Well, I have been “managing” to keep my current fish stock in my 20x8 fish house(shed) for the past 8 years now and had pretty much got tanks into every available space, noting that this building also has my 1600 usg pond too.
When I say all my tanks, that’s a slight lie, as my wife allows me one six foot tank in our dinning room and a five foot marine tank in our living room.
But when I recently had to replace a section of garden decking, imagine my surprise when she suggested I could extend my fish house!
Ok, I may have been nagging for the last 3 of those 8 years, but hey, good things do come to those who wait! (And nag)
Our garden here in the uk is like many, not large- in fact only 40 ft long by 30 ft wide so I suppose I do ok to have a fish house, green house and a 4000 usg koi pond too.
My fish house is built on the original site of our garage, so all of the 3 ft deep pond has to be above ground and since it’s on concrete it has to be insulated for our winters here get down to -10c.
The 10 x 10 space behind my existing fish house used to house my greenhouse, but with a little extra work and some negotiating I managed to move that, and that meant I could extend and “knock through” my existing fish house to provide a door through, albeit the two would be on different levels.
The new build would be 10x10x over 10ft high, giving me great room for tanks but also for storage.
After so long in the hobby it is surprising how much “useful” stuff you keep, so now was a good time for a clear out.
After which I have managed to keep just eight polystyrene fish boxes of thing that “might be repaired eventually” or that “may come in handy”!
The fish house built, tanks all had to be transferred, the door cut through and the stairs between built. Might sound ok but noting that where the door was going to go already had 5 tanks in front of it, and they all had to be moved before it could be cut through.
I already had managed to cram 13 tanks containing over 800 usg into what essentially was the 8x8 space on the end of my fish house you walk into (ie with a door in too!) so it was getting a little cramped!
Most now moved out of the way and into the new bit.
The new bit seems now to have been populated with tanks and all the “good stuff” I was gonna do I am now trying to do by working around everything, like drilling tanks one by one to put on a system, or adding better airlines using pressurised pipe instead of 4mm air lines everywhere, or the pipes to drain, etc.
But that’s what happens when almost every tank you own ends up full of water!
Although i do now have space for probably 20 more 3 ft tanks, although I better take my time in getting those, don’t want to push my luck too much!
My “new bit” stopped looking new even before I had got the door cut through to the old bit but at some point I may get chance to catch up with what I had actually wanted to do......... but I may have to stop keeping fish for a year to do that.......... and I don’t see that happening any time soon!
Do like this extra space though...........mmmmmm...... catfish grow on pond or 10 breeding tanks...........mmmmm.....
When I say all my tanks, that’s a slight lie, as my wife allows me one six foot tank in our dinning room and a five foot marine tank in our living room.
But when I recently had to replace a section of garden decking, imagine my surprise when she suggested I could extend my fish house!
Ok, I may have been nagging for the last 3 of those 8 years, but hey, good things do come to those who wait! (And nag)
Our garden here in the uk is like many, not large- in fact only 40 ft long by 30 ft wide so I suppose I do ok to have a fish house, green house and a 4000 usg koi pond too.
My fish house is built on the original site of our garage, so all of the 3 ft deep pond has to be above ground and since it’s on concrete it has to be insulated for our winters here get down to -10c.
The 10 x 10 space behind my existing fish house used to house my greenhouse, but with a little extra work and some negotiating I managed to move that, and that meant I could extend and “knock through” my existing fish house to provide a door through, albeit the two would be on different levels.
The new build would be 10x10x over 10ft high, giving me great room for tanks but also for storage.
After so long in the hobby it is surprising how much “useful” stuff you keep, so now was a good time for a clear out.
After which I have managed to keep just eight polystyrene fish boxes of thing that “might be repaired eventually” or that “may come in handy”!
The fish house built, tanks all had to be transferred, the door cut through and the stairs between built. Might sound ok but noting that where the door was going to go already had 5 tanks in front of it, and they all had to be moved before it could be cut through.
I already had managed to cram 13 tanks containing over 800 usg into what essentially was the 8x8 space on the end of my fish house you walk into (ie with a door in too!) so it was getting a little cramped!
Most now moved out of the way and into the new bit.
The new bit seems now to have been populated with tanks and all the “good stuff” I was gonna do I am now trying to do by working around everything, like drilling tanks one by one to put on a system, or adding better airlines using pressurised pipe instead of 4mm air lines everywhere, or the pipes to drain, etc.
But that’s what happens when almost every tank you own ends up full of water!
Although i do now have space for probably 20 more 3 ft tanks, although I better take my time in getting those, don’t want to push my luck too much!
My “new bit” stopped looking new even before I had got the door cut through to the old bit but at some point I may get chance to catch up with what I had actually wanted to do......... but I may have to stop keeping fish for a year to do that.......... and I don’t see that happening any time soon!
Do like this extra space though...........mmmmmm...... catfish grow on pond or 10 breeding tanks...........mmmmm.....
