Fishroom Reality Check

User · Nov 7, 2020

On Tuesday? Night, I think, one of the heavily pregnant black mollies I use for QT canary duty started dropping babies. I hadn’t planned on keeping any, and just letting them figure it out for themselves, but I was right there and I had a bunch of ice cream pots available. By the time I got the net and came back, only two were swimming around.
So I scooped them up and I’ve been feeding them baby brine shrimp and flakes for the past few days

look to be doing ok.

User · Nov 14, 2020

Anyone know what would make a robust amphipod population - literally dozens per sq in of rock- disappear in like 2 days?

have video of one of my girls watching and pointing out the ‘spiders’ in the tank Thursday night. Saturday morning- zero. I spent 15 minutes looking and don’t se a single one.

any ideas?

User · Nov 20, 2020

So- last night, we put an offer in on a house.

well find out around 6pm tonight if the buyer accepts our offer. They have a couple showings today. We might have to increase our price

It has a great area in the unfinished basement (next to the dedicated 1000sqft WOODWORKING SHOP!!!) for a smaller fishroom than I have now, that is directly under the living room. That works

The only complicating factor is- depending on if a particular wall is load bearing or not, we might have to stay with the 180 in a regular configuration, or we can go up to a 300 peninsula... I know which I’m rooting for, but it’ll depend on a structural engineers assessment

oh- and how in the bazinga do I move a stocked 180?

User · Nov 20, 2020

Uuuuggghhhjh guys... we just bought a house!

woodworking is my second hobby, just started last year, and I’ve been working in my cramped 11x14 space a few hours a week when the girls nap and I’m not bogged down with chores.

the new house has this-

Now, obviously, because I have kids and a wife that loves me for some reason, most of this space will be turned back into kids recreation area and walkout entertaining pool area.

but we looked over the floor plans and Katie pointed out a really convenient unfinished room that is central and will make for a nice fishroom and water prep area. I’ll need to get creative with rolling carts and a mobile QT station for when I buy new fish and corals- but the benefit is that I can plumb in a shallow mangrove lagoon for the rec area and share the sump. Or a separate small sump if I want to make it self contained for insurance

So I’ll have space for the tanks and a
40% upgrade in shop space (12x14 to 17x17 plus nooks). And an upgrade to a 300g peninsula is also still on the cards

Rest of the house is for the girls

close on December 30th.

EEK

Victoria M · Nov 21, 2020

neilp2006 said:
oh- and how in the bazinga do I move a stocked 180?

It is a PIA! You got to plan plan plan! I found videos on it. I could also help you work out a plan. And keep my fingers crossed for you!

and fingers are crossed for the house!

Victoria M · Nov 21, 2020

How is MJF?

User · Nov 21, 2020

Victoria M said:
How is MJF?

Oh, I forgot to mention - it was on there until all most lights out on the second day, when it extended pretty big, and MJF swam over to Reggie and Ronnie (cray, since they look like crawfish, lol) and one of them plucked it off. Then dropped it onto my blasto.
But he’s fine. Weird little nature drama

Victoria M · Nov 22, 2020

neilp2006 said:
Oh, I forgot to mention - it was on there until all most lights out on the second day, when it extended pretty big, and MJF swam over to Reggie and Ronnie (cray, since they look like crawfish, lol) and one of them plucked it off. Then dropped it onto my blasto.
But he’s fine. Weird little nature drama

Thank goodness it is off that poor fellow.

User · Nov 26, 2020

House inspection today. Literally not a single immediate issue in the whole house. Maybe 7 small things like a broken outside gfci and some bad weatherstripping on the garage door. Inspector said the house was impeccable and our realtor said that’s only the 3rd house with such a clean bill of health in 17 years.
We had a chance to walk around again and take some Measurements and look at a few logistical things.

guess what? The fishroom area literally has water pipes and a 4” plumbing stack on the other side of the framed wall... so no more noisy, sometimes leaky ejector pump, and access to the cold line for RODI and sink and the hot water heater for my heater loop. It’s literally 4’ to the back of the water heater through a plywood wall (or it will be in 6 months). This is turning out to be a perfect little area (11x14 isn’t so little I guess).

Victoria M · Nov 29, 2020

Wooh hoo!

User · Dec 1, 2020

Ok, guys. We did it. Barring something out of left field, we close on December 30th with the aim of moving in fully by end of Jan 21.

big issue is that to lock in an extremely favorable interest rate of 2.25, we have to put 20% down. Compared to 2.75 otherwise. We are looking to save 110K over the life of the mortgage.

20% down means we can’t do the wall removal Reno that would have allowed for a bigger tank. At least not for 18 months. so that means I’ll be pushing my 180 against a wall in the dining room and running it with the sump in the cabinet base. So water changes lugging buckets etc are in my future. Will be a huge change for this tank, and my practices supporting it, but it’s for the best. Then, in 18 months, we knock out the wall, upgrade to a 350 peninsula and bring the fishroom online. Having a year to properly prep and outfit the fishroom will be a great outlet and start to the upgrade, and I hope to eliminate things that didn’t work and incorporate changes that I’ve been thinking about.

drawman · Dec 1, 2020

Congrats on the house and the killer interest rate!

User · Dec 2, 2020

drawman said:
Congrats on the house and the killer interest rate!

Thanks. It’s the right thing to do. It cuts travel time for the grandparents down 50% to 40 mins, we gain 1000sqft for a little over 200 extra a month and it’s in a great daycare and school district. Plus it only adds 10 minutes to my wife’s airport commute time compared to here, for when work travel gets back to normal (she’s headquartered out of Paris) sometime in 2024...

It also offers a very real possibility of me turning my woodworking hobby into a small business. That was kinda in the cards for this year, but covid took all our free time away, and this increases workshop space by 40%. Gives me space for additional digital tools, like a
CN. Allows me to step up my game with custom v-carve engraving and laser cutting/etching etc.

Thinking Norse and Celtic engravings on the side of custom walnut dovetailed whisky cabinets, stuff like that.

User · Dec 7, 2020

starting the process of breaking down and storing away the many qt area tanks

this is my ‘permanent’ observation after wt tank. The remaining mollies are upstairs in the big tank. Doesn’t make sense spending $20 running this tank for 6 weeks for $4 in fish.

I have 5 frags in a 20g long frag tank. That’s going too. Frags going upstairs, break down and store the tank and lights.

sad face

and I just put 30lbs of rock in my sump to cure until moving day. I’m setting up 2x 20longs and a 40b each with a filter and 15lbs of cured rock to hold the fish for 2-3 days until I can move the big tank and sump, and set it all back up at the new place, and make 210 gallons of SW.

User · Dec 10, 2020

I just came down to find $64 of berghia nudis getting eaten by my long tentacle fungia. ***

User · Dec 21, 2020

Man, go awol for a week and stuff happens.

certain people around here really like to hear themselves talk... it’s like a three man echo chamber over there

count krunk · Dec 21, 2020

Congrats on the house! I moved recently myself. Gained 2.5 times the house for $30k more!

I now have a fish room down in the basement. It's not a fish room per say as it's a long rectangle that is shared with my wife, but half of it is mine to do with as I please!

350g peninsula?? That will be an adventure.

User · Dec 21, 2020

count krunk said:
Congrats on the house! I moved recently myself. Gained 2.5 times the house for $30k more!

I now have a fish room down in the basement. It's not a fish room per say as it's a long rectangle that is shared with my wife, but half of it is mine to do with as I please!

350g peninsula?? That will be an adventure.

Yeah, we are stoked . We gain an extra 50% for just $300 more a month. But main benefit is we are half the time away from the grandparents, a much more important factor in these times than before

yeah- I’m not sure on the final size of the upgrade, it’ll depend on how much wall we can remove. But it is going to be at least 30” wide, and I’m hoping 8’ long.

the next 6 weeks are going to be horrible
Lol. We have wife’s birthday, Christmas, home inspection, new home tour, and close all before the 30th. Then we need to pack, move, and prep this house for sale before Jan 28. Uuggh