2018 - Odin Aquatics

DIY Aquarium Rack for 29 Gallon Tanks 3

CrowlinDecember 31, 2018December 31, 20183 Comments

This rack is designed to hold two 29 gallon aquariums. It was built using 2x4 pine studs, wood screws, and steel corner brackets. The total cost was less than $50, and the only tools required are a saw and a drill.

Design

I created a 3D model of this rack using SketchUp before I started building so I could check all of the dimensions. A 29 gallon tank measures 30 1/4" Long x 12 1/2" Wide x 18 3/4" High. Note that 20 gallon "long" tanks have the same footprint, but are 6" shorter in height, therefore this rack design also works for 20 longs. Its important to make sure you will have adequate space between tanks when designing a multi-level aquarium rack. This design allows roughly 7" of space between the lower tank and the top shelf.

Building

I cut the 2x4 studs to size using a Dewalt miter saw. The only lengths needed for this rack are 53", 31", and 11". The sketch above shows how they all fit together. I sanded all of the pieces at this stage so that every surface was smooth.

I assembled the shelves by placing the 11" sections on the inside edges of the 31" sections, and securing with 2.5" wood screws. I always drill pilot holes before driving a screw into a stud.

I stained the shelves and the uprights before connecting them all together. Then I assembled the rack in its designated position in my fish room starting from the floor.

To prevent the weight of the aquariums from putting too much stress on the wood screws, I added steel brackets under all 4 corners of both shelves. This design would probably not support a larger aquarium, but a filled 29 gallon weighs only 330-350 pounds. Each #8 wood screw has a shear strength of about 100 pounds. I used 8 to secure each shelf to the uprights, plus the additional supporting brackets, just to be safe.

**Disclaimer: Do your own math - I'm not responsible for any damage caused by this design failing in your application**

These brackets were less than $2 a piece at a home improvement store. They are secured with 3/4" metal-to-wood lath screws.

Final Setup

Currently this rack holds a 20 gallon long fry tank and a 29 gallon planted tank. Although it was designed to hold two 29's, I already had the 20 and decided it would make a good growout for my Endler fry.

See my other DIY rack design here.

Endler Fry Tank Setup 1

CrowlinDecember 29, 2018June 1, 20191 Comment

I recently purchased a few pairs of adult yellow tiger Endler's livebearers. The photo above is a couple of the males in my planted 10 gallon display tank. The best thing about livebearers is how easy they are to breed once you have a pair of adults with good genetics. I set up a simple fry rearing tank, added a very pregnant female, and within 24 hours of moving her I had 15+ newborn Endler fry.

Female Endler After Giving Birth — Adult Female Endler

Tank Setup

This setup is optimal for rearing young fish, whether they are livebearers or egg-layers. It requires no substrate and no decorations. All you need is a heater, a filter, and some moss or other plants for the fry to hide in. I am using a 20 gallon "long" size tank, which is shorter vertically and longer horizontally than a typical 20 gallon "high". The light is a 30" Nicrew LED, although a light is not required for raising fry.

These baby Endlers will be fully grown and ready to breed in about 3 months.

Filtration

I'm using a Bacto-Surge sponge filter in this fry tank. A sponge filter is by far the best type to use in a tank with very young fish. Hang-on-back and canister filters have intakes that will suck up and kill newborn fry. Although you can use intake sponges on these types of filters, its much simpler to use an air-driven sponge filter. A 5 watt air pump can drive multiple sponge filters, filtering more than one tank with less electricity than a single hang-on-back.

Bare Bottom

Although you could put gravel into a tank you are using to raise fry, it is much better to run a bare bottom tank. I painted the back and bottom of this tank using black acrylic paint. The bare bottom allows you to easily vacuum out uneaten food and waste to maintain high water quality for the young fish. Having no substrate also saves you about $20 in a 20 gallon tank like this one.

Plants

Plants, such as guppy grass or java moss, provide the fry (or eggs) with a place to hide from their parents, who will often eat their own young. Additionally, plants provide fry with a high surface area to graze on infusoria, which are minute aquatic creatures such as ciliates, euglenoids, protozoa, and unicellular algae.

I pulled a large quantity of java moss out of another tank that I was rescaping specifically for this setup. You can see several 1 day old Endler fry hanging out beneath the moss in the photo below. If you don't have access to such a large quantity of java moss, guppy grass, also known as najas grass, is often available at local fish shops.

Feeding The Fry

I feed newly hatched brine shrimp to all of my young fish. Brine shrimp are cheap to produce and can be hatched from eggs in 36 hours. They are small enough for newborn Endlers and Guppies to eat, high in protein, and irresistible to most fish. Fry that are raised on live brine shrimp will quickly outgrow fish that are fed only crushed flakes or other prepared foods. The photo below shows a culture of brine shrimp ready to be harvested.

This post has more information on hatching brine shrimp.

Update: Endler Fry Tank 5 Months Later

After setting this tank up I added dwarf water lettuce which has spread to cover most of the surface. The java moss has more than tripled in size and now hosts a colony of blue dream shrimp in addition to multiple generations of Yellow Tiger Endlers.

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Fish Room Water Change System 1

CrowlinDecember 16, 2018December 29, 20181 Comment

Design

There are a few different ways that fishkeepers with many tanks choose to setup their water change systems. The optimal design for any particular fish room depends on the incoming water source, space available, and volume of water that will need to be regularly changed.

If you are on a well, you probably don't have to worry about paying a water bill or treating your water for chlorine or chloramine. Many people who have well water choose to run a continuous drip system, where new water is constantly being added. Since I have city supplied water that needs to be dechlorinated, I have to treat all water going into my tanks. So a continuous drip was not an option in my case.

Another common design is to use a large reservoir to store treated water. I didn't want to go that route because my space is somewhat limited. I needed a system that could give me filtered, tempered water on demand. And I wanted to be able to control flow to each tank using manual valves, and have drilled overflows to prevent flooding in case I forget I'm filling a tank (this happens a lot).

Fill System

Water coming into my fish room first runs through a dual-stage whole house filter system. The temperature of the water going to the tanks is controlled by a Delta shower valve , and the flow is controlled by a Pentair gate valve. The first section of the system is plumbed with PEX, because it was easy to tap into my existing plumbing.

I added a threaded 25 psi pressure regulator made for sprinkler systems to reduce the pressure in the line going to the tanks. This prevents pressure from building up at the individual tank valves and allows me to use irrigation compression tubing in some sections.

Each tank has its own fill line controlled by a Pentair gate valve with hose threading on the output side. I can screw on any hose attachment, including a Python hose adapter. My smaller tanks have a drip irrigation faucet fitting with irrigation tubing so I can do gradual water changes.

My larger tanks are fed directly from the faucets, with flow controlled using a combination of the valve at the tank and the system's main gate valve.

I can run slow, simultaneous water changes on several tanks at once with this system, or I can change out a lot of water on one tank very quickly. But the best feature is that I never have to fill and carry a bucket of water across the room! To quote the great rainbowfish keeper Gary Lange: "Gary don't carry", and neither do I.

Drain System

When it comes to draining water out of aquariums, there are obviously a few ways to go about it. You can use the old hose and bucket method. Or you can make the upgrade to a Python Clean and Fill System (which I use to perform water changes on my client's tanks). Or you can plumb the tank with a drain, either permanently by drilling a hole for a bulkhead, or temporarily using PVC. I prefer to drill aquariums whenever possible. A drilled overflow will never lose siphon the way an over-the-top PVC built one could. I wrote this post and this other post about drilling tanks if you are planning to try it.

Each drilled tank feeds a flexible braided hose that connects to a 1.5" PVC drain line which runs around the perimeter of the room. Below, you can see the PVC drain manifold underneath my 29 gallon rack.

There are a total of 4 sanitary tees spaced out along the drain line, and each can be expanded to handle multiple drains. The pipe starts about 12" off the floor, and runs about 20 feet around the room with a gradual decline to the floor drain.

You can see the 90 gallon sump overflow hose alongside the main drain pipe in these two photos .

This system took a couple months of planning and tinkering to implement, and I learned a lot about plumbing a fish room in the process. During that time I was constantly looking at examples of other people's systems to help influence my own. Hopefully seeing my design is helpful to someone else in the process of setting up a water change system.