Looking for tanks, parts, and etc

[Hockeyben51]

I am looking to buy 3 20 gal standard size, along w/ a sump sterlizer, protein skimmer, ammonia nuetralizer. I am gunna set up breeding tanks for clownfish that are all gunna hook to the sump so all the equipment needs to be able to support the tanks. I also if possible would like instruction to put this to gether, thw tanks need to be stacked on top of one another on a stand that i am gunna build. SO thanks if your able do anything to help.

[bigreddog]

I'm sure I can help you with planning the setup. Breeding fish is fun and rewarding but also very involved. When I was your age I used to breed freshwater fish for my cousin's pet shop. I had a system with 20 10g's, 12 20g's, 8 30g's, and 2 55g's. Amazingly, they all fit on one wall in my bedroom which was a converted garage. Don't just jump into it, the planning is the most imporant part.

I have two simple questions to start:

How much room do you have to work with?
What type of clowns do you want to breed?

[Hockeyben51]

First of i like to say thank you for helping me.
1. I have 26X18X90 to work with
2.I plan on breeding-onyx clowns,black and white ocellaris, and true percula

[Hockeyben51]

actually i think 3 10 gallon tanks would work just as well, becasue i am limited to space and maybe 4 10 gallon dependin if i can find another pair i would like to breed, the idea is to keep this project inexspensve and to buy 2nd hand stuff rather than new to keep a good budget.

[bigreddog]

You're going to want to stick with at least the 20g high tanks but the 26" width doesn't leave you enough room to work with. 10g tanks are fine for raising larvae which you will need but are too small for actually breeding. The 18" depth and 90" height are okay but can you squeeze out a few more inches of width, say about 28" to 30"?

You might also want to start out with one or two species, a third species is pushing it with your limited space. To do it right, for each species you want to breed you will need two tanks, a breeding tank and a larvae grow out tank.

[Hockeyben51]

i guess i could go 28 or so

edit:i have 26 long 18 wide 90 high

[Hockeyben51]

what are deminsons of a 20 high?

[bigreddog]

A 20g high is 24x12x16 but you need room for the sides of the stand itself. Using 2x4's adds roughly another 3-4 inches to the width. If you can go 28 then you're good to go.

[Hockeyben51]

ok 28 will be fine

[Hockeyben51]

ok so are we gunna continue planning this thing?

[Hockeyben51]

bigreddog-please get back to me when you can

Everyone else-sell me your your sumps, sterilizers, pumps, skimmers just make me an offer please!!! I am friggin seroius abou putting this thing together and the quicker i can get it set up the quicker you guys can get some of these fish:)

[bigreddog]

Do you still want to try three different species? If so, you will have to build another setup later for the growout/larvae tanks. To plan the stand you need to know a few things:

1. How many tanks?
2. What type of filtration?
3. What type of lighting?
4. What other equipment?

There's more but this will get things started. If you want to do this right then you will need two growout/larvae tanks for each breeding tank. As a former fish breeder, my suggestion would be to start out with one species and use them to learn from before trying to do three different species at once. With the space you have available this is one route you can take.

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/73142Breeding-1.gif

[Hockeyben51]

ok thats looks AWESOME!!! i guess i will just do one type of clown to start w/. I am wondering why 2 grow out tanks? the lighting for the breeding tank will be just a standard flouresent lighting and i'm not sure if i need a specific lighting for the other two tanks. As for the sump i would like to hook it to all the tanks and have a sterilizer and skimmer some how connected on to it. How would i connect all the tanks? I think one big pump to send the water to the tanks but I am not sure how to get water back to the sump.

Thanks

Ben

[bigreddog]

The reason for two growout tanks is that in the time it takes for one batch to grow into sellable juveniles (about 4-6 months) the parents will more than likely spawn again. The only way to avoid this is to leave the fry with the parents. As long as there are fry present the parents will not lay more eggs but as soon as you remove the fry instinct kicks in and the parents will start over. If all goes well, you will have two batches going at all times.

For lighting, I would get retrofit kits and mount them inside the framework.
- two 15" SunPaq's (http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=11419&N=2004+113347) for the growout tanks.
- two 15" SunPaq's (http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=11419&N=2004+113347) or one 18" QuadPaq (http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=12210&N=2004+113347) for the breeding tank.

For plumbing, I would drill the back of each tank and either plumb them separately or in series. If you plumb them in series you will need to come up with a way to isolate each tank from the system.

This will give you some more things to think about.

[Hockeyben51]

why so much light? and I have no clue how to drill a tank and I don't really know what you mean by plumbing in a series or seperatly.

[Hockeyben51]

Is there a specific sump you would recommend for this setup and can you give me an idea of measurements of this thing so i can kind of start putting a list together of what i need to buy and what sizes and so on. P.S. If this all goes well you got dibs on the first batch of what is breeded.

[Hockeyben51]

???please get back to me.

[bigreddog]

Sorry Ben, I was really busy with SOL (you know those tests you guys love so much) tutoring and testing this week and didn't get on much this week. I was hoping you would make the meeting today and we could talk about it then. Anyways, let's get to your questions.

One 32W light on each growout tank is about right for that size. The reason I suggested more light, preferably the 96W, on the breeding tank is to make it possible to add an anemone to help increase the clowns tendency to breed.

Drilling the tanks is no problem if needed. I can get them drilled for you cheap. Plumbing them in series means that the return and drain lines for all the tanks are tied together, one return and one drain line in the sump. Plumbing them separately means you will have a return and drain line for each tanks, three return and three drain lines in the sump. There are many different ways to plumb the system and you can figure out the best way once you have all the equipment.

A 20g high tank will work for the sump. It gives you the flexibility to set it up the way you want and is big enough for the system.

What do you need measurements for? tanks? stand?

If you get this done, I'll be glad to take those dibs. Thanks.

[Hockeyben51]

Thanks so much, if possible what would the measurments be on the stand and I am gunna make the August meeting if i don't have to work like i did yesterday.

[Hockeyben51]

If anyone has a breeding pair of ocellaris I'd be more than happy to buy them from you:)