year, we're at a different location - hopefully it has more warm water... none of that cold, brown stuff you had to fight with last time) and I'm sure people would be more than interested in seeing the progressive stages of setting up your fish room.

Looking forward to seeing more photos as you continue to make some of us jealous! :)



Walter

[Discus-Hans]

Walter, I try not to do that many shows with the set up anymore, the fights and stress we had (beside the fun) with water, transportation, loosing shipping days etc. I'm willing to get in my car/air plane to go to a show with my CD and do a talk, take some show Discus with me for in the show that's it.
I think the ACA in Atlanta will be one of the last big set ups (because I promised Ken to do it) so TALKS YES, Set~up no.

Moik, all holes in the tanks are 1 3/4" for a 1" bulk head, the 1" pipe goes directly in a 1 1/2" pipe down to the filter, those pipe are all vertical so water is going straight down.
I wouldn't work with a 3/4" one, my other set up (main room) has 65 gallon tanks, each tank has 2 x 1" over flow going over in a 2" horizontal pipe (so 10 x 1" on one 2" pipe) this works.
I think a 3/4" pipe doesn't handle the water flow if you put the water a little faster INTO your tank.

Hans

[LizStreithorst]

Moink, Your questions are not a derailment. I think that this is one reason why Hans posted the thread in the first place. To my non-expert mind, your system should work. But Hans is an expert on these things.

[markstr]

First off Very Nice Hans Overall I think.....
I have a question on the Design of the Racks:
I see your using small pieces of 2 x 4 with a couple of screws to hold up the actual shelving
for the tanks. Do you find this Structurally able ?? Tremendous amount of weight once
all the tanks are on it. I've seen a few people going this route but that would be my most concern in this situation. Suggestion if I may: How about where the main posts are,
slapping up an additional piece of 2 x 4 and each shelving rests on that. Therefore the weight is transferred down to the ground. ( I have pictures indicating this procedure since I probley didn't really explain good LOL!! ) Just my 1.5 cents !!

[Discus-Hans]

Moik, every chain is as strong as the weakest link.

I think your 3/4" bulk head will be the weakest link here.

Like I said, my "old" 65's are all drilled for 1" bulk heads (2 holes each tank) with 1" pipe, 5 tanks with 2 holes each end up in a 2" main pipe. This works for me.

If I was you, I would take at least a 1" bulk head, why take the risk for a few $$ on bulk heads.

In the picture you can see the pipes from the tanks going to the filter system.

Sorry I didn't put a shirt on for the picture but I was working (good excuse?? :angel: )

Hans

[Discus-Hans]

Mark,

the little "blocks" are hold with 2 screws but the the shelving are also attached with 4 screws to the legs again.

My whole "old" part of the fish house is build this way (100 x 65 gallon tanks) they are in function now for all most 3 years and doing fine.

I think I know what you mean, insted of a block like I did, make a piece from one shelve to the next one on the inside of the leg so they all rest on each other.

Thought about that, but that didn't work for me because that piece would be between the tanks and I don't like that much space between the tanks. BTW all the shelvings are connected together (horizontal) so say for 5 tanks it's on compleet "block"

Hope this was what you mean,

Hans

[Discus-Hans]

Okay today was "pipe" day.

Made the first one by hand and after it was the way I wanted I took a piece of 2x4 and marked the positions of the 1" pipes that go into the tanks, drilled holes and put a bulk head in. Because my racks are all the same, also my pipes have to be the same. All I could test on the piece of 2x4.

[Discus-Hans]

27 tanks are now in the rack with the over flows connected.

Half way for this rack lol

Hans

[Discus-Hans]

All tanks are in, drains installed no much to see on new pics.

Took some pics of those who are going to end up in those 20 gallons lol

[Discus-Hans]

few more

[Discus-Hans]

last, got from all of those a few pairs lol

Hans

[alpine]

In post #39 , how much room you leave between top of tank and lower part of 2 X 4 on top ?
thanks,
roberto.

[Discus-Hans]

Hello, Hans .What was that box you built under all the 20 gal tanks? The one with the rubber membrane. Please explain and you know we love pictures here. Thanks Buddy

Vince, that is going to be my filter system.

Hans

[Discus-Hans]

In post #39 , how much room you leave between top of tank and lower part of 2 X 4 on top ?
thanks,
roberto.

Roberto,

I've every were old + new set up +/- 7" between the tanks and the 2x4

Hans

[Discus-Hans]

First water in the filter system, no leaks, all though till I left, will see tomorrow morning lol
No filter material yet, still on the boat in the container :(

[Discus-Hans]

Today pump and gluing valves, no hands left.

Water comes from under the filter to the pump, pump puts the water up trough a 1 1/2" pipe. Red valve to tanks, close red valve and open black (if the pipe is connected lol and water goes to the drain) At the top they go down in 1/2" pipe with 3 valves each.

[Discus-Hans]

next

[Discus-Hans]

Time for the glass tops, I have to cut from every one a small corner for the intake, because I've to do a "few" I set it up as shown in picture, goes pretty fast.

[Discus-Hans]

Put them together, on the tank and nexttttttttt,

Hans

[Fons_van_der_Hart]

That's good looking...

It looks like you're building this new rack in the "old" part of the building. Are you gonna keep all the tanks in this part or are both parts gonna be filled?

[phidelt85]

Looks great, Hans! Thanks for the detailed walkthrough; it's very helpful. I have a question. The black valve is the fill correct at the tank? The overflow is the large 1-1/2" bulkhead in the center back of the tank? Do you think your fill is too close to the overflow such that you will have more water going straight from the fill line into the overflow due to its close proximity? Would it not be better to fill on the opposite end of the overflow so you have a flow through system? I'm just asking? :D

[Discus-Hans]

Fons this rack with 20's are in the "old" room were my packing table used to be.

At the other side of the wall in the new room comes a rack like this (only 9 tanks more) and 5 racks with 65's and 75's.

Jose, you're correct only the bulkhead is a 1" overflow. The water comes in fast enough to mix with the tank water. The pump is a 5,000 gallon/hour : 54 x 20 gallon tanks = +/- 100 gallon an hour each tank, means 5 times an hour the whole tank, I think they will get some filtered water lol

I first wanted to put the intake (the black valves) at the front but at first it didn't look nice (lol) and they are in your way with cleaning the tanks, so I put them in the back,

Hans

[phidelt85]

You got it covered. ;) Thanks for the response.

[StryfeMP]

Thanks for sharing this detailed thread on the new part of your place, it is truly inspirational. It's amazing to see how it all comes together. If you don't mind me asking, what kind of filtration is the lower part for, the pond liner covered one? I understand it's going to be a centralized filter, yes? What's going to go in there?

[Discus-Hans]

I'm waiting for a container to come in from Germany with Filter foam.
The whole filter at the bottom will be filled with filter foam, under the filter foam will be Coca Cola crates, you know those red ones you get with 8 x 2 liter bottles, I will put those up side down at the bottom of the filter system to get an "open space under the filter foam,

Hans

[StryfeMP]

Thanks for the quick reply. Is the filter foam going to be acting as a HUGE biological filter?

[Discus-Hans]

Thanks for the quick reply. Is the filter foam going to be acting as a HUGE biological filter?


Yes one big central system for that set up, 54 tanks.

Hans

[pete321]

Why did you not drill through the bottom of the tanks?
Would this not have been easier? Less pipe work.

[Dkarc@Aol.com]

Very nice Hans. Will you be using softer water to "test" each pair to make sure they are fertile/confirmed pairs??

-Ryan

[StryfeMP]

YOU the man! I hope that maybe someday I would be able to come and visit your place and see all the glory in person. Keep up the good work and hopefully one day I could change the world of something, just like you've changed the discus world, haha. :D

[Discus-Hans]

Why did you not drill through the bottom of the tanks?
Would this not have been easier? Less pipe work.

I always had my tanks drilled at the top, no pipes in the tank, remember this is a whole sale, I've no time to please ask the Discus don't hide behind the pipe so I can't catch you.
No heaters, no pipes nothing in the tanks that can hold up catching Discus.



Very nice Hans. Will you be using softer water to "test" each pair to make sure they are fertile/confirmed pairs??

-Ryan

Ryan, tap water is at the moment 100ppm they breed every were like rabbits, we made those separated tanks to stop the fighting.
Only today 4 batches of fry were eaten by the rest of the adults in the tank.



YOU the man! I hope that maybe someday I would be able to come and visit your place and see all the glory in person. Keep up the good work and hopefully one day I could change the world of something, just like you've changed the discus world, haha. :D

ha ha ha THE MAN is only a title for a day :angel: I've seen in the years I'm on the forums that title going to many people but still.....Thank You.
If the new part is ready we will have an Open House but only by appointment,

Hans

[Discus-Hans]

Didn't get much done last days before the weekend because we were to busy shipping out, but set up 1 is running,

Look who's back for a while to help his Dad??????

and Set up 2 is on the go,

Hans

[Discus-Hans]

Sorry, not much posting lately, little busy.

2nd rack is up, only pipes from pump to tanks and this one is up and running too. Only 6 racks to go lol lol

Hans

[StryfeMP]

Since "You are the man" seems played out then well, you're my idol. :)

[alpine]

The racks look GREAT !! great work. Now , who is keeping all those tanks mantained .... just thinking about all the work needed..and I think I have a lot to do in my small fishroom : )

roberto.

[Discus-Hans]

Stryfe, Thank you.

Roberto,
me, myself and I and I get my help now and than.
Don't forget I got my 700 little workers lol lol

Hans

[midazolam]

Stryfe, Thank you.

Roberto,
me, myself and I and I get my help now and than.
Don't forget I got my 700 little workers lol lol

Hans

Do you have to vacuum the tanks or do your plecos take care of that?

[StryfeMP]

lol 700 little workers... you get a hold of all of them plecos yet?

[Discus-Hans]

Looks great. Love to see it all filled up with fish. Do I see an empty shelf up top of the racks? Just kidding,LOLOLOLOL

There is an empty shelf lol but I first have to find a rolling steps, like they use as Lowe's and Home Depot, maybe if it's high enough.......you never know with me :angel:



Do you have to vacuum the tanks or do your plecos take care of that?

We vacume the tanks only once a week, the rest the pleco's take care of..........anybody looking for some pleco's 10" and up up and up lol have +/- 95 of them




lol 700 little workers... you get a hold of all of them plecos yet?

I get next week the first 600 Bristle nose in, those are going to be "one big mean breeding machine". A commercial breeder told me how to do it so probably if we have the Discus market covered we start with the bristle noses lol lol lol 1 trio/quartet 400-500 fry a month let me see that's..............a lot lol

Hans

[Kenny's Discus]

Hans, did you accidentally build my tanks on your racks as well lol?:D Man there's one huge project but the best part is they looked great and so neat. And Hans my friend please don't tap into my bristlenose market my first ever BN pair just laid eggs LOL...:D j/k

Good luck buddy all the best! Those are some awesome stuff.

Kenny

[Discus-Hans]

Kenny I hope to get one or two pairs out of those 600 lol

Btw. those are only the first 2 racks of the 8 total we have to build,

Hans

[dishpanhands]

I wouldn't be able to handle that set up...LOL...It would take me all day just to do one rack..and that makes the math wrong..one rack a day times 8 equals more then a week...LOL


How do ya do a WC?

[Discus-Hans]

I wouldn't be able to handle that set up...LOL...It would take me all day just to do one rack..and that makes the math wrong..one rack a day times 8 equals more then a week...LOL


How do ya do a WC?

ha ha ha ha ha Dishpan, the 8 are only in the new part, I've 10 racks in the old too lol lol

I do water changes on the filter system, the pump gets the water from the filter system at the bottom of the rack and pumps it back into the tanks.
In the pipe to the tanks is a T , one goes up the rack to pump the water back into the tanks, the other T part goes to the drain, open and close 2 valves and the water goes to the drain.
Fill up the filter system again, switch the valves and water change done. The filter system is +/- 25% of the total in each rack.

Takes me hmmmmmm 10 minutes the rack???? and .....I can do a few at the same time. It has to be easy I run the place by myself.

Hans

[aquagal]

Hans--

I'm trying to breed some BN. Can you share what the breeder told you about getting them to spawn?

THanks!

[Discus-Hans]

Aquagal, first want to see or it really works before I make a fool of myself lol

Hans

[aquagal]

sounds good. But, is it that strange?

[kaceyo]

Hanz,
Something tells me you're about to make liers of all those people who say you can't make a prophet breeding discus in the US. LOOK OUT!!!
Can't wait to see it in action.

Kacey

[Discus-Hans]

Hanz,
Something tells me you're about to make liers of all those people who say you can't make a prophet breeding discus in the US. LOOK OUT!!!
Can't wait to see it in action.

Kacey

Not true Kacey, I always told if you want to do it and want to make a living it has to be BIG, 5-600 pairs and than you can do it.
But like I told, we are not going to breed, all Discus bought from me are bred by the Stendker brothers in Germany.

Hans

[discusraja]

Dear Hans

your fish room project is fantastic. What is the size of the wood you used for the rake. I want all wood size only. I want to make small one for my discus about 6ft long and 4ft height and 18" inch width just two tiers. all the mesurement of the rake wood will help me. :o

[Discus-Hans]

Dear Hans

your fish room project is fantastic. What is the size of the wood you used for the rake. I want all wood size only. I want to make small one for my discus about 6ft long and 4ft height and 18" inch width just two tiers. all the mesurement of the rake wood will help me. :o

Raja,

I used for everything 2x4" studs

Hans

[kaceyo]

But like I told, we are not going to breed, all Discus bought from me are bred by the Stendker brothers in Germany.

Hans
I know, all those tanks are for pairs to be sold. But can you have so many breedable pairs and still resist breeding some of them? I know I couldn't. ;)

Kacey

[Discus-Hans]

I know, all those tanks are for pairs to be sold. But can you have so many breedable pairs and still resist breeding some of them? I know I couldn't. ;)

Kacey

Kacey,

never ran a Discus whole sale before????? :) :) :) :)

Believe me you don't want to mess with growing fry.

At the moment we are trying to go down a few days to Florida for a short break, we are so loaded with orders I can't get away, we are pushing the date forward.

The first two racks are running and we just framed 3 of the other 6 I need, can't get it ready, planning was everything up and running end this week but it's not going to happen.

For the fry that will come out of the pairs, we probably (is the plan) will donate them to Aquarium clubs when they are on shipping size to grow them and sell them in their auction.
Most will not know but we sponsor a lot of clubs in different ways.

Hans

[Kenny's Discus]

Hans, you're a generous man I already knew my friend.:) Btw I want to buy your only pair of ABN(s) out of your 600 so that I can stop you from breeding them LOL...:D

Don't work too hard buddy and all the best to you.:)

Kenny

[dishpanhands]

At the moment we are trying to go down a few days to Florida for a short break, we are so loaded with orders I can't get away, we are pushing the date forward.

That sounds like me I had planes to be there already myself, but a couple weeks ago just before I was going to go we had one of our water mains bust and that caused a bunch of other leaks in the system. we had a boil water advisory for days here. Now the water I get. the fish just don't seem to like. not sure whats going on and I can't leave it to my helper to take care of. I hope things stable out soon..

[Discus-Hans]

Dishpan,

as far as my info goes, after a bust they repair and flush the system with something chemical ("safe" for people, nasty for our fish)
Most of the time a carbon filter will take out most problems.
But that's some info I got from "not fish people"


Hans

[midazolam]

Sorry to bug you again Hans, but I'm intrigued by your set up. Its amazing.

What exactly is the liner you used for the filter and where did you get it?

Thanks!

[Discus-Hans]

You don't bug me, if I didn't want to be bugged, I wouldn't post it :D
hope to help at least a few out with this info.

It's a rubber based pond liner, I buy it from a whole sale but every Pet shop can order it for you. It comes from Royal Pet and it is produced by Firestone, good stuff.


BYE !!!!!! to everybody for a few days (8-10 not sure yet) if you want to talk to me........I'm at the Fishing pier in Naples Florida from Friday till I go home lol lol

Hans
443 992 6972

[midazolam]

You don't bug me, if I didn't want to be bugged, I wouldn't post it :D
hope to help at least a few out with this info.

It's a rubber based pond liner, I buy it from a whole sale but every Pet shop can order it for you. It comes from Royal Pet and it is produced by Firestone, good stuff.


BYE !!!!!! to everybody for a few days (8-10 not sure yet) if you want to talk to me........I'm at the Fishing pier in Naples Florida from Friday till I go home lol lol

Hans
443 992 6972

Thanks Hans, travel safe!

[truc_tuyen]

Han,

Would you ever consider to re-open your door for public visit? It is sad that I live near by but do not have the ticket to see the place.

Truc

[Discus-Hans]

Okay we are back, that is......back for a while now, was great fun & nice warm in Florida and FREAKING cold to be back.

When we came back we had "some" catching up to do on shipments, still working on that, did some things in the new part with my son but not much.
Brian is back to Holland so I'm on my own again with the project.

The 2 racks with 20 gallon tanks are running, 4 other racks are build, working on the filter systems, 2 more racks to go.

We put a few pairs in the 20 gallon tanks (35 pairs till now) to see if the are happy in there before we move the rest in.

Looks like they do okay lol,

Hans

[Discus-Hans]

some more.

Truc, we probably will have "an open house" once a month (by appointment only) in the new part when it's ready,

Hans

[AADiscus]

Hans, you just amaze me! ;)

[Discus-Hans]

Angela, my dear, how did I amaze you ?? :D

Hans

[Kenny's Discus]

Hans, those are some very, very impressive setup and pairs!:thumbsup: You're the man buddy!

All the best to all the new spawns, you might need to build another warehouse to house 2000 more tanks for the frys!:p

Kenny

[Chinaman]

Hi Hans,

if you get a chance can you post more pictures on the construction of the filter?

thanks

Jim

[RockHound]

Greetings Han’s,

All I can say is AMAZING fish room.
Not to mention absolutely great Discus.
I, to am interested in how the filter works/functions.
Hope to hear/see more about it.
Thanks.........;)

[Elite Aquaria]

Hans,

You were down in Florida and did not come and visit...:(

Oh well I guess that means I will need to make an appointment to visit you when the room is finished...

Fantastic set up...I am also amazed at all you have done.

[Discus-Hans]

Hans, those are some very, very impressive setup and pairs!:thumbsup: You're the man buddy!
All the best to all the new spawns, you might need to build another warehouse to house 2000 more tanks for the frys!:p
Kenny

Kenny, I'm not planning on keeping the fry for grow out, it's only to prove the pairs we are selling ARE pairs.
I'm the importer of Stendker Discus and that is what we will keep on doing and selling. Maybe one of these days we can do some tests how small I can ship the fry to you.


Hi Hans,

if you get a chance can you post more pictures on the construction of the filter?

thanks

Jim

Jim, I'm planning to do some building again tomorrow, will try to make some pictures of it.


Greetings Han’s,

All I can say is AMAZING fish room.
Not to mention absolutely great Discus.
I, to am interested in how the filter works/functions.
Hope to hear/see more about it.
Thanks.........;)

Thanks Rock.

see above


Hans,

You were down in Florida and did not come and visit...:(

Oh well I guess that means I will need to make an appointment to visit you when the room is finished...

Fantastic set up...I am also amazed at all you have done.

Dan, we tried to keep this break without any fish, only ones we wanted to see were those at the end of my fishing line.
I wanted to visit so many people in Florida and didn't want too miss one or anybody so think it was better to do none lol

Hans

[Elite Aquaria]

Next time I will take you to some of my private fishing spots....Big Freshwater Tarpin and large mouth bass and Large Saltwater Sailfish and Dolphin (Mahi Mahi)...No Discus...

[Discus-Hans]

Okay Dan, and I will take you fishing in my fish house lol

Hans

[Elite Aquaria]

LOL...I guess I will need to upgrade my tackle and get bigger hooks...:D

[Discus-Hans]

ha ha ha ha a 10" net will work, I test that every day lol

Hans

[Kenny's Discus]

Hans and Dan, fishing for Discus?:shocked: Cool! Count me in LOL.:D

Kenny

[Discus-Hans]

Okay the filter system, is this what you wanted to know???

I made the frame (same as were the tanks are on) 1 1/2" smaller because the side plates come between the legs and the frame so I can put in the bottom of the side plates screws in the frame.
On the frame I put the bottom plate.
Pond foil in the box, holes from 1 filter to the other side, there will be one pump on two boxes (1 system) Pump gets water from both filters (boxes) if the pump gets lesser from 1 side the other box will over flow, that's why I connected them,

Hans

[Discus-Hans]

Looks like an early Eastern here, eggs every were now lol

[Discus-Hans]

some more

[Discus-Hans]

last for today, first picture some not real Silver Pigeons, not real because they are Snake Silvers,

Hans

[brewmaster15]

Looks great Hans!:)

-al

[Lee C]

last for today, first picture some not real Silver Pigeons, not real because they are Snake Silvers,

Hans

Real ones hahaha! :p They are nice and clean too! 7.5 to 8 inchers right.

Hey Hans, You will put Mr. Stendker out of business is you raise all those fry!

regards,
Lee

[Discus-Hans]

Thanks guys.

Lee we don't grow the fry, we don't breed!!!!
I only sell 100% breeding pairs

Hans

[golden_lv]

Hey Hans,

congrats....you are going full steam.

It was nice talking to you and please feel free to check out the buggers i grew out from you in the photo section.

later,

alex

[Lee C]

Thanks guys.

Lee we don't grow the fry, we don't breed!!!!
I only sell 100% breeding pairs

Hans

Hans,
Good to talk to you today!
I understand now.. the discus breed , you don't!:D

regards,
Lee

[Dkarc@Aol.com]

Very nice Hans. I wonder if you could ship eggs overnight...? :D

-Ryan

[Discus-Hans]

No problem Ryan but..........no DOA replacement lol

I'm sure it can be done, let's try. Who got going pairs??

Hans

[Wahter]

Hans,

Thanks for sharing the photos.

I need to also compliment you on taking better photos these days - those are great!

:D:D:D


Walter

[Discus-Hans]

Walter Thank you.........but it's not me..........it's the camera lol

BTW when do you come to make pictures, last was in my basement lol

Hans

[Paul Lucas]

Hey Dutchy:):) How are you my friend?

I'm afraid it's no good, no good at all. You are going to have to tear it all down as I see a problem. Now, I know you worked really hard on this but you for got just one thing - just one thing:):) HOW AM I GOING TO GET DOWN BETWEEN THE RACKS - HUH??:):)

Seriously, good job mate, good job!

Are you in DB '08? Maybe see you there? Have you seen Ed. lately?

Paul

[Discus-Hans]

ha ha ha ha Paul, this is so funny.

Today my friend/help was helping me to move the racks in position.

I told him I need between the 32" and 35" between the racks, he said man that's to much no need.
I said Dan listen, I've 2 friends, 1 in England and 1 in Canada, both guys are in a wheel chair and I know, one of these days they will come over to see this all.
I need enough space between the rack so they can move, Paul, believe it or not this really was today I told him. I had it always in the back of my mind, but never told anybody.

DB '08 no idea yet at the moment I don't even know what I do tomorrow (beside packing fish).

I've seen Ed last summer '07 when I was in Holland for a few says,

Hans

[dandestroy]

Hello Hans,

I know that you don't really care about the fry, but you don't seem to have any thing stopping them from going into the bulkhead.

Do you see a few going in?

If you see a lot going in, are you worrying about them dying and polluting the filter?

I understand your cleaning technique, but do you squeeze or super wash the sponge sometime (like once a year?) or do you just wipe the tank once a weak and then change the water?

thanks

[Discus-Hans]

Dan,

I just selected the pairs and even I didn't expect those rabbits would breed that fast. I ordered some filter sponges filled the hole on one side and put those over the strainer.

I've some plans with those fry that are born here. Test some foods, see how fry does in shipping, donate some to clubs to grow and sell them in their auctions etc.

Those small fry will not pollute the amount of total water.

My other systems are running now for 3 year (wauwww 3 years in business all ready lol) and when I added my dry filter I cleaned a part of the filter systems, for the rest I flush them maybe 2 - 3 times a year.

We do water changes at least every other day, vacume the tanks 2 - 3 times a week and I've a cleaning team in training :D
Got 600 x 2" bristle noses in (lost about 20) so after next week they come out of Q and they are going to wipe my tanks, 2 in each breeder tank.

I'm thinking of changing my old filter system (the 55 gallon drums) in the new system if it works well enough.

In the new systems I designed some thing new. Insted of filling the whole "filterbox" with the special imported foam from Germany, I put on the bottom of the filter those red Coca Cola carriers (8 x 2 liter bottles) I put those upside down in the filter and on top of those I put the filter foam. This way you create an "open part" under the foam. If I do a water change I switch 2 valves, the pump that returns the water from my filter to my tanks works than as the drain pump of my filter. The hole to the pump is in the bottom so if I start filling the "filterbox" again I can flush all the "dirt" under the foam out off my filter before I start refilling again.

I expect my foam in some were next week (4 big pallets), I will try to make some pictures to make this more clear.

Hans

[Discus-Hans]

BTW. any one interested in pleco's 10" and up. I've about 90 of them. They are going with pension and will be replaced by bristle noses (hope they eat lesser of my expensive food)

The pleco's love Discus, they grew up with them and are great to clean your pond if the weather gets a little warmer,

Hans

[Discus-Hans]

Great day, I got my foam in, 4 pallets, 7'+ high, filter plates 40x40"
2 pallets with 4" and 2 pallets with 2" thick.
The 4" thick more open as the 2".

Let the games begin :D

First the crates, two layers of the 4" and 1 on top of the 2"

Probably when I'm done I've a few plates left, interest???? Send me a PM.

Hans

[dishpanhands]

thats some nice looking filter..I was woundering how flexable is it..can you squeeze it like a sponge? or is it to stiff? Its hard to tell from the pictures..LOL

[Discus-Hans]

like a sponge that's why we call it filter sponge lol

it's a little harder as a sponge,

Hans

[dandestroy]

can you post a picture of the filter unit while water is running, so we can see the water dropping and the level reach

[RockHound]

I would think, the foam filter pads sit to high in the raceway.
Maybe that is the intent.

But, I think the top pads should be just slightly submerged.
To allow a larger open air/water interface.
And, allow shallow water to flow over the top of the pads.

All it would take, is to shorten, the crates, the pads sit on.

I may me wrong.
But, think not.

[Discus-Hans]

There are 3 layers of foam on the crates, 2 x 4" open foam, those are under water, the top one (2" closer foam) are above the water line. The filter is filled to the max with water, that is......when the pump is off. at the moment the pump starts to run, it will fill the tanks and those start to over flow. When the power goes off or the pump stops, the filter will not over flow.

Hans

[CAGE-RATTLER]

WOW Hans,

You've been busy havent you!!

Been awhile ....... good to see things are still going great for you.

Not sure how much help you have over there right now, but if you need a hand on the weekends give me a shout.

[Discus-Hans]

Lot off help, me, myself and I and Hans is there too most off the time.

Always need a hand at the moment, working on the air installation, ever 120 holes drilled in a pipe, wire drill and valve turned in, getting sick off it..........nahhhhh still loving it,

Hans

[Discus-Hans]

you all saw this rack ready, here are the results till now.
3 Alenquer pairs

[Discus-Hans]

2 Fire red pairs, Silver Pigeon, Pigeon X Snake Skin and Red Turks

[Discus-Hans]

next rack ready and running, 8 x 75 gallon and 8 x 65 gallon with divider

[Discus-Hans]

Started on the next one this system is going to be 24 x 65 gallon with dividers. Hope to have the tanks in tomorrow, plumbing and water running,

Hans

[Lee C]

Hans,
How many total tanks are you going to set up?
Looks like a couple hundred?
Fantastic job A+:hat:

regards,
Lee

[Discus-Hans]

Thanks Lee.

Let me see when I'm done we will have.......

117 x 20 gallon tanks
100 x 65 gallon,
65 x 65 gallon split in 2 with a divider (makes 130 x 32 gallon)
8 x 75 gallon.

So total 290 tanks (or 355 if you count the split 65 for 2)

Hans

[Discus-Hans]

For those interested in the foam:

I import it and sell it in the USA & Canada. I can ship it to you with FedEx.
The prices are (excl. shipping)
50 x 50 x 5 cm 30 PPI $28.00
50 x 50 x 10cm 10-15 PPI $56.00

Best regards,

Hans
Discus Hans USA
443 992 6972
discus-hans@comcast.net

[Kenny's Discus]

Hans, those pairs look AWESOME with their gorgeous frys! What a beautiful scene.:)

You're still building more tanks? Wow that's some serious operation my friend and I admire your hard work.:) Best of luck as always don't work too hard.

Kenny

[Ringo]

That looks awesome Hans, beautiful fish and nice racks for the tanks. Any chance you could take some close-up pictures of the rack assemblies? I need to build a few myself, only on a much smaller scale.

[Discus-Hans]

Ringo,

Thank you

what part do you want to see because I thought I showed everything in detail????

Hans

[Ringo]

Sorry Hans, I went back looking through all the pictures and found the small blocks. That was the part I was most interested in, trying to figure out what the tanks are resting on. Very interesting setup you have.:D

[Lee C]

Hi Hans,
How many discus are you bringing to Atlanta in July '08. I have a few people asking? Thanks!:juggle:

regards,
Lee

[Discus-Hans]

Lee, a "few" in the show and a "few" in the Discus Hans sales room, 12 to 20 tanks not sure yet how many Discus, but think there will be one or two lol

Hans

[xntrick]

Hello Hans
I also have a question if thats possible. The pump pumps water to the three racks of tanks. I presume is spit it with Ts like follows.

|---------------------------
|
|---------------------------
|
|---------------------------
|
|
|-----|
|pump|
------|
each tank looks like its got a 16mm pipe water going in.
How powerful is your pump? or whats the recirculation rate you get in each ???? liter tank? rotate water once/twice/three times?
It doesn't look you have any other bio material apart from sponge.
Is it good enough to pick the small particles and have water clear?
I am asking because i am using filter wool as well, but i would like to get rid of it if i employ more sponges.
Thanks
Harry

[Discus-Hans]

Hi Harry,

the pump on the big rack (63 x 20 gallon) is a 1 HP.
It does 4920 gallon/hour at 20' high.

The way you made the drawing is wrong, I think that way the last tanks in each row will not get water, specially not the top one.

From my pump a pipe (1 1/2") goes up and over the whole rack (from left to right) from this pipe a 1/2" pipe goes down and puts water in every time 3 tanks. Every tanks has a valve to adjust the flow.

I've 2 types of sponges in my filter 4" thick = 10-15 PPI and 2" thick = 30 PPI (the same foam I'm selling) this is one of the best sponges you can get at the moment and Stefan and I bring it in from Europe.
see: http://www.swisstropicals.com/Poret%20Filter%20Foam.html

Hans

[Discus-Hans]

I had the big BOSS last days helping me out, man now I really had to work. Joanne helped me with drilling and putting the spray bars together.

Next racks are up, tanks are in, some PVC tomorrow and hopefully this tanks will be running tomorrow,

Hans

[Discus-Hans]

some more pics.

[kaceyo]

Hi Hans,
I figured there had to be a "Big Boss" behind the scenes pushing you hard to get all that work done. Now we know, LOL!!!
Is there any kind of a mechanical filter between the tanks and the spray bars so you can remove the big stuff before it hits the big foam sheets? I'd think the foam would be hard to clean if particulets are allowed to dump right onto it.
Thanks,

kacey

[Brian Mc]

No offense Hans but I think she's a little out of your league. :laugh:

[xntrick]

Hans,
thanks for the information. Actually for the flow rate you mentioned it before (sorry i missed it, i have read this thread again and found it). Great design and thinking, it helped me a lot in my new fish room. Mistakes i made before now are clear and things will be done correctly.
Also i also want to congratulate you on showing us the construction of a large scale filter. which you don't find on the internet.

Thanks

Harry

[MostlyDiscus]

Have fun cleaning all those tanks...

[MostlyDiscus]

Whats up in Atlanta?

[pete321]

If the tanks are fed from the bottom up to the highest tank and then the excess overflows back to the filter with an open end to prevent siphoning, you will get a higher flow rate through your tanks as you will not have a total head of the highest tank but the head will vary from row to row with the highest row having the least head.
Hope I have explained myself.
Providing there is overflow at the top and because you have a valve at each tank you should get an improved flow rate.

[Discus-Hans]

Pete, I lost you, no idea what you mean,

Hans

[tdr1919]

Hi Hans,
Geeez, its seems like such along time since you last expanded, looks great, I hope you get up to the NY area.

- Tom

[freewest]

Hey Hans,

The project looks really great. Each element of your system looks well thought out and well executed.

I have a few questions for you. How does the pond liner stay in place? Is it held by the weight of the water? Nails? Staples?

Also, approximately how many gallons of water does your filter hold or what percentage of water is it in comparison to the rest of the rack?

How is your water heated? Do you heat the entire room, or just put heaters in the bottom filter?

Finally, do you provide any form of aeration or does the trickle filter and water flow keep the water well oxygenated?

Sorry if the answers to these questions are obvious, i'm really interested in the way you put together this fish room and have been following it since day 1.

Thanks,
Tory

[pete321]

Hi Hans
Sorry I did not explain it better earlier.

What I mean is this:
From the filter the water will flow to the pump and then a vertical riser.So far the same as you have now. Now the difference: from the riser the lowest row will be fed via a T , then the row above the lowest row will be fed via a T and so you go until you get to the top row. At the top row, you will need to extend the vertical riser maybe a foot up then T off and back to the filter for the excess/overflow. At the top of this T, Extend Up again and leave open to prevent a siphon or if you are worried that the pump will push the water straight up the vertical riser and out the open end, then you can place the open T in a short horizontal section of the overflow/ filter return. Note this is not the tank overflow, but excess pumped water overflow.

The advantage of this is :
If you adjust the overflow to the bare minimum constant flow, then you will have more water going through your tanks. This is because the head at your lowest row of tanks will be ?? 2-3 foot? The next row will be 4-5 foot and the top row will be 6-8 foot or what ever your heights are.
If you look at your pump curve, it will give you different gallons/hour at different heads.

As your system stands now, you are pumping all your water to your maximum head, then letting it flow back down. Now if you had different heads as in my example, only the water going to the racks in the top row and the small overflow would be a maximum head. You would now have three different heads and on your pump, I am sure total water turnover could be increased with the same pump and the same electricity.

Hope this explains it better. This is not a simple thing to put in words and a diagram would probably explain it better but that is beyond my computer skills at the moment.


I hope this will be of help to you.

How many times does your water flow through your tanks an hour at the moment?(turnover rate)

[Dkarc@Aol.com]

Hi Hans
Sorry I did not explain it better earlier.

What I mean is this:
From the filter the water will flow to the pump and then a vertical riser.So far the same as you have now. Now the difference: from the riser the lowest row will be fed via a T , then the row above the lowest row will be fed via a T and so you go until you get to the top row. At the top row, you will need to extend the vertical riser maybe a foot up then T off and back to the filter for the excess/overflow. At the top of this T, Extend Up again and leave open to prevent a siphon or if you are worried that the pump will push the water straight up the vertical riser and out the open end, then you can place the open T in a short horizontal section of the overflow/ filter return. Note this is not the tank overflow, but excess pumped water overflow.

The advantage of this is :
If you adjust the overflow to the bare minimum constant flow, then you will have more water going through your tanks. This is because the head at your lowest row of tanks will be ?? 2-3 foot? The next row will be 4-5 foot and the top row will be 6-8 foot or what ever your heights are.
If you look at your pump curve, it will give you different gallons/hour at different heads.

As your system stands now, you are pumping all your water to your maximum head, then letting it flow back down. Now if you had different heads as in my example, only the water going to the racks in the top row and the small overflow would be a maximum head. You would now have three different heads and on your pump, I am sure total water turnover could be increased with the same pump and the same electricity.

Hope this explains it better. This is not a simple thing to put in words and a diagram would probably explain it better but that is beyond my computer skills at the moment.


I hope this will be of help to you.

How many times does your water flow through your tanks an hour at the moment?(turnover rate)

Only thing I dont like about using an open ended return line on different row heights is you do get differing flow rates...the higher up the row is, the slower the return rate is (higher TDH at each row). This can pose problems that can lead to the upper tanks not getting enough water (potentially) to properly filter each tank. Though i do like your idea, IMO it is better suited for a system with only one row (or use 1 pump per row to equalize flow to all tanks). Hans' system now I would call a pressure return since ALL water is routed to the tanks...no excess is routed back to sump and there are no open ends. Since his pump is slightly oversized for the application he doesnt have to worry about uneven flow rates at each row height as sheer volume can make up for any differences. JMHO

-Ryan

[Discus-Hans]

Okay I did the test, made a top tank empty and one of the lowest rows.

The top tanks are filled up again in 10 minutes, the bottom row is filled up in 15 minutes. I did this "faster filling" at the top for a reason, the top tanks are on a warmer spot, I heat my whole fish house, no heaters in the tanks. Because of the faster flow trough in the top tanks, temp. in all tanks stay the same.

Pete your idea is not to bad, only I would make "rings" say left side pipe up, T to every level, right side pipe down and connect all 3 levels again. That way you get 3 rings. Same if you work with air, a ring works 10x better as just a pipe ,

Hans

[Discus-Hans]

Hey Hans,

The project looks really great. Each element of your system looks well thought out and well executed.

I have a few questions for you. How does the pond liner stay in place? Is it held by the weight of the water? Nails? Staples?

Also, approximately how many gallons of water does your filter hold or what percentage of water is it in comparison to the rest of the rack?

How is your water heated? Do you heat the entire room, or just put heaters in the bottom filter?

Finally, do you provide any form of aeration or does the trickle filter and water flow keep the water well oxygenated?

Sorry if the answers to these questions are obvious, i'm really interested in the way you put together this fish room and have been following it since day 1.

Thanks,
Tory

Hi Tony,

thank you.

as you can see in the pictures the liner "flaps" over the wooden box +/- 6" at the outside, I put it every were between the legs and the wooden box. At the back (between the 2 racks) I put staples here and there (out side off course lol). The plan is if everything "settled" I will put a wooden strip, just under the edge of the wooden box over the liner (front side only) and cut the rest off, just to make it look better.

In the breeder tanks, 3 rows high the filter is +/- 25% of the total.
In the normal racks, 2 rows high, it's 30% of the total.
A sump or biofilter must be minimum 20% of the total.

I heat the whole fish room, it's oil heated and the oil company calls me SIR these days.

I've air stones in all my tanks, just installed a new blower, 3/4 HP, air is endlessssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss.

Hans

[Discus-Hans]

Hi Hans,
Is there any kind of a mechanical filter between the tanks and the spray bars so you can remove the big stuff before it hits the big foam sheets? I'd think the foam would be hard to clean if particulets are allowed to dump right onto it.
Thanks,

kacey

Kacey,

no prefilter time will tell, I can all ways take the top foam off and put a pressure cleaner on them, nice Summer job for me, Winter job for my help lol

Hans

[pete321]

Hi Hans

A few small modifications I would make to the filtration is I would let all the water flowing from the tanks flow into a large settling chamber like they use for koi ponds, a large area of slow moving water with a sloping bottom and and a valve on the bottom to flush settled waste. It would overflow at the top, preferably over a large straight overflow. The whole idea is to let the water flow horizontally very slowly (wide tank/filter and overflow) so that all the waste solids can settle out onto the sloping bottom and once or twice a day you could open a valve and drain this settling chamber.

I think that this idea of removing as much waste as possible with the least amount of effort is very important as the less waste that your bio filter has to cope with the better.

I also think that using a sponge instead of a settlement tank would let a lot of the solids dissolve from the water flowing over it and flow into your bio filter placing an added burden on your bio filter.

Another trick that I got from a Prof of aquaculture is to have a higher circulation in the filter than in the tanks.
What he means from this is that you can have a turn over rate of 2-3 times an hour in your tanks and 6-7 times in your filter or even more. This can be achieved by either T-ing off before the tanks on the supply side and routing excess water directly back to you bio filter or having an extra pump the just recirculates water through your bio filter.

With all this extra filtration you should be able to minimize water changes to less than 10% a day and maybe even to less than 5% per week.
This Prof has achieved it already with out affecting growth rates.

For me the biggest cost would be water as we are prone to water restrictions in our area and water is becoming increasingly expensive.

[ronrca]

Wow! This is great stuff!

Thanks for sharing and look forward to seeing more of those beautiful discus.

[hansenrenaat]

hello hans,

very nice!!!!!!!
your fish are perfect!!!!!!!

good luck



ziet er goed uit
doei hans

[riu]

Hi Hans.

Function as your filter on the aquarium?

Able to put a photo of the filter?

Greetings

Raul

[Discus-Hans]

Riu,

if I understand you well it's post in answer #120 and #144,

Hans

[riu]

Hi Hans.

Sorry, but I do not understand how is the step by step at a time of the filter system.
The water down by weight until the filter.
After the blue foam retain dirty.
Later the water climb through a bomb to the tanks.
Is correct??



http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b368/raul2299/March4.jpg


But do not understand where the filter material to be host bacterium?
To that serve red parts of the photo ?

I like your installation :D

Greetings

Raul

[Ed13]

Raúl, cada pecéra ha sido perforada y ha sido instalada para drenar por tubos PVC hasta el filtro, que en este caso ha sido construido de "plywood" y revestido the tela de polyuretano(generalmente usado en la construcción de estànques) por gravedad. La bacteria es alojada en el "foam" y en las partes rojas, aunque probablemente el "foam" es mas para remover detritos. Luego el agua es regresada a los tanques por una bomba.

Raul, each fish tank has been drilled and installed in order to drain through PVC tubes to the filter, which in this case has been constructed out of "plywood" and lined with polyurethane sheet (normally used in construction of ponds), by gravity. Bacteria is housed in the foam and in the red parts, although probably the foam is used more to remove detritus. Then water is returned to the tanks by a pump.

Hope that helps Raul, Han hopefully I got it right:)

[riu]

Gracias por la ayuda Ed, ya sabes que me cuesta mucho lo del Ingles, pero quiero aprender diferentes sistemas de los utilizados en mi país. :);)
Así lo entendía yo, pero no le veo mucho sentido poner tanto foam para eliminar detritos y no poner un lugar donde puedan alojarse las bacterias ya que en el foam apenas se pueden anidar y la pieza roja inferior no tiene capacidad para alojarlas ya que no es porosa.
Me da la sensación de que ese filtro es mas mecánico que biológico y seguro que tiene su explicación ya que un profesional como Discus-Hans lo tiene todo muy pensado y estoy seguro que es un gran sistema de filtrado.


I believe that, but do not understand why put so much foam, what only retain dirt and not being able to accommodate almost bacteria. Also, the red piece can not accommodate bacteria.
Apparently this is more mechanical filter that biological. But I believe that have an explanation, Discus-Hans is a great professional and knows how to do it.

Sure Hans remove doubts :)

Greetings

Raúl

[Ed13]

Raul, Hans will have to go into more detail abot the technical aspects of his design. But, you'll be surprised how much bacteria can colonize these items. The surface area available for bacteria in these can be enormous plus the fact that Hans is changing lots of water. But we'll have to wait for a detailed explanation from Hans on his schedule.

Raúl, sera necesario que Hans entre en detalles sobres los aspectos técnico de su diseño. Pero, te sorprenderás cuanta bacteria puede colonizar estos artículos. La superficie disponible para bacteria en ellos puede ser enorme además de que Hans cambia mucha agua. Pero, debemos esperar una expoliación detallada de Hans sobre su itinerario.

Hans, hope you don't mind all the Spanish:o. We did translate:p:D

[Discus-Hans]

No problem about the Spanish as long as you give a translation lol
For me it would also MUCH easier if I could explain it in Dutch lol

Raul,

here we go.

The tanks overflow (come back on that later 1) the water goes trough the pipes and comes in the spray bars, I made those spray bars to get the water as much as possible over the surface of the foam. The water goes trough the top layer of the foam. The top layer of the foam (1 of the 3) is above water this is kind of my "dry filter". The other 2 layers of foam are under water (my wet filter).

The filter foam is laying on the creates, in a few filter systems I used 4" pipes with holes that they use for drainage to put the foam on. Because I ran out of free creates lol.
I put the foam on the creates and pipes to get a space under the foam (come back to that too 2).
So the water goes trough the top layer of foam and trough the 2 layers of foam under water.
At the bottom of the filter is a pipe that brings the water to the pump under the rack, the pump pumps the water to the tanks and (1) the tanks overflow.

Okay the space under the foam I made with the creates and pipes I did for a reason (as everything I do lol) (2)
The pump, that brings the water back to the tanks, is on one side of the filter system at the other short side of the filter system is the refill point for the filter system. If I do a water change I just change 2 valves, I close the valve to the tanks and open the one to the drain, so the pump that normal brings the water to the tanks, pumps it now to the drain.
Most of the dirt in the filter ends up in the open space under the foam. Most of the dirt goes with the water, trough the pump into the drain.
Now there is always some dirt left, before we refill the filter system again, we "flush" the system a few times, that means we open the REFILL for 10 seconds at the other side of the filter and the water flows trough the open space from the refill side to the pump side of the filter system, taking all the dirt with it. If this is done, we refill the filter again, switch the valves again and did the water change.

The refill:
In the fish rooms we've 2 water storages, one is 4 x 250 gallon the other is 8 x 250 gallon, those tanks get filled overnight with straight tap water, we only put in Chloram-X powder.
Those 4 and 8 storage tanks are all connected, in the middle is a 5,000 gallon/hour pump that circulates the water in those storage tanks.
If we need water to refill the filter systems, I switch 2 valves, close the one that pumps the water back to the storage tanks and open the one that's going to the filter systems and the water goes with 5,000 gallon/hour to the filter systems.

It takes me aprox. 1 hour to do a water change of 20 - 30% this way on 10 systems without even touching the water.

If this doesn't make it clear...................I don't know lol

Hans

[pete321]

You said that it takes you about an hour to do a 20% water change.
Is this your daily water change or how much do you change and how often?

Thanks
Pete

[Discus-Hans]

Pete,

that's our daily water change, it between the 20 and 30% on each system,

Hans

[pete321]

Thanks.
That is a lot of water and a lot of heat to get the water to temp.

[Discus-Hans]

Pete,

lot of water yes, but my whole fish house is heated up to 82-83F so while the water comes in it's warming up,

Hans

[pete321]

It must still cost a lot of money to use that amount of water and to heat it.
Have you done any readings of water parameters before a water change and just after e.g. conductivity/total disolved solids, ph ........

I am just also wondering what made you decide on that percentage a day.

It would seem to me that if you could change less water less often and still keep the fish happy without compromising on their health, you would be making more profit.

This is what I am planning on doing. I am still in the planning stage and am wanting to learn from others mistakes so that I can minimise mine.

From the research that I have done over the last three years, this is possible, but I don't know any one doing it with discus.

It should still be possible with discus as long as water quality is excelent.

Pete

[Discus-Hans]

1. It must still cost a lot of money to use that amount of water and to heat it.

2. Have you done any readings of water parameters before a water change and just after e.g. conductivity/total disolved solids, ph ........

3. I am just also wondering what made you decide on that percentage a day.

4. It would seem to me that if you could change less water less often and still keep the fish happy without compromising on their health, you would be making more profit.

5. This is what I am planning on doing. I am still in the planning stage and am wanting to learn from others mistakes so that I can minimise mine.

6. From the research that I have done over the last three years, this is possible, but I don't know any one doing it with discus.

7. It should still be possible with discus as long as water quality is excelent.

Pete

1. YES

2. Only Ph and look at my Discus

3. Experience

4. Be my guest, my Discus are happy this way and I don't care how much it cost.

5. Don't save on water changes.

6. I don't and I'm not going to try it.

7. There you go that's why I do the water changes to keep it excellent

Hans

[pete321]

You do have exlent healthy fish.
In my country it would not be finantially viable to do such large water changes and still make a profit. So I will have to do futher research.

Thanks

Pete

[MostlyDiscus]

try resiens. They work with fewer water changes. Hans, Do you use a cartridge filter off your main pump? I use a 100 sf that takes out larger peices of matter. Ed

[Discus-Hans]

My filter foam takes everything out and if we do a water change, before we refill, we flush the filter. That takes a lot of the "dirt" under the filter foam out. That's why we made the space under the foam,

Hans

[rowedder]

Hans,
Andy & I just love your posts! You have Discus keeping and breeding down to a science, keep up the great work!

Backyard Discus LLC

[Discus-Hans]

A little movie for those who are interested.

Thanks to Li ~ www.monsterfishkeepers.com

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4fiVpVZyG8Y

Hans

[EnriqueP]

I watched the video. Very impressive. Do you have one pump per rack? I mean, is one rack a separate system? Thanks!
ep

[Discus-Hans]

Each system is 2 racks, so every 2 racks is one system.

The higher racks are each on their own filter system,

Hans

[Kenny's Discus]

Hans, excellent looking hatchery my friend!:thumbsup: Thanks for the video I really enjoyed it! All the best bro.:)

Kenny

[sophie68]

Wow! Awesome video! Thanks for posting this link!!!!

Sophie

[Ed13]

Even though we knew how big it was, a video puts it all in whole new category! WOW

BTW, love the clipboard with orders on the side of the stands.

[Discus-Hans]

Sophie & Kenny,

Thanks.


Ed those clipboards are not orders :p
Our order follow other routes trough the fish houses.
Those clipboards are the administration what is going on in the set up.
Daily notes Ph & Temp. water change, vacume the tanks, food info, etc.

Hans

[Ed13]

Ed those clipboards are not orders :p
Our order follow other routes trough the fish houses.
Those clipboards are the administration what is going on in the set up.
Daily notes Ph & Temp. water change, vacume the tanks, food info, etc.

Hans
That's actually pretty smart, kinda hard keeping track of a few thousand fish, uh;)! Might have to start doing that!

[Discus-Hans]

It's just we've 10 different systems, sometimes (when you get older :p) you don't remember what you did yesterday.
I can look back now for at least 2 1/2 year what happened in each set up.

Hans

[hansenrenaat]

hans,

what a fish an a great project!!!!!

wish you where still in holland,

i would shopp at your place


ga zo door!!!!!!!
schitterend

doei hans

[Discus-Hans]

Never posted the tour here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=COnEd8mipa8


Hans

[Mr Wild]

Hello Hans
I am fairly new to discus keeping and have not read through your thread until today. It makes for great reading although I know I weill never venture into it as you have done. I read early in the thread that you have had some bother with a buyer, some complaints. Please do not let this stop you from being a part of SD, you have the knowledge that needs to be shared to newbies like me and let me tell you we appreciate as much information as we can get.
SD has been fantastic to me helping with with many problems, I am now on the right track and that is thanks to people such as yourself that are happy to share their vast knowledge and experience.
Many thanks to you and for all your hard waork compiling all this information and putting it out there in the public for us to learn.
Cheers Kath
PS ever tried shipping fry to Australia???? lollol

[Discus-Hans]

Hello Hans
I am fairly new to discus keeping and have not read through your thread until today. It makes for great reading although I know I weill never venture into it as you have done. I read early in the thread that you have had some bother with a buyer, some complaints. Please do not let this stop you from being a part of SD, you have the knowledge that needs to be shared to newbies like me and let me tell you we appreciate as much information as we can get.
SD has been fantastic to me helping with with many problems, I am now on the right track and that is thanks to people such as yourself that are happy to share their vast knowledge and experience.
Many thanks to you and for all your hard waork compiling all this information and putting it out there in the public for us to learn.
Cheers Kath
PS ever tried shipping fry to Australia???? lollol

Kath,

thank you and as you can see I love to share what I do and what I know.

For the point with the customer, you know how that goes sometimes in life, you get tired of those things.

Hans

[Scribbles]

Hans your fish room is awesome! I only wish that I lived close enough to see it in person. Problem is though that I wouldn't be able to go home empty handed. LOL.

BTW I LOVE the discus that you sent me. They need to come with a warning though. Beware: Stendker discus grow so fast you must have larger tanks on hand. LOL.

Chris

[MRQuad]

hi hans,

what a nice fish room you've got.. thanks for sharing..

i have a question on post number 47, glass top.. what is the name of the plastic that you put in the middle of the glass? is that a plastic hinge? where can you buy that and also the handle? i went to local home depot but they don't have like that.. they only have metal piano hinge..

thanks again for sharing..

[Discus-Hans]

Hi,

I order them from http://www.glasscages.com/

Hans

[MRQuad]

Hi,

I order them from http://www.glasscages.com/

Hans

wow.. that was a quick response i've got from you.. thanks a lot! appreciated it very much.. :D:D

[Larry208]

Hans:

First of all great fish room, hope some day mine is a big as "one rack" of your whole setup.;)

Second I have to thank YOU and everybody else that has posted on this topic because I have learned a lot from it and have kinda made a similar kind of setup only much smaller.

Thanks again
Larry

[Discus-Hans]

Hans:

First of all great fish room, hope some day mine is a big as "one rack" of your whole setup.;)

Second I have to thank YOU and everybody else that has posted on this topic because I have learned a lot from it and have kinda made a similar kind of setup only much smaller.

Thanks again
Larry

Thanks Larry and that's why we are here, to help.

Let's not forget Al & Ryan who give us the opportunity to vent our ideas,

Hans

[Larry208]

Thanks Larry and that's why we are here, to help.

Let's not forget Al & Ryan who give us the opportunity to vent our ideas,

Hans

Exactly :D

[Steven Turitz]

Hi Hans
Well, I spent the better part of Saturday (early evening until after midnight)
reading, absorbing and digesting the thread you started and all your updates on the "new" part.
I am a 54 year old guy getting myself into position to reenter the hobby after a 20 year absence with a "Discus Only" 200 gallon showtank.
I honestly have no intention of breeding at this point in my life (that may change when I retire in 10 years), as my career has consumed me my whole entire adult life, so I have no questions for you concerning the construction, plumbing, filtration, water chemistry, etc. etc . etc.
I just have a major observation that I would like to share with you.
I am a huge fan of those who are methodically organized in their approach and execution of a project and a task. I loved the systems you designed and utilized in building the racks by yourself, the stops you built to cut the wood, the templates you built to assemble the wood into the platforms of the racks.
I absolutely loved seeing the progression of your "new part" project.
I learned, I think, alot of little things that I will utilize when I design my wet/dry filter system on a "Lifereef LF2 Side by Side" platform that I will custom design and have fabricated.
To their filter, I will add a tubular prefilter chamber with a 32" 100 micron sock on top of each trickle tower (2 in total) to grab all the detritious garbage matter before it gets to the bioballs. I will make all the sides on the filter higher so I can raise the towers with the bioballs in them higher giving me a larger wet area below the tower for your imported filter foam. That foam will be elevated off the filter bottom with startegically placed acrylic blocks, somewhat like your upside down Coca-Cola red racks.
I will have a bulkhead installed at that level to drain any junk on the filter floor.
I am definately an "overkill" kind of guy. Nothing too good for my "Discus Pets". I love to create, that may be what prompted me to write to you in admiration of the systems you created.
I take my hat off to you. A methodically organized man with the knowledge, expertise and vision to build your hobby into a world class, state-of-the-art business. I have to admit, I am somewhat envious.
Thanks for all the time you invested, sharing and educating the SimplyDiscus community. You are truly invested in furthering the art and the science of "Discus" keeping. You are a model to be emulated.
Thanks
Steve

[dbfzurowski]

hey,
i would to the mi9cron sock after the bio balls as when good bacteria die off with time they detach from bio ballz.

[Discus-Hans]

Hi Hans
Well, I spent the better part of Saturday (early evening until after midnight)
reading, absorbing and digesting the thread you started and all your updates on the "new" part.
I am a 54 year old guy getting myself into position to reenter the hobby after a 20 year absence with a "Discus Only" 200 gallon showtank.
I honestly have no intention of breeding at this point in my life (that may change when I retire in 10 years), as my career has consumed me my whole entire adult life, so I have no questions for you concerning the construction, plumbing, filtration, water chemistry, etc. etc . etc.
I just have a major observation that I would like to share with you.
I am a huge fan of those who are methodically organized in their approach and execution of a project and a task. I loved the systems you designed and utilized in building the racks by yourself, the stops you built to cut the wood, the templates you built to assemble the wood into the platforms of the racks.
I absolutely loved seeing the progression of your "new part" project.
I learned, I think, alot of little things that I will utilize when I design my wet/dry filter system on a "Lifereef LF2 Side by Side" platform that I will custom design and have fabricated.
To their filter, I will add a tubular prefilter chamber with a 32" 100 micron sock on top of each trickle tower (2 in total) to grab all the detritious garbage matter before it gets to the bioballs. I will make all the sides on the filter higher so I can raise the towers with the bioballs in them higher giving me a larger wet area below the tower for your imported filter foam. That foam will be elevated off the filter bottom with startegically placed acrylic blocks, somewhat like your upside down Coca-Cola red racks.
I will have a bulkhead installed at that level to drain any junk on the filter floor.
I am definately an "overkill" kind of guy. Nothing too good for my "Discus Pets". I love to create, that may be what prompted me to write to you in admiration of the systems you created.
I take my hat off to you. A methodically organized man with the knowledge, expertise and vision to build your hobby into a world class, state-of-the-art business. I have to admit, I am somewhat envious.
Thanks for all the time you invested, sharing and educating the SimplyDiscus community. You are truly invested in furthering the art and the science of "Discus" keeping. You are a model to be emulated.
Thanks
Steve

Wauww Steven, thank you :blushing: :blushing:

Hans

[ockyra215]

Hans,
Awesome fishroom and fish.How many people does it take to care for all those tanks of Discus.I bet its a lot!Once again AWESOME!:D:bandana:

[darkknight87]

Wow. Its incredible Hans, really

[Discus-Hans]

Hans,
Awesome fishroom and fish.How many people does it take to care for all those tanks of Discus.I bet its a lot!Once again AWESOME!:D:bandana:

Dave, a lot of people, Hans, Discus Hans, me, myself and I ohhh and I have 3 days a week a help (Dan) coming in to vacume the tanks and do water changes so I can concentrate those days a little more on the orders/shipping, visitors, etc.



Wow. Its incredible Hans, really

Thank you Matt,

Hans

[discus.hunter]

you inspired me Hans, i mean i copied your way for building my rack its very impressive...
great DIY tutorial .... :)

[Discus-Hans]

you inspired me Hans, i mean i copied your way for building my rack its very impressive...
great DIY tutorial .... :)

Great, that's why we posted it all, to help others,

Hans

[Discus-Hans]

Okay, made a big step today, I shut off my air exchanger (was never 100% happy how that was working) went to Lowes and bought 10 of the biggest dehumidifiers they had (70 pints an hour) set them all up trough the building and it's amazing so far, gallons and gallons of water.

I'm on my way back to the fish house, put a few BIG boxes under the drain to see how much exact is coming out in about 12 hours (yeah was late again last night lol)

If this all works well, we put them off the floor, on top of the racks, pvc pipe to the drain and let them do their work,

Hans

[KEWX]

So are you recycling the water from the dehumidifiers back into the system or out into a drain?

[Dkarc@Aol.com]

Okay, made a big step today, I shut off my air exchanger (was never 100% happy how that was working) went to Lowes and bought 10 of the biggest dehumidifiers they had (70 pints an hour) set them all up trough the building and it's amazing so far, gallons and gallons of water.

I'm on my way back to the fish house, put a few BIG boxes under the drain to see how much exact is coming out in about 12 hours (yeah was late again last night lol)

If this all works well, we put them off the floor, on top of the racks, pvc pipe to the drain and let them do their work,

Hans

What's the matter Hans? Cant stand the humidity??? LOL

-Ryan

[Discus-Hans]

So are you recycling the water from the dehumidifiers back into the system or out into a drain?

?????????? Buddy, those say 100 gallon a day goes into the drain. I'm not going to take the risk the way I'm smoking with "only" a 100 gallon. We get 3,500 gallon a day in for water changes, those 100 gallon (beside the risk) are not going to safe me lol lol



What's the matter Hans? Cant stand the humidity??? LOL
-Ryan

Ryan, it's here now for months HOT, so the air exchanger is only blowing more HOT air in what makes my airco's run harder. In the winter when the exchanger works the best (by getting cold air in) it's blowing so much cold air in, my (oil) heaters won't shut off to keep the fish houses on temperature. I'm done with it, see how these 10 dehumidifiers works,

Hans

[Discus-Hans]

Dehumidifiers best investment I made lately.

Brought in 1 day the humidity down from 70~75% to 40~45%

Most pipes for the constant drain installed today (still 3 to go)

I'm happy......................... Air exchanger for sale lol

Hans

[Darrell Ward]

Those dehumidifiers do work great. My wife went to Lowes and bought one last year. It's amazing how much moisture that thing removes from the house with all the tanks running, even with glass tops on them.

[Discus-n00b]

The Cokes must of been warming up to fast. Haha ;) I guess its different if you have a fishroom....but I don't mind it...I live it every day I walk outside. ;)

[gw]

Hi Hans,
Quick question. I have a friend intending to build a fish rack like yours. I cannot tell from photos but do you secure the top of the racks to the wall or ceiling or are they free standing. I'm thinking they must be secured but with your craftsmanship, maybe not??

Thanks, Glenn

[Discus-Hans]

Hi Hans,
Quick question. I have a friend intending to build a fish rack like yours. I cannot tell from photos but do you secure the top of the racks to the wall or ceiling or are they free standing. I'm thinking they must be secured but with your craftsmanship, maybe not??

Thanks, Glenn

Hi Glenn,

what I did was attach every rack to the one close to it, so every 2 racks are together. The 2 high racks are both at one side of a wall, at the top = higher as the wall, they are attached.

Hans

[Kingdom Come Discus]

Hans I am glad I saw this post. I was days away from ordering a air exchanger. I replaced our 43 year old furnace and air conditioner which was in the fish room a few weeks ago. It was so leaky it circulated the air in the fish room and keep the humidity down. Now that I have this new tight unit, the mildew, humidity and the smell is so bad I have developed a respiratory illness which I have been fighting for weeks.

I was on the phone to Jemco yesterday and had decided today to order their smallest air exchanger next week. All the issues you were not happy with I was concerned with. Temperature in the winter especially. My room is a measly 300 sq ft. Could you tell me how many sq. ft. per dehumidifier you are using? Did you do by a certain brand at lowes or just what you could find in stock? Thanks for all your help.

Kraig Koontz

[Northwoods Discus]

The dehumidifiers from the "big box" stores are great at first. Then they break down and get noisy and use a ton of energy. I went through 3 of them in a year. Happy at first, then hate them. I don't know what the best answer is. I went with the air exchanger after many failed dehumidifiers.
The A/C removes the humidity while it is hot out. The air exchanger will hopefully do its job in the winter. Dry air in the outdoors in winter.
With a non air conditioned fish room air exchange will not be effective because you are exchanging with high humidity air.

[AirCapital]

what I found to work the best is sealing the room up as good as possible and using a squarill cage fan and add it to a window blowing the humid air outside, much cheaper than a dehumidifer to run. yes it does blow cold aitside in the summer but a dehumidifier makes warm air as it works so to me they are about equal in that dept, the fan just takes alot less energy to run.
and in the winter use a natural gas heater to heat the room which will help keep some of the humidity down

[Skip]

WOW!! nice DIY! are they are Plans/Specs running around somewhere? i am interested in the Support/bolts.. trying to get ideas for my apartment.. :D

[edosan]

Excelent post and easy to undestand...thanks for sharing!!

It was as I imagine...later some Q. ;)

[discus.hunter]

@Hans, really impressed with your rack and now i'm considering to make my own one, currently i'm planning to build a rack using wood. i have a humble questions Hans, could you tell me your wood size?, i'm planning to use 5cm X 7cm as the "pole" for 65 gallon aquarium racks, do you think my wood size is able to support the aquarium?

here is the picture
http://i54.tinypic.com/2lixz07.jpg

[acroken]

Dehumidifiers best investment I made lately.

Brought in 1 day the humidity down from 70~75% to 40~45%

Most pipes for the constant drain installed today (still 3 to go)

I'm happy......................... Air exchanger for sale lol

Hans
I took Han's advise and switched my heat exchanger to dehumidifiers. I have one on each end of the room and working perfectly. I added fresh air intakes to keep air quality levels up. Heating the whole area is a bit of a challenge but with the dehumidifiers and fresh air intakes i have found a nice balance.I bought GE dehumidifiers and very happy with them so far. Thanks Hans.

Kenny

[Discus-Hans]

@Hans, really impressed with your rack and now i'm considering to make my own one, currently i'm planning to build a rack using wood. i have a humble questions Hans, could you tell me your wood size?, i'm planning to use 5cm X 7cm as the "pole" for 65 gallon aquarium racks, do you think my wood size is able to support the aquarium?

here is the picture
http://i54.tinypic.com/2lixz07.jpg

Hi Hunter,

I've used 2" x 4" I always feel they steal from me because in real they are 1 1/2" x 3 1/2" in cm that is: 4 x 9cm. All my wood work is made of those,

Hans


I took Han's advise and switched my heat exchanger to dehumidifiers. I have one on each end of the room and working perfectly. I added fresh air intakes to keep air quality levels up. Heating the whole area is a bit of a challenge but with the dehumidifiers and fresh air intakes i have found a nice balance.I bought GE dehumidifiers and very happy with them so far. Thanks Hans.

Kenny

No problem Kenny, you know....... I'm here to help.

Must say Joanne was not to happy with me when the first electric bill (after the dehumidifiers were set up) came in........+ $500 - 600 but I must say it's getting colder now for a few weeks but the heater (oil) hardly goes on. Have to see after the winter, how ever you do it, you always get bitten by the dog or scratched by the cat lol lol

Hans

[plecoman]

Wow! That's a very impressive system! The best I've seen!

[daniel19831123]

Hans, is there any chance of seeing how you connect your water storage system to the delivery of the fresh water to your sump? I've been trying to work out in my head how you connect those massive storage and I can't seemed to find a proper solution to linking them up to circulate the water. I'm afraid that my head will explode if I don't see the pic. :P

Hans, do you coat the rack with any paint before putting them together? If it's not paint, do you mind telling me what kind of wood is it and is the wood pressure treated? I've heard a lot of bad stuff about pressure treated wood and I'm not sure if I'm going to go for those. On the positive side it's long lasting but the down side is the health implication and also the cost compare to a normal pine timber.

[Discus-Hans]

Hans, is there any chance of seeing how you connect your water storage system to the delivery of the fresh water to your sump? I've been trying to work out in my head how you connect those massive storage and I can't seemed to find a proper solution to linking them up to circulate the water. I'm afraid that my head will explode if I don't see the pic. :P

Hans, do you coat the rack with any paint before putting them together? If it's not paint, do you mind telling me what kind of wood is it and is the wood pressure treated? I've heard a lot of bad stuff about pressure treated wood and I'm not sure if I'm going to go for those. On the positive side it's long lasting but the down side is the health implication and also the cost compare to a normal pine timber.

Daniel,

for the first part, I will try to make some pictures tomorrow, easier probably as trying to explain lol lol

For the second part, I used the untreated because I'm Dutch and cheap lol lol
If one of the legs get bad, I make for a few $$ a new one and replace it lol lol I didn't paint anything.

Hans

[daniel19831123]

Is it just any wood that you can use for such construction or does it have to be of a certain kind? I was looking at a sawmill catalogue the other day and I was amazed by the option available. There is cedar, oak, meranti, pine, etc etc. Which one did you use for yours? Sorry I know the question sounded stupid, but I've never dealt with wood before so I don't know their properties and which is recommended to be use with high humidity.

Dan

[zamboniMan]

You can paint them. I paint mine black or stain them.

[terps]

Hey Hans,

Have you ever done a Cost-Benefit Analysis on moving your warehouse to some place tropical like Florida? $6,000 a year to just run your dehumidifiers is crazy expensive.

What was your oil heating bill for the month of December? I bet moving to a much warmer climate like Florida would pay for itself in a year. And with oil going up in price, heating costs are only going to get worse. Too bad that "global warming" was just a scam.

[zamboniMan]

Hey Hans,

Have you ever done a Cost-Benefit Analysis on moving your warehouse to some place tropical like Florida? $6,000 a year to just run your dehumidifiers is crazy expensive.

What was your oil heating bill for the month of December? I bet moving to a much warmer climate like Florida would pay for itself in a year. And with oil going up in price, heating costs are only going to get worse. Too bad that "global warming" was just a scam.


Until a hurricane hits... :D

[roybo]

Hans,

Just spent a few hours reading this post. Awsome job on your upgrade! A+ operation. I'm getting back into discus after a 20+yr absence. Tines have changed. Technology (internet) is making the learning curve easier. Thanks to you and those on these forums for all the information. Learned a few new tricks to help set up my fishroom. Thanks a lot!

Roybo

[rubinsteinnyc]

2nd time I have read this. awesome! any more pix maybe ;)?

[gautamhazare]

Where to get these hinges for tank cover. any Online store??

[Discus-Hans]

here you go: http://www.glasscages.com/ tell them I send you and they will take care of you,

Hans

[bwssr]

When I was raising Angels I had 120 tanks. From 20 to 55 gallons in the basement of my home. The humidity it was terrible. How are you dealing with it? How is you wife dealing with it? Mine not so much. Also I was using meridian water changers and sponge filters. Angels aren't as touchy.

[TNT77]

When I was raising Angels I had 120 tanks. From 20 to 55 gallons in the basement of my home. The humidity it was terrible. How are you dealing with it? How is you wife dealing with it? Mine not so much. Also I was using meridian water changers and sponge filters. Angels aren't as touchy.
He has humidifiers with the water line plumbed into his drain pipes if I remember correctly.

[Spyke]

I'll take one of these rooms please. Just pack one up for me and ship it to me. Filled with discus preferably. thanks

[DiscusAB]

This aint no fish room more like a fish warehouse. lol
Go big or go home right? Lol

[Flash man]

Hi Hans
What are the measurements of the holes you had drilled in your breeding tanks for the pipes to join up to the sump and where are they best positioned?

[bir123]

Would the pipe/overflow suck down fry or smaller fish?

[Discus-Hans]

Hi Hans
What are the measurements of the holes you had drilled in your breeding tanks for the pipes to join up to the sump and where are they best positioned?

All my overflows are a 1" bulkhead if that's what you mean.



Would the pipe/overflow suck down fry or smaller fish?

Yes, if they fit trough the strainer, they can be sucked up, most babies stay away from the overflow. if I want to save the fry I take a small sponge filter and pull it over the strainer.

Hans

[bir123]

Thanks hans

[NH Murph]

Did you cut and glue the pond foil to fit the contour of your sump? It looks pretty wrinkle free for simply using a single piece.

[Discus-Hans]

Did you cut and glue the pond foil to fit the contour of your sump? It looks pretty wrinkle free for simply using a single piece.

It's just loose in the wooden box and YES it took some time to get it smooth and nice flat as I wanted lol

Hans

[NH Murph]

It's just loose in the wooden box and YES it took some time to get it smooth and nice flat as I wanted lol

Hans

That must have taken some time. Thank you for sharing your project. I've learned a lot from reading through it.