I only did it because my stands were fixin' to fall down. I had to empty 240 gallons of tanks to advert disaster. I set up a 150 gallon container used for bait shrimp outside the fish room in a mostly shaded area that still gets hot afternoon sun. I moved Dots overcrowding a 60 wide into it as well as half of a huge spawn of Angels. I put the other half of the Angels into a 60 wide.
Today I had to move the outside fish inside because I have to catch them easily to take to the wholesaler. This is the verdict on how outside raising worked for me. There was no difference between the Angels nor the Dots from the ones raised outside vs the ones raised in the fish room. But I saw when I netted all the outside fish in to a 120 I realized that there were a ton of fish in it. The 120 is packed with fish!
I did less WC on the outside fish, but they did get WC every day. The outside fish got a tank wipe down just once rather than weekly. They just had 2 big sponge filters. I use 3 in my 100's and 120's.
I don't know why this worked so well, but I think that it has a lot to do with the huge surface area of the outside container.
...how much deeper are the outside tanks?....
Did they still have heaters? Your weather is downright tropical compared to mine... its common here to have 40 or even 50 degree swings from night to day.
ID of outside tank 44 long X 42 wide X 24 deep. 120, 16 X 18 X 20
Quote from: wallace on August 07, 2016, 04:18:56 PM
Did they still have heaters? Your weather is downright tropical compared to mine... its common here to have 40 or even 50 degree swings from night to day.
No heaters. The only heaters I have on are in my inside Discus tanks.
Were there a lot of insects falling into your outside tanks (extra food)?
Was the aeration equivalent?
Perhaps algae growing on the outside tanks provided additional biofiltration, or a place for small food items to grow.
There were some 'skeeters but I don't think they they didn't lay in that container because of the aeration. I had 2 sponges bubbling away in the outside tank while I keep 3 in my 100's and 120. There was a lot of soft green algae growing inside the container. I don't want you to think that I put the fish out there and forgot about them. The fish got fed twice daily and got about a 30 gallon WC every day.
Hey,
Algae can be good!
It would make more sense however if they were livebear5ers which would eat the algae directly.
I've tried live bearers before, Bill. I have yet to find anything that turns me on. I tried some excellent quality guppies. They were a snore. The only live bearers that ring my bell in a big way are fresh water Rays, and given their tank space requirements Rays are out of the question for me.
...anyone try these Xtra large sponges in their larger tanks?....you can even drive them with a small/med power head...
(http://cdn3.volusion.com/mvupl.lhrfv/v/vspfiles/photos/XY-2838-2.jpg?1459444572)
My largest sponges are 4 X 4" square.
I called the wholesaler back this morning. I told Tammy that when I moved the fish inside I had way more Dots that I thought and asked her if she could take 100 of the worthless things rather than 50. She said yes! I'm sure that I'll have more Angels and Dots left but they'll be back in the area in two more weeks and perhaps they'll take the rest.
Then I called Mr. Sharp. He'll come by one afternoon this week. I want the fencing done first. His guys can do that, and he'll get on building my stands at his house. Next weekend I'll move all the fish outside in big containers and Monday he'll be ready to put in the new stands. I'll be able to fit all the remaining fish in 3 150 gallon containers and 2 or 3 50 gallon containers. I may have to take off Tuesday to finish up the plumbing since I'm a slow worker with stuff I don't do all the time. The only thing I'm both fast and good at any more is grooming dogs.
I expanded my air system by adding more PVC and drilling holes in it and adding valves for 15 airlines. I filled the 150 gallon container back up with aged water and moved the 40 Dots and 60 small Angels outside. Once they get over being freaked out by the move they will be in heaven. There are gazillion skeeter larvae squiggling around in their new home.
I just did my wipe downs (didn't squeeze my sponges, though). I gave all the inside tanks an almost flopping on the bottom WC. Then I moved the adult Plats outside with the Dots and assorted small Angels. (There wasn't a skeeter larvae to be seen) They will be happy there although I do want to add a 3rd sponge to the container.
I believe that I will be fine moving the 2 100 gallon tanks of Blue Marbles to a 150 gallon container outside. I'm not sure yet what I will do with the HB's but I'll figure it out. I won't move the Discus outside until just before the guys work on the stands. The Discus, 6 or 8 Snots and 4 Dots are in a 120 with very large WC daily. They should be fine in a 150 gallon container for a day.
One thing I know...When the guys come to tear out the old stands and put in new, I will be ready.
Liz, if your climate lets you keep fish outside then you have the biggest fish house of anybody. Can you do that in the winter too?
Only during the summer months. I will take advantage of it when I can.
Set up another 150 gallon container with aged water and sponges. Moved 2 100 gallon tanks full of Blue Marbles outside. All that's left to move are 9 half blacks who will have to go into a 50 gallon black container. I don't like putting them in a black container but that's where they'll have to go. The Discus, I won't move until the evening before Mr. Sharp and his guys show up to do the work will go in the remaining wonderful 150 gallon container.
I have 6 20 to 30 gallon tanks with breeding pairs and a 75 mostly Blue Ghosts that don't need to be rebuilt. I made those stands myself. Go figure...
....getting closer....cool....soon you'll have some nice new racks....are you having them make an extra too?.....ya never know huh
No. I have a place for another 8" rack but now that I know how well Angels do outside during the summer in my lovely containers I don't want them.
I moved the remaining 150 gallon container in place yesterday. It didn't have a bulk head attached and I looked at the hole and remembered why. It was full of hills and valley's and needed a big serious fix. I knew about it but had forgotten :-[ I did a red neck fix using silicone and doubted that it would work. This morning after the silicone had dried I put in the bulk head and filled the container about 1/4 full of water. When I got home from work I checked it and although it was weeping slightly the water level wasn't noticeably lower. I am absolutely delighted! I filled the tank with RO and added aged tap to make the TDS close to what the Discus are used to. I put in 3 big sponges and 2 250 watt heaters because the temp here drops to the high 70's over night. I'll check the temp first thing in the morning and if I need another heater I'll toss one in.
I am very happy that my red neck fix works. It's not a forever fix but it will work for now. All I need to do is move the sofa that's in the fish room into the house and do a whole lot of cleaning up so Mr. Sharp and his guys have as much room to work as they need.
Quote from: LizStreithorst on August 20, 2016, 01:16:36 PM
I moved the remaining 150 gallon container in place yesterday. It didn't have a bulk head attached and I looked at the hole and remembered why. It was full of hills and valley's and needed a big serious fix. I knew about it but had forgotten :-[ I did a red neck fix using silicone and doubted that it would work. This morning after the silicone had dried I put in the bulk head and filled the container about 1/4 full of water. When I got home from work I checked it and although it was weeping slightly the water level wasn't noticeably lower. I am absolutely delighted! I filled the tank with RO and added aged tap to make the TDS close to what the Discus are used to. I put in 3 big sponges and 2 250 watt heaters because the temp here drops to the high 70's over night. I'll check the temp first thing in the morning and if I need another heater I'll toss one in.
I am very happy that my red neck fix works. It's not a forever fix but it will work for now. All I need to do is move the sofa that's in the fish room into the house and do a whole lot of cleaning up so Mr. Sharp and his guys have as much room to work as they need.
I love it when a plan comes together..... |^| w!w |^|
Liz maybe you have this covered but I want to mention that they should use kiln-dried lumber, or very dry, or some of it will warp and twist after its built in. I have made the mistake of building things with wet lumber from the lumber yards where they keep it outdoors. If he is a carpenter, he will know this of coarse.
I didn't know that. At this point all I can do is trust. Everything is built except for the legs of the tanks. He did it here while looking at the fish room. He for sure doesn't want to have to come back and eat the cost of having to re-do it.
This is where I am so far. Will you just look at all those empty tanks.
two more including the outside containers where all but the Discus reside.
...'except for the legs'..?.....so you'll take out what's pictured and replace all of them with new, when he gets the legs attached..?
He knows what I need. He will cut the legs when he put the racks in place. That way he can be sure that everything is perfectly level. I think that my slab is level but Mr. Sharp has worked on this fish room before and fixed Boozer's poor work. I don't blame him for not trusting that the slab is level.
Vice grips...LOL.. I just replaced a ball valve on the irrigation system this morning. The thing was broken for a whole year and I finally got tired of jumping over the mud puddle. I remember you got a bunch of new valves.
btw, I saw on simply that you were using treated pine. No worries on warpage, its dry and stable wood. You want to cut the treated wood outside away from fish as the dust is bad for fish. They don't put arsenic in it anymore (at least in California .?.) but its got some type of preservative.
Dan, there is a thread on Simply where I asked for advice on PVC ball valves. I bought magnificent ones. They will last until after I am dead. They weren't cheap.
If the guys cut the legs inside the fish room it's no big deal. All the fish will have been moved to outside, and I have an exhaust fan in the fish room.
I have done everything I had to do except WC on the outside containers. I found 2 pairs of glasses, a lighter, and a penny in the process of cleaning the joint. I had planned on moving the sofa back in the house but I ran out of steam. If the guys need to do it for more space they can do it themselves. They are many. I am one. They are (except for Mr. Sharp) young. They are all strong and in shape. I'm not as strong as I was when life required me to work like a dog, and I am certainly not young.
The Discus are a bit spooked in their temporary home. They are not used to being housed in a big white container. They will be fine.
two more
My poor dear hard working guys have been going hard at it since 8 this morning. They are two rather than three today. Mr Sharp loaned number 3 to a good carpenter friend who needed a young guy. He said his friend told him that he had an "old fart crew". Every one of them are over 50.
I just went down and said, "It's 3 o'clock sir." He wants to keep working until my job is done because there is somewhere else he needs to be tomorrow. I feel sorry for him. Over 7 hours working in the heat, sweating like a pig is something that I can no longer do. Mr Sharp is about my age.
It looks like I won't get my plumbing done until next week end. It's OK. I can change water using my sump pump and siphoning from the huge water storage containers in to the barrels that the sump pump sits it. I imagine the only fish I'll move back into the fish room this evening will be the Discus. They are doing fine outside but I can see that they prefer a real tank. I'll leave the Angels for during the week. I may wait longer. They love it outside!
The gentlemen are done. Mr Sharp said he didn't want food, but I brought out a plate of meatloaf to his son and he scarfed it. They're loading up the last of their stuff as I type. I'm very happy with their work.
I'm ready for a nice bath. I'm not wet to the bone like they are, but I've been a sweating son of a gun today..
...the racks are done..."happy, happy, happy"... |^|
I just filled 3 100's and a 120 with water, but in sponges and Magnums. I won't start moving the fish back home until I scrub sides and do another WC. The Discus will be the first to be moved back to tanks. The PB's will go in one 100 gallon and the RSG's in another.
I had a customer who used to own a shop in Florida and he said he raised a lot of fish outdoors. His patents had a large lot and he set up a bunch of horse troughs with sponge filters and he would buy tiny babies of certain fish and just throw them in there and let them grow out. His biggest successes were with African cichlids since he could buy fry very cheap and when they colored up he could get a a lot for them but he also did a lot of black ruby barbs. He would by tiny babies for pennies and after 6 months or so he could sell the colored males for 5 bucks each. He fed very little and they got a lot of natural food and his parents were retired so they looked after them most of the time (free help)
I don't know if he ever sat down and figured out his actual cost/benefit analysis but he said he knew his outlay of cash seemed very insignificant compared to the money he made from the larger fish.