# Mini Fishroom



## Dego510 (Mar 9, 2009)

Hi Everyone,

I've been keeping fish for about 4 years now and currently keep a 75 gallon and 125 gallon with all-male peacocks and haps. I just moved into a new house with a decent sized basement that has a completely open floor plan and was thinking of starting a fishroom. I don't want to do a massive fishroom with a ton of tanks since I don't have a ton of time so I was thinking of building a couple racks and making a "Fish Area" in one of the corners of the basement near the sink and drain area. I want something that would accommodate 5 breeding groups of smaller Peacocks and Haps. I know I will be using sponge filter system and plan on just using individual tank heaters since I hope to not have more than 10 tanks going (plus the tanks will not be in an enclosed area).

Here's where I struggle. What size tanks will I need to start a small scale fish room where I would breed 5 different species of Peacocks/Haps? Can I use a few 33 Gallon Longs, some 20 Longs and a few 10 Gallons? Or do I need some 55G's or 40BR's? Again, I'm aiming for the smallest setup size possible (least number of tanks and gallons) while efficiently breeding 5 species and keeping them healthy.

Thanks!


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

As long as you choose fish that mature at or under 6" you will be fine with 33L tanks. If you want to raise fry then I would have 10G, 20G and 55G for the various sized fry.


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## Dego510 (Mar 9, 2009)

DJRansome said:


> As long as you choose fish that mature at or under 6" you will be fine with 33L tanks. If you want to raise fry then I would have 10G, 20G and 55G for the various sized fry.


Ok, so what is the progression of the tanks? Let's say I wanted to breed Ngara Flametails and Steveni Reef. They would start off in 33Longs of their own and the fry would go into the 10G, 20G, and 55G as they got bigger, correct? I could never combine the Flametails and Taiwan Reefs fry for fear of crossbreeding and not being able to differentiate females, right?


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

The protomelas is a 7" fish so I would not choose those to raise in a 33G long. You could mix if the females look different. So for example you could mix copadichromis trewavasae and protomelas marginatus fry because one is spotted and one is striped.


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## Dego510 (Mar 9, 2009)

Here's an off-subject but somewhat related question for those of you that have or had fishrooms:
After you built or had an official fishroom, did you underestimate the time needed to maintain all your tanks? Did it end up becoming a chore rather than enjoyment? I see fishrooms that are unbelievable and think about how awesome it would be to have something similar, but then wonder how I would manage something like that with a 40hr/week job and 2 kids under 5 years old. Obviously, it all depends on each person individually and how much they have going on in their lives, but I wanted to hear other people's opinions and experiences with fishrooms.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

No actually, and it did surprise me. First, I planned to have an auto water changer system, so that would have taken care of most of the extra work. Have not quite got it turned on though.

What I did find is the bare bottom tanks and plecos eliminate all scraping and vacuuming. I have HOBs and they take care of all waste...I think sponges would be different. Also having the tanks in proximity and a laundry sink as well means the changes can be very quick. I can do each HOB while the next tank is draining so it's pretty efficient.

I would not do it without a automatic water change system long term though.


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## Dego510 (Mar 9, 2009)

Anyone else have surprises or regrets after starting a fishroom?


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