Bear's Guppy Rack

As I get closer and closer to finally setting up my rack I thought it would be a good idea to start a build log of this adventure back into freshwater.

Plan -
1st rack (one of 2 identical racks planned for)
3 levels - each with a 20 gallon long tank with glass cover
Level 1 - divide the tank into 2 sections Ladies on the left and Gentlemen on the right
Level 2 - divide the tank into 4 sections, each section to house specific guppies who I would like to target breed. This may be trios, quartets, or slightly larger groups until they are ready to move if needed. I am affectionately calling this tank the "Boom Boom Room" LOL
Level 3 - Delivery/fry tank - planning for this tank is in development. I am of course going to provide a lot of hiding places (Artificial plants, mops, etc.) I think the moms will be held in a removable birthing basket until they deliver then return them to one of the other tanks.

Filtration -
air driven sponge filters will be used in all tanks. I will be using one filter per divided section. In the case of Level 1 the filters will each be rated for the entire 20 gallon tank. For Level 2 each filter will be rated for 10 gallons. Level 3 will have 1 rated for 20 gallons and a few homemade ones to ensure supplemental filtration.
*note - as noted all tanks will have at least 2x the required filtration. This will serve to help in slightly overstocking and give enough BB that any filter cleanings will not disrupt the filtration cycle.

Heating -
100w heater per tank

Lighting -
Level 1 will have an LED light that I had on my previous reef tank. It is just enough power to support plants if I want them yet week enough that there should not be too many alge issues.
Level 2 and 3 are yet to be determined. Possibly another LED, a homemade LED, or some other general light since I am not trying for live plants just now.

Current Status -
I have -
Wire rack - rated for 350 gallons per shelf
1 x 20 gallon long tank w/ glass cover
1x LED light
3x 20 gallon rated sponge filter
2x 10 gallon rated sponge filter
1x temp air pump (replacement new pump ordered 20 minutes ago)
1x sheet of black plastic canvas to divide tank 1
2x sheet of white plastic to create birthing baskets
LOTS of extra bio media seeded in an established tank
2x light - from old tanks
Large Air Pump (rated for 100+ gallons) (on order)

Items still needed -
2x 20 gallon long tank
2x glass cover
3x Heaters (100w Each)
2x 10 gallon rates sponge filter
4x sheets black plastic canvas to divide tank 2
3x airline flow regulators (I have the rest)
airline splitters
3 x 100w Heaters

Initial Tank Shots -

Updated 6/16/18..

 

Updated - decided on a wire rack. Started to assemble..

Made 2x quarantine setups. Will post them later on.

Will also discuss on my YouTube channel. (Bear's Attic Woodshop)...

 

So here is the overall rack build as of 6/18/18
Top shelf - dedicated QT bins with heaters and sponge filters inside (sponges sitting in wives cycled tank until I have mine cycled. These will always be at the ready. more on this in its own thread). Next level down is the Ladies and Gentleman tank. Ladies to the left Gentlemen to the right, please. Next 2 levels are on reserve for the next 2 tanks. The bottom will be assorted gear and boxes of extra stuff.



FTS - this has already changed. A new shot coming tomorrow.




A look inside the QT box..

 

6/21/18

We Have Water!!


AS noted I finally have some water in the tank!!!

You can see the green scrub pads in there along with the sponges that I have had seeding in the other tank for 3-4 weeks. I have more of the green pads, sponges, and some gravel in her tank waiting for either the next tank or until I get a heater in this one. I just want to put the heater in then move those over so I do not have to move them when I put the heater in.

I decided on adding the water and media prior to the heater just to keep things moving along. since I am not planning on getting the heater for another weel I am going to just feed the tank to keep the BB alive and promote further growth.

I am sooooooooooooooo excited.. I really want to get my Guppies!! the wait is the hardest part of this whole process!!!

 

Soooo.. Ummm.. I did a thing..

 

Nice! I like it! Much success

 

Decided it was also a good idea to start a YouTube channel. Please feel free to stop by and checking out if you like..

Bear's Fish

 

Subscribed

 

I was going to get the same rack, but I decided to get a different one that can be divided in 2. I'll be watching your progress.

 

We have lost our first guppy. grrrrrrrrr

I know better than to by from the company for pets. But as is typical I was excited and wanted to get started. The ladies are all doing well but we got these 3 males that are being a challenge. Let me explain -

They were marked as Yin and Yang guppies (I know goofy name). I got one solid white and two solid black males. Initially, the black males were very strong and bullying the white male. After a week the roles reversed a bit and they stopped giving him grief. I have noted that the black males were not looking great yesterday and one was starting to show signs of ICH. (no surprise and honestly anticipated)

I have started the heat treatment 3 days ago, as I rather prefer to avoid medications. Did a 75% water change yesterday (part of my heat treatment routine that has worked great for years) and this morning one of the black males is dead. The other is not looking good and will likely not survive the day.

The White one is, however, doing great. he looks stronger than when we first got him and he has gotten more active.

A few days ago my wife noted a spot on my yellow female that she was concerned about but I could not see it and even she says it may have just gone away.

Nothing goes away. Soooo against my preferred method, I am going to order the quarantine medications that are recommended and start a whole tank treatment. Admittedly, I am getting these medications only because my wife has a few fish in quarantine that need this treatment and I am unable to adjust the heat in my quarantine tanks.

Video update on YouTube this weekend I hope and of course a little bit here and there on Instagram.

 

Time for an update -

Both black males died the last one was acting very odd, swimming in circles, diving head first into rocks, swimming on its side, etc....

So on Friday night, I dosed my tank as recommended The VERY next day everyone in the tank started acting better. More active, interacting with each other, etc.

Since the tank was already medicated and had only been treated for a little under 24 hours I got a few more males so I would not have to treat them separately.

My all white male instantly started acting even better!! He is not hiding, he is acting more playful (no it is not aggression)..

It looks like things are going well. I will post a few pix soon.

Oh and I am working on a video regarding this treatment and what I am doing a little differently. This will be out hopefully by Sunday, July 8th. In the meantime, I will, of course, keep posting here, but also updating regularly on Instagram.

 

Some update shots now that I have rescaped the tank..

 

Time for a quick update.

The Ladies and Gentlemen are doing wonderfully and tomorrow we are taking the next step with this build.

We located a pretty good deal on Craigs List and we are picking up a tank with various equipment that will be used for the next level of the Guppy Rack. (The BoomBoom Room). This tank is stocked currently so once we get them all home we are going to QT the new guests and treat them for any illnesses. Once the QT is over some of these guests will be moving into my wife's tank and others on to new homes. If however, we find that we really like these guests we will just "have to" get another large community tank (Just so happens I located one not far from here and the price is right).

 

Part of being a fish keeper (IME) is learning how to be flexible. Make changes based on what your fish need and what you are trying to do. So we made a change to the plan -

Rather than keep the top tank split we opted to paint the back of the second tank white and turn this into the ladies tank. This gives the Ladies and Gentlemen more room to grow and thrive. This also permits me to feed the ladies and fry more each day. (There are some fry in there from the previous owners). When the ladies are close I can put them in a birthing/fry tank and once she drops put her back into the Ladies tank. If I miss the opportunity to move her I am feeding heavily enough and there are enough hiding places that things should be fine until I can move the fry.

Most of my pix get deleted from my phone pretty quick but they are on Instagram and of course, I put out updates on my channel pretty frequently.

I will take the new FTS and post them as soon as I can.

Guppy photo shoot...