Other
Tanks, Projects, etc.
Puffer Fish Lair
Not all tanks are devoted to puffers.
ALL PHOTOGRAPHS ARE PROPRIETARY, AND MY PERMISSION MUST BE ASKED IF YOU WISH TO USE THEM.
My other tanks are devoted to a snail farm, a shrimp farm, guppy farms, and other freshwater fish.
The food tank has guppies and snails breeding. The guppies have been slow. I have pond snails and ramshorns, and some plants in this tank. I am trying out Java fern, the normal species and also the Wendelov variety. The snails ate the water sprite and the crypts. The Java moss is doing well, and providing cover for the fry.
Other tanks:
A cichlid tank with Brichardi & Dickfeldi.
A community tank with angelfish, odds & ends tetra, hatchet fish, a killifish, several plecos and 2 bumblebee catfish.
A pair of fiddler crabs
A bubble tank with a royal pleco. a pike cichlid and a vampire tetra
A Discus tank
A quarantine tank
Other Reptile & Amphibian Tanks:
A semi-aquatic tank with red bellied toads (Bombina orientalis)
A terrarium with an albino Pac Man toad, aka Argentinian horned toad
A terrarium with a pair of lined day geckoes (Phelsuma lineatus)
A terrarium with a pair of Solomon Island Skinks (Coruscia zebrata)
5 Bearded dragons (Pogona vitticeps)
2 Leopard Geckoes (Eublepharis macularius)
Due to my source water having very low buffering capacity, I have to put aragonite in each tank to prevent pH crash and I have to monitor the general hardness carefully. I am in the process of designing a system to dechlorinate tap water, and add the salt water mix automatically inline. The less bottles I lift, the better! This system may wind up including a deionizing cartridge (or a reverse osmosis membrane), and a mix of re-mineralizer to prevent the water conditions from becoming too hard. My next project will be designing a drainage system that goes to each tank. Maintenance can be daunting with this many tanks!
Once I have a working system, especially for the brackish mix, I will post either a way to buy the system complete, or a design sheet for DIY. The difficult part is the venturi valve for inline injection of the concentrate of ocean salt & re-mineralizer. Fortunately I work in water purification and have access to sizing charts & equipment. I hope this will be of interest to people who are tired of mixing salt concentrates into buckets & then navigating the tank lip etc. The only systems I have seen available for brackish or marine are expensive set ups with a submersible pump in a large garbage can style container. The salt can eventually corrode the pump's metal parts, and thus does not seem a viable long term solution. The cost of a new pump regularly would add up quickly.
I am also working on a discreet pan and drain system to help control leaks or overflows for the tanks that are on carpet. The hardest part is selecting materials that do not detract from the aesthetics of the tank and stand.
The Rack: after a flood in my apartment from an upstairs pipe breaking, I have been asked to consolidate my tanks. A rack system is in the works. I have found my shelving, industrial keyhole style. 1000 lb. plus weight capacity. I feel a lot more comfortable with someone else's craftsmanship for the shelves. I have seven Plexiglas tanks waiting to go on the racks. One is the sump for the central system, which will be brackish. Several tanks will be on their own systems, and will be freshwater. Once complete, I hope to put a diagram of the dimensions, plumbing, filtration and maintenance systems up on this site. I will use the pan system in case of overflows from the sump.
After moving recently, I have devoted a room in the garage to fish, reptiles and amphibians. The racks are installed, also some tanks are on stands. I have not yet made the centralized system happen, and may wait to do that with a second section of the garage. More updates on this room will arrive in time.