Raising fish out of doors

[LizStreithorst]

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...

[Mugwump]

....getting closer....cool....soon you'll have some nice new racks....are you having them make an extra too?.....ya never know 

[LizStreithorst]

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.

[LizStreithorst]

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.

[Mugwump]

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.....

[wallace]

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.

[LizStreithorst]

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.

[LizStreithorst]

two more including the outside containers where all but the Discus reside.

[Mugwump]

...'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..?

[LizStreithorst]

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. 

[wallace]

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.

[LizStreithorst]

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.

[LizStreithorst]

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.

[LizStreithorst]

two more

[LizStreithorst]

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!