F's fishroom

Think I said it on another thread but I love that half filled tank with the little shelve in the middle +1

 

nice looking tanks. you love Guppies

 

Nice looking tanks. How are you maintaining the temp in those tanks without a heater? Esp. with the weather we are not experiencing?

 

Really nice tanks, love the half-filled one too... Nice monitor by the way, is that an Acer AL1951? Your fish room looks like my bedroom used to... Now I have less tanks... Its not fair...

 

Andrew - yeah this was my second attempt at doing a moss wall the one in that picture is 4 months of leave it alone growth.

Thanks VIS ... Lucky 13 has been a big learning curve - especially the idea of growing plants that our LFSs sell at true aquatics on a shelf - no substrate seems to give me the best results.

Franna - I confess I have more than just MTS ... thing is I like loads of plants, every time I get a new tank the first thing to go in are plants - a few hours later a little voice says "add some guppies - just to get the water sorted" (since I have never cycled a tropical tank - did do it to my first gold fish tank) and before you know it another colony has started - I do not breed guppies, just love seeing them flourish. I don't recall ever setting a planted tank up with the intention to keep guppies.

Zoom - Last year I was big on covering each tank with a blanket every night. This year I invested in some 25mm polystyrene sheets and sealed the big doorway, and all external facing walls with the stuff ... especially the windows - might still need to do the roof at some stage lets see how it goes. Been running like this now for a few days and the temp in the room has not dropped below 19.4 - only fish that are taking to hibernation seems to be the convicts.

Yes Nirv ... it is a acer ;-) well spotted ... it was our study at some stage, but with me preparing for winter it is now almost a cooler box, some nights I do sleep in the fish room - love the sounds of all the HOB's ...

Thanks for all the kind words - much appreciated. Still pondering bringing the outside tanks in - figure that running 3 more 30W lights are cheaper than the 300W heater running 27/7 at the moment.

One day I will grow old and wise and realise that I do not have to leave the guppies in the tank ;-)

 

your tanks are excellent.... +1 sharp

 

really Awesome tanks, dude

 

F-fish, could you please explain?: "twists of the grinder..."
It sound like you have a new fish feeder!
Gert.

 

its like the black pepper grinders that you twist...
used to keep fish food in...
so when you thist...
the pellots get crushed...

did I mention how awsome the tanks are

 

Gertjc, Slayer is correct see http://www.tropicalaquarium.co.za/showthread.php?t=1381&highlight=grinder - I now mix flakes and granules - it also allows me to treat during the day but then feed measurable less at night. Also the only way I could get the other 1/4 to feed the fish in a sensible way.

Thanks Gaawie & eb.adam - what you have not seen are the 7 other tanks that are "under construction"

 

yeah, i do the same, mix up my own food in a grinder, fish go crazeeeee

 

great setups! Im just curious about the open top tank especially about the plants out of water. Dont your fish ever jump? I've always imagined that you could only make a tank like that with a half filled tank

 

Thanks Speedz, above a picture of the typical plants on the shelf , end of last year it looked like the pic below.


That was about 3 months of growth - removed the hydroton balls flushed the plant decay and now have no substrate in the shelf. The open tank gives me a different view on a planted scapes. For fish jumping, I have not had any issues - then again I do check to see what the google generation has to say about the species before doing so. Yes the above picture was during a water change. I like big water changes.

 

Awesome fish room
Very well done

 

Looking awesome .. one day when i can have a room for my hobby i will do it ..

 

Awesome f-fish,you have a severe condition of MTS

 

So 2011 was not a great year for my planted tank hobby ...

I give to you the rearranged fishroom.


Moving some tanks out made this possible .. the dog's couch was also ditched. Tanks in the fishroom, 12 - and out-side, 8

I was shocked at the poor state of my current tanks when I went through this thread - man wish I still had some of those plants. This got me thinking - what changed?

1) I started playing with different substrates - pfp I think was the catalyst 2) got obsessive about running a tank as simple as possible, think plastic sheet covers I did for winter to reduce water vapour (might do that again this year - eish) 3) I dropped my water column dossing - I am not sure why 4) become BL phobic to the point that I would not buy new plants just because I could not remember if I saw it on the list or not and a few other things...

I think the only reason I am still here today - willing to continue is a) the DIY stuff b) HMF filters .. man those things needed zero maintenance - hmm might be why I forgot about the fertz, dope c) the planted tank comp's thread on TASA - that forced me to commit to a tank irrelevant of the end product at the exact point I was considering doing a fire sale and finding a new hobby.

What is different in 2012? Back to Basics .. fertz, lights and deal with the issues that happen. True 2011 was a blur I hope to slow it down in 2012 - lets see.

Later Ferdie

 

MTS looking very good

 

Looks nice - I wish I could also have some much space for so many tanks!

 

Thanks @Razer2007 @Corne ... space and so many tanks are both a blessing and a curse, but yes MTS she is big.