what do you guys think?

[heckelcrazy]

Ok guys here it is. I am a newcomer to USA and have yet to experience my first Rochester NY winter. They tell me its going to get cold and Im beginning to believe them since when i went outside this morning it was 42F!!!!

One thing i am not inexperienced at is breeding and raising discus as I have done so successfully for over 10 yrs at home in New Zealand. I have 6 tanks set up right now and am looking to expand that in the next few months.
However i am yet to have a successful spawn here in USA. I put this down to 2 things
1. Back in New Zealand i had a separate fish room away from the house where the fish were never disturbed by humans except for water changes and feedings. Here the fish are in the study and there are ppl walking in and out all damn day.
2. I have only ever once bought adult fish . Back home I had bought a bunch of baby red royal blue wilds as F1 babies and raised them and line bred with some red turk/brilliant red turk babies that I also raised. I am not sure if this is significant or not as the adults that i have here in Rochester are spawning weekly but for one reason or another either eat the wigglers or the eggs or fry. It is noteworthy though that all of the breeding pairs i have came here as adults. I am also growing out some melons from frank and am looking to get about 20 more babies of 2-3 diff colours to start growing out.

Sooooooo i had thought what i would do is move the fish into the basement of my 1850 house. The basement has a tub, plumbing, power and a concrete floor but is otherwise unfinished. It has a sump in the floor also. I had considered it would be too cold in the winter but i was down there today and it seemed warmer than the study where the fish are now. What do you guys think? What could i do to insulate it better and do you think it would be a worthwhile venture? Steve and Ron have both seen the basement and think it would work ok.

cheers in advance


aran

[mench]

Listen and take note grasshopper...after everyone on the board gives ya advice on how to do it....me and Steve and Glenn and Gary will come over and spend ALL your Doctor money and help ya set up a super fish room...Remember I will have more plastic 55 gal tanks to go along with the other one ya got from me,so tanks will be a small expence.
So young Kiwi-san...start putting a few pennies a week away for your new fish room
And as for it being cold...heck 42 deg is still shorts and convertible(sp) for us native NY's ya ain't seem nuttin yet LOL

Mench

And as for it being cold...heck 42 deg is still shorts and convertible(sp) for us native NY's ya ain't seem nuttin yet LOL

Mench

Hey, Mench! You're right! 42 degrees F is nothing. This is jogging weather but shorts? LOL Unless you're hitting a shot of Jack Daniels and a shot of fine bourbon and cognac. ;D

Aran, check out Jack's thread (Discus_KC). He had his family help him make insulated tanks with some form of aluminum (?). Of course, Mench, Cary, Steve and more have super setups. ;)

Best regards,
*Angie*

[strawman]

Heck, my pool is still opened. We haven't even seen our Indian summer yet. Should hit within the next 2 weeks. Is your basement heated at all, and is it underground. If so you will be surprised at how warm it will stay. Stone and or concrete blocks hold the heat very well once heated up.

[April]

well..i say it was all that wonderful water you guys have in new zealand..if it comes from that underground spring..that runs from new zealand to brisbane..meant to be the best water in the world..and..the fish breed like crazy in it i hear...
give it time..mench will help you out. that a boy Mench..:wave:

[heckelcrazy]

your right ron...i think we oughta do it mate. (set up the fish room that is!) Yeah the basement is underground. The only buggar about it really is that the ceiling is only at about 6foot tops. Still thats ok cuz im a short lil guy at 5'8".

The water in NZ was awesome. I am using RO here so i think i can get these buggars to breed. Heres hoping anyways.

Ron did you try doing the lambada in front of the web snakes yet?


aran

[heckelcrazy]

alright ron clearly i am going to need to buy a slab of coldies ( thats kiwi for buy some beers) and get the lads over (u, steve,glenn, gary ) to help with the new room.


aran

[mench]

Any time my friend..just say the word..I just LOVE spending other peoples money ;D..nutin with the webs yet..still shaking and dancing
And yep you will have to cut some rafters in the basement so Steve,Gary,Glenn and me can walk around without taking the top of or heads off.....But wait....you are a Doc...so ya can fix us up LOL..but ya get to work on us only at the start of one of your crazy 3 day shifts...

Mench

[heckelcrazy]

come on ron...u know us docs spend 1-2hours a day only at the hospital and the rest of the time at the golf course or sipping chardonnays with the nurses!


I think the ceiling to the basement is about 6foot at the most ron. We may need Steve to knock together some new stands...i dunno if these ones are gonna be too tall or not.


aran

BTW if your after a colonoscopy ron then im ur man:)

[sill]

Hi Aran, I have to laugh, most people comments were about the weather and here I am to do the same! I know how you feel, I came to Sydney Oz 4 years ago from Toronto, Canada and let me tell you, the people here would die in a canadian winter. No you have a minute yet to experience a real north american winter, bundle up big time!. I however have to deal with the heat here. I'll take cold any day and this barbequing and shorts on xmas day is just wrong! LOL I'll leave your fish room and spawning to the experts, just wanted to say "g'day". P.s I've been to NZ and just love it, I think its a fabulous place!
Sill :)

[RAWesolowski]

Aran,

Your basement will be a constant temp compared to your study. Depending on the number of tanks that you have, your greatest concern may be humidity as basements, particularly ones from the mid-19th century are usually poorly ventilated.

Mmmm, I wonder if Mench would help me create the perfect fish room. If he could just convince my bride...

[Cosmo]

Aran,

I'm in Chicago where it's at least as cold as where you are.. fishroom in the basement. I put 1/2inch bulletin board material over the outside wall in addition to insulating the tanks.. I used foam insul. on the back of the tanks but think the silver stuff mentioned earlier would be better.. next tear down maybe. I also put foam insulation and drywall over the windows for when the temp really drops.. Another consideration, put 1.5 to 2 inch construction foam under your water storage tanks to keep the cold from coming up thru the concrete.

My room is enclosed (not the full basement :( ) and the heat from the tanks and storage tanks keeps the room warmer than the rest of the basement..

Neat trick for the RO is run the feed line thru about 50ft of a warm bath before it goes to the unit cause your feed waters gonna get awfully cold and will slow production otherwise..

Basements make for great fishrooms even in the cold of winter

Jim