Changing up my fish room

[warhawk]

I have a small fish room only 130sq feet but I make the most of the space I currently have 800+ gallons of water in 21 tanks. In the last two years I have had as many as 30 tanks running but I have cut back on the different fish and dropped some of the smaller tanks. I really enjoy keeping fish but I have decided to change things up and go toward more Malawi cichlids. So when I started looking for new fish I hit the LFS but looking at the LFS most of their african cichilds are grey or very faded colors, just not what you call "Show fish". And with no local freshwater fish club (there is a salt water group but they snub anything freshwater) it is hard to find local keepers or breeders. This got me to thinking I really enjoy breeding my SA cichilds, and BN plecos so why not make the swap to breed some african cichilds that will have lots of color. I have put it off for years because not wanting to really rebuild my fish room. But with the opening of another room in my basement now is a good time to change things over.

First off I'm doing this because I love the experience of it and if I can make enough money to cover my fish food or new fish that's awesome. Not looking to make this a business but if it really takes off I can deal with that down the road.

Here are the fish I'm starting with.
Blood Dragon (had this group for year)
Red Shoulder (had this group for years)
Electric Yellow (Yellow Lab) got 12
Red Zebra got 11

The Blood Dragons and Red Shoulder I have had for just under 2 years, I haven't worried about fry in that time but I'm going to start pulling fry to place them in grow out tanks. I will grow these out and take the males to the LFS, while I keep the females at least until I get a few dozen for my stock. I might only sale the males as they have the best color but only time will tell it depends on if I get a demand for the females.

The Electric Yellow and Red zebra I know aren't the most exciting fish but they have nice colors and I really like them so I got enough juveniles that I can grow them out to adults and get a good mix to breed. They are all less than 2" so it will take me a few months to get these guys going but no problem. These I will take both males and females as they both have nice color, I will be keeping some back for my self but shouldn't be a issue.

With all this I'm expanding my fish room to another room. As you can guess my 130sq foot room is kinda full with 21 tanks so I'm going to move a few tanks to the new room with my fry tanks. The fry tanks will be six 10g tanks, and four 20g tanks all linked together sharing water. Plus three 55g tanks that I might link not sure yet. I will put new fry in the 10g and as they get larger will move out to the 20g. Once they get a little bigger (about 1") will move them to the 55g tanks to grow out. Then off to the store. With the tanks linked it will make water changes much easier I'm thinking 3 times a week.

When it comes to the store I have 1 LFS here to town and 1 more within a hours drive both have bought fish from me in the past so once I get the system running I'm going to make a list and prices for the stores. There are 2 other stores within a hour but I need to talk to them about buying fish. My plan is once or twice a month driver to the out of town stores to deliver fish. I will keep breeding the BN plecos because they do well in the LFS and I have them going already.

I have found a local breeder(hour drive) that has Eureka reds, blue orchid and Daffodils(not Malawi I know) so might have to set up a few more tanks for those guys also. I have a few more empty tanks I could use for these.

I have thought about the 55g for growing the fry, it might be a little big I could pick up some 29g but I like the big tanks. I haven't finalized the layout for the new room yet so I can move things around or maybe adjust the number of tanks.

I know it's a rough plan but anyone see any holes?

I will post some photos and/or video once I get it done, I will be starting the move this week.

Thanks
Stephen

 

[Deadliestviper7]

Make sure to not inbreed fish,u can also breed oil catfish fairly easy(u don't see a lot at most lfs)

 

[warhawk]

I'm hoping to enough stock to limit the inbreeding risk. It would be good to add new fish group each year.

I didn't think about the oil catfish they look like a neat fish.

 

[warhawk]

I was able to get a good start on moving my room around. I still need to move a few fish and finish the fry system but hoping to get it done this week.

I'm thinking about building a few new racks for breeding groups, looks like a lot of people use 29g for groups of 4-5 but for a more I could do 40g. The 40g tanks are shorter so stacking 3 tall would be easier and might give me more options later on if I want to change fish.

 

[paulW]

Just some advice...

If you can get 55 or 75 gallon tanks for Malawi cichlids, that is ideal, especially as they grow larger.
Male Peacocks can get more aggressive as they grow in size. A 29 gallon is not going to work for 5 peacocks in the longterm, IMO.

Have a reserve tank (55 or 75) in case you have to scoop out a fish.. Sometimes you can guess the dominant male who is beating up the other fish and remove him to bring peace back to the tank..

Keep only one species of fish per tank for breeding. It is just too easy to inbreed them.
If you keep them seperate, you know they are pure.

I don't know where you are in Indianna, but Indianapolis has a freshwater club
http://ccacaqclub.org/contact-us/

If you are close to Ohio, you have to go to the Ohio Cichlid Association extravaganza in November, you will see more Malawi fish there than you can handle.. http://www.ohiocichlid.com/

There are clubs in Columbus and Cincinnati as well. Chicago, if you are closer to Illinois.
The ACA is going to be in Detroit this summer.

 

[warhawk]

I was leaning toward the 29g at first because I see 2 of the big time African breeders online use them. After posting I did think about the 55g I could do 2 males and 8-10 females in those as groups and it should help them spawn faster (all depending on the males if they aren't too aggressive).

Plus the $1 per gallon does make those cheap. I would like to get a few 75g but those are harder to find cheap.

I am going to keep fish separate I don't want them crossing. I know some of the fish like blood dragons are hybrids but my goal isn't to "create" new fish and I would like to get some F1 or even WC at some point so I will keep everyone separate from the start.

I'm in Fort Wayne IN so about 2 hours north of Indy, I have emailed a few of those guys before but a 2 hours one way is a long day to pick a few fish. Same for Ohio with Dayton about 2.5 hours. I have thought about joining and just driving down for the auctions a few times a year

It does look like the Ohio Cichlid group is mostly eastern Ohio side.

 

[paulW]

Yea, if you have the floor space, etc a 55 gallon works a lot better.
Just my experience, but sometimes you start off with a group of about 10, but then as the fish get larger, you have to thin it down to a pair or a trio (even if you have a 55 or 75), especially with some of the Haps.

If you can make it to the OCA extravaganza in Nov, you really should go.. They have a great program. Think of it as a weekend vacation, full of fish stuff.. and then you get to go home with some nice fish. I drive about 2 hours to go to it every year.. Now with the food, hotel expense, etc I am not sure it is the most economical way to get fish, but man, it sure is fun. Ad Konings speaks every year. (usually on Malawi or Tangs) . If you have never seen him speak, it is worth it just for that.

Anyhow, keep the thread updated, I would like to see what you end up with and good luck.. Seems like you are on the right track.

 

[warhawk]

The 55g would give me fewer tanks because of the space they take up but having larger tanks should open up more options. I don't plan on doing any Haps but maybe in a years that will change.

I will keep the OCA in mind, like you said if it's a mini vacation that might be better. I can always pick up a few battery powered air pumps and bring some coolers to keep the fish safe.

I will update the tread soon, I just pulled my first batch of fry last night(first African fry), mom had been holding for 7-8 days and they are all fully formed. Very excited about them never striped fry before.

I also talked to the last LFS in my area and they where excited about buying fry from a local breeder so that means all 4 stores will buy but I want to do most of my dealing with the one here in town because that will help the others here in the city.

 

[paulW]

As far as the OCA goes.. I bring rubbermaid totes with lids .. I use the bath tub spigot to fill up 5 gallon buckets and then fill the totes with dechlorinated water (using a thermometer of course).. I bring air pumps and air stones.. then bag them up when I am ready to leave.

That is excellent that a store may buy your offspring.. even if you just get store credit, that is fantastic. Most stores now do not want to buy fish from hobbyists.. and honestly, I can understand their point of view.. not complaining.. just saying you are lucky to have this opportunity.

 

[warhawk]

I will keep OCA in mind for sure. I have started working on a list of fish I want to keep and I would rather buy them from hobbyist than order them online.

I agree having the store buy fish from me is pretty nice. I just have to make sure my fish are healthier than the ones they can order. I have bought a lot of fish from the local store and 20-30% of them die within 2 weeks, I don't blame the store it is the stock he is getting but if I'm having the issue others much be also. My goal is to provide the stores healthy fish that they can sale to local people and the end buyer be happy with.

I have thought about it and store credit is fine with me, I will turn that into more fish, food or maybe more tanks.