designing tank for museum
- Thread starter chefjamesscott
- Start date
the issues with the water change system on the main tank have been fixed, the fish room has had a thorough cleaning of the floor and has been totally dejunked(pics to follow)
ok the proposed restock of the tank goes down this wednesday night. I will be rehoming the gar jennnifer that is at the museum here in my 140g and putting the ancient fish that I have been growing out into the tank there. The decision was made that the fish going into this tank should fall into the rank of ancinet fish rather than fish from sask fossil record to hard to get ahold of
should have pictures by wednesday night at the latest
I wish sask had a better stock to choose from but most suppliers wont ship here sucks so bad
ok the proposed restock of the tank goes down this wednesday night. I will be rehoming the gar jennnifer that is at the museum here in my 140g and putting the ancient fish that I have been growing out into the tank there. The decision was made that the fish going into this tank should fall into the rank of ancinet fish rather than fish from sask fossil record to hard to get ahold of
should have pictures by wednesday night at the latest
I wish sask had a better stock to choose from but most suppliers wont ship here sucks so bad
Ok, so I feel confident that I have the water quality in line with the main tank enough to do a restocking this week.
When I went there last night to do another water change I also did a rearrangement of the interior of the tank, got rid of all the plastic plants and put in some more wood and a piece that floats. The plants will be another few weeks as good plants are not really available here till spring has sprung.
Here are a couple of shots of the tank as I did a variety of arrangements of the wood, I want the fish to have places to hide and to swim through.
I went with the second one because it gives me a good watermark for waterchanges and it give the fish this landscape
I also watched jennifer the spotted gar for a good half hour to see how she liked it and she was very enthusiastic she repeatedly swam to look at me through the glass
As I was doing the water change last night she also hung around the corner of the tank where I was just below the surface. I am sure she is loving the new direction this tank is going. As I was thinking of the restock, one of my knifefish I have been growing is easily big enough to not be made a meal of, so I am really thinking that I can just put the new fish in with her since I have also totally redone the tank landscape there is not a claimed territory. Any thoughts on this, will the gar take it personal if new tankmates show up since it has only been her an her food for a few years?
I am by no means a gar expert so for you gar experts I ask your thoughts.
Here is the one knife that is about 9 inches 3/4 the size of jennifer, I got a good shot of it with ghost eyes.
Here is what the fish room looks like now, only 2 hours or so of work to go and its a done deal. All that is left to do is the total clean of the 2 tanks in the fish room which looks like this now
The floor is spiffy clean, splash gaurds are in place. The top 2 tanks will be the feeder holding tank, the second will be for waterchanges and growout.
I am really liking how this is shaping up, now for your thoughts on can I put other fish with this gar.
When I went there last night to do another water change I also did a rearrangement of the interior of the tank, got rid of all the plastic plants and put in some more wood and a piece that floats. The plants will be another few weeks as good plants are not really available here till spring has sprung.
Here are a couple of shots of the tank as I did a variety of arrangements of the wood, I want the fish to have places to hide and to swim through.
I went with the second one because it gives me a good watermark for waterchanges and it give the fish this landscape
I also watched jennifer the spotted gar for a good half hour to see how she liked it and she was very enthusiastic she repeatedly swam to look at me through the glass
As I was doing the water change last night she also hung around the corner of the tank where I was just below the surface. I am sure she is loving the new direction this tank is going. As I was thinking of the restock, one of my knifefish I have been growing is easily big enough to not be made a meal of, so I am really thinking that I can just put the new fish in with her since I have also totally redone the tank landscape there is not a claimed territory. Any thoughts on this, will the gar take it personal if new tankmates show up since it has only been her an her food for a few years?
I am by no means a gar expert so for you gar experts I ask your thoughts.
Here is the one knife that is about 9 inches 3/4 the size of jennifer, I got a good shot of it with ghost eyes.
Here is what the fish room looks like now, only 2 hours or so of work to go and its a done deal. All that is left to do is the total clean of the 2 tanks in the fish room which looks like this now
The floor is spiffy clean, splash gaurds are in place. The top 2 tanks will be the feeder holding tank, the second will be for waterchanges and growout.
I am really liking how this is shaping up, now for your thoughts on can I put other fish with this gar.
Ok so last night was the final stage to get this place ready for go time, tonight I will fill up the 2 holding tanks in the fish room and start them cycling using established filters and established media so should be fast.
I like how the museum is wanting to do things right. The pump on the sump pump water change system has been replaced and now it works like a charm. To do a water change on the main tank all I do is open the valve and the pump takes the water away, to refill I open the main valve and the water flows. Initially I was very worried about water coming straight from the cold pipe causing massive temperature changes, but, after having done enough changes I have been able to lock down the amount of volume I can take out an replace till the cold water makes it way down the museums pipes to the tank in the basement. I can pull roughly 40% of the tank volume before the water goes stone cold. My water change regime for this tank will go along these lines- 40% friday and 25% on tuesday since I will be there on a regular basis for feeding the holding tanks might as well do 2 water changes per week, much better than the 25% every 2 months the previous person called for and honestly said kept the fish happy.
Marlon and the design team have some killer ideas for the new tank backdrop. I really want the tank to meet the look of this display which is just around the corner.
so the idea for me was to put in the drifting piece of wood , extra wood on the bottom and now to get some plants to float and give surface cover. Going to put as well moss balls in the bottom and have to find a good moss to envelope the wood.
Will also be putting in some snails because the displays in the surrounding areas talk about such things and show the fossils in the tindle stone examples.
Now, one thing I really am a stickler for with this job is this. Since the tank is located in the Royal Saskatchewan Museum it should most definitely be a tank fit for royalty to come look at.
Here are a few shots of some of the tank mates that are going there who presently live in the restaurant
2 florida spotted gars I got today
this gar went to town immediately, I am going to keep them here for a week or so to make sure they are acclimated to my type of water
the silver arow I been growing from 2 inches
1 of the 2 ornates chilling out, when I put feeders in for the gar to get at 1 of the ornate went to town in killer fashion was very good to see.
Now for the finish of the fish room
My mission last night was to recover the two tanks we will be using for feeder and grow out. Here is a string of shots to show last night from start to finish.
no need to show both tanks just 1 for reference of before an after
lights on lights out, I am really thinking of painting the tank backs black. I managed to scrounge through all the various broken stuff and make canopies and rework some of the lights to work, and the finished room looks like this.
In terms of feeders, the regime I will be doing is a white cloud minnow colony in the counter top 20g, sailfin mollies in a brackish set up with one of the 2 60g and in the other 60g I am looking for some ideas from you guys of a good feeder to use. what is a high nutrition fish. I will be definitely loading all my feeders with the best quality foods that I can get, heck I have been popping recipes around in my head for making my own fish food that when I come up with it will give you the recipe in precise detail no different cooking for fish than people I say. I need your opinion on the brackish fish, my thoughts are that since they are coming from a brackish to be put into a fresh water situation to be eaten that the subsequent change in chemisty and make up of water will in effect stun them somewhat and make them easier to be eaten is this a correct thought. I really want the fish to be able to make fast work of their dinner so that little kids and people who might be animal rights activist type will not be able to see fish eating fish as it were. Your thoughts.
The scheduled time frame is fish in the tank by friday, but I have a food competition/show expose that I am in this thursday, friday and saturday so should be a long weekend.
I like how the museum is wanting to do things right. The pump on the sump pump water change system has been replaced and now it works like a charm. To do a water change on the main tank all I do is open the valve and the pump takes the water away, to refill I open the main valve and the water flows. Initially I was very worried about water coming straight from the cold pipe causing massive temperature changes, but, after having done enough changes I have been able to lock down the amount of volume I can take out an replace till the cold water makes it way down the museums pipes to the tank in the basement. I can pull roughly 40% of the tank volume before the water goes stone cold. My water change regime for this tank will go along these lines- 40% friday and 25% on tuesday since I will be there on a regular basis for feeding the holding tanks might as well do 2 water changes per week, much better than the 25% every 2 months the previous person called for and honestly said kept the fish happy.
Marlon and the design team have some killer ideas for the new tank backdrop. I really want the tank to meet the look of this display which is just around the corner.
so the idea for me was to put in the drifting piece of wood , extra wood on the bottom and now to get some plants to float and give surface cover. Going to put as well moss balls in the bottom and have to find a good moss to envelope the wood.
Will also be putting in some snails because the displays in the surrounding areas talk about such things and show the fossils in the tindle stone examples.
Now, one thing I really am a stickler for with this job is this. Since the tank is located in the Royal Saskatchewan Museum it should most definitely be a tank fit for royalty to come look at.
Here are a few shots of some of the tank mates that are going there who presently live in the restaurant
2 florida spotted gars I got today
this gar went to town immediately, I am going to keep them here for a week or so to make sure they are acclimated to my type of water
the silver arow I been growing from 2 inches
1 of the 2 ornates chilling out, when I put feeders in for the gar to get at 1 of the ornate went to town in killer fashion was very good to see.
Now for the finish of the fish room
My mission last night was to recover the two tanks we will be using for feeder and grow out. Here is a string of shots to show last night from start to finish.
no need to show both tanks just 1 for reference of before an after
lights on lights out, I am really thinking of painting the tank backs black. I managed to scrounge through all the various broken stuff and make canopies and rework some of the lights to work, and the finished room looks like this.
In terms of feeders, the regime I will be doing is a white cloud minnow colony in the counter top 20g, sailfin mollies in a brackish set up with one of the 2 60g and in the other 60g I am looking for some ideas from you guys of a good feeder to use. what is a high nutrition fish. I will be definitely loading all my feeders with the best quality foods that I can get, heck I have been popping recipes around in my head for making my own fish food that when I come up with it will give you the recipe in precise detail no different cooking for fish than people I say. I need your opinion on the brackish fish, my thoughts are that since they are coming from a brackish to be put into a fresh water situation to be eaten that the subsequent change in chemisty and make up of water will in effect stun them somewhat and make them easier to be eaten is this a correct thought. I really want the fish to be able to make fast work of their dinner so that little kids and people who might be animal rights activist type will not be able to see fish eating fish as it were. Your thoughts.
The scheduled time frame is fish in the tank by friday, but I have a food competition/show expose that I am in this thursday, friday and saturday so should be a long weekend.
I agree a good breeding pair of south americans would be great for feeders, also some bottom jaw bichirs would look great in that tank....i'll have to drive up and see this set up sometime when your there. Calgary's not that far...lol
well went there tonight and the promise of the fish room is up an running water is in filters will be well seeded so tanks should be ready in about 2 days for fish
I am absolutely sure that the resident gar jennifer has taken a real liking to me or she really wishes I was in the tank so she could eat me, even my kids and my wife think the first of the two is what is goin on because ever since I first started to care for this tank she has been like a puppy dog always near me when I am by the tank. tonight after I had finished the monday wc she was like this
staying eye level with me at the back of the tank
here are the tank mates I put in with her tonight
I really hope I dont come in to find that jennifer has eaten my arow, the arow is a good 7-8 inches long and I made sure that jennifer had wolfed down a good 10 feeders today to make sure she was good and full. I know she wont touch the knife as its body mass makes it seem way to big for her and its about 10 inches. My plan is to make sure that tank is chock full of feeders who will make easier prey.
My reasoning for putting the arow in at the same time as the first knife is due to what I have in the 140g here growing for the museum tank and the need I had to bring the needlenose from home, here are a couple of pics of them
I need the florida spotted gars to be able to eat the minnows so that they can grow bigger and the arrow was horking down all the minnows rapid fire, so I decided to take a chance that it was big enough to avoid jennifer at the museum if not I have just offered jennifer a very expensive feeder lololololol.
I am thinking of adding the two niger cats anyways even though I will have to take them out when they get bigger they will make a nice touch to the tank and be good for bottom cleaning of any pieces of dead fish that hit the bottom.
I am absolutely sure that the resident gar jennifer has taken a real liking to me or she really wishes I was in the tank so she could eat me, even my kids and my wife think the first of the two is what is goin on because ever since I first started to care for this tank she has been like a puppy dog always near me when I am by the tank. tonight after I had finished the monday wc she was like this
staying eye level with me at the back of the tank
here are the tank mates I put in with her tonight
I really hope I dont come in to find that jennifer has eaten my arow, the arow is a good 7-8 inches long and I made sure that jennifer had wolfed down a good 10 feeders today to make sure she was good and full. I know she wont touch the knife as its body mass makes it seem way to big for her and its about 10 inches. My plan is to make sure that tank is chock full of feeders who will make easier prey.
My reasoning for putting the arow in at the same time as the first knife is due to what I have in the 140g here growing for the museum tank and the need I had to bring the needlenose from home, here are a couple of pics of them
I need the florida spotted gars to be able to eat the minnows so that they can grow bigger and the arrow was horking down all the minnows rapid fire, so I decided to take a chance that it was big enough to avoid jennifer at the museum if not I have just offered jennifer a very expensive feeder lololololol.
I am thinking of adding the two niger cats anyways even though I will have to take them out when they get bigger they will make a nice touch to the tank and be good for bottom cleaning of any pieces of dead fish that hit the bottom.
