Bought my Discus a Cabin

[Larry Bugg]

Is the well water in your area pretty much the same, so that you know what to expect? Around here you can move a mile and get completely different water.

It should be very similar to what I am using right now. My sister-in-law is within .2 miles from here and is the same. I will be about 1/2 mile away.

[gunnerschh2]

Close in a small portion on porch insulate & instal heater or in back a small area for heater & you will have good hot water & not lose any fish space. Harry

[LizStreithorst]

Good idea, Harry.

[Allwin]

Wow Larry, just live your life Looks like an interesting woods in the background.

Will be exciting to see the inside of cabin pics.!

[Jack L]

If you have never heard of it look up square foot gardening might be of interest to you I started doing it a couple years ago and it has been pretty successful

[Larry Bugg]

If you have never heard of it look up square foot gardening might be of interest to you I started doing it a couple years ago and it has been pretty successful

Yup, done it before.

[Larry Bugg]

Ok, so here is the updated plan. Originally I had planned on walling off the two barn doors at the back of the cabin. New plan is to remove both doors. I am then going to build a 10' x 8' addition off the door openings. This new area will be insulated and will house the two 330 gallon water storage totes. They are 40" x 48" and will take up half of the new room. The remainder of the room will be used to house the refrigerator, sink and work table. May also have enough room left for one or two of the plastic 5 shelf racks I used for supplies in the old fish room. This means I will no longer need a water heater for the tanks as the water in the storage totes will be heated. My fish in the garage have been doing fine with water from the tap but I really like aging my water. Moving the non aquarium items into the new area will allow me to increase my total aquarium gallons to around 1200 gallons and possible leave the two windows in the main area uncovered. If I decide I need more tank space I can always cover the windows and put tanks in front of them at a later time. I like having the windows unobstructed so I can have the natural light in the room during the day.

[two utes]

Good idea on the expansion for your water storage. I also like the fact that you intend to leave the windows unobstructed, but what do you do not to loose heat through the glass? Or is that not a problem?

[Larry Bugg]

Good idea on the expansion for your water storage. I also like the fact that you intend to leave the windows unobstructed, but what do you do not to loose heat through the glass? Or is that not a problem?

It is a trade off. We lose heat through the windows in our houses but chose to have them.

[Mugwump]

The sun will add warmth too, over the course of a day.....just use thermal panes......I'd rather have the light too..

[DC Discus]

If I decide I need more tank space I can always cover the windows and put tanks in front of them at a later time. I like having the windows unobstructed so I can have the natural light in the room during the day.

Why not put a display tank in front of the window with only the ends painted so the fish can see out the window and into the cabin (watch for you to come feed them) and still let light in. I have a tank in an atrium and the Discus all crowd the side that you can see into house and pretty much just watching us go back and forth. I've also had good success with window films reflecting heat away, if your window gets mid-day direct sunlight.

Cheers,
DC

[Mugwump]

Why not put a display tank in front of the window with only the ends painted so the fish can see out the window and into the cabin (watch for you to come feed them) and still let light in. I have a tank in an atrium and the Discus all crowd the side that you can see into house and pretty much just watching us go back and forth. I've also had good success with window films reflecting heat away, if your window gets mid-day direct sunlight.

Cheers,
DC

...Algae likes sunlight...

[LizStreithorst]

That's the first thing I thought.

[DJW]

Install skylights and then you can put more tanks.

You can sit back and relax Larry, we'll have this whole deal designed for you in no time.

[LizStreithorst]

Don't install a skylight. The SOB's always leak over time.