Downsizing?

[DMD123]

Kind of made me think a bit about this. I have 7 tanks going and out of those the two hardest are the 300 gallon in the living room and a Fluval flex 32.5. The 300 is just a bunch of factors. Water output to refill from bathroom sink is slow, I could try a longer hose and fill from garage. The tank is tall, I cant do anything about that! I chose a tall show tank, lol. My Fluval Flex, while cool looking has an awkward top to hold open during water changes, I use a hand clamp to hold it open. Tank sits low and is hard to clean, would be better if it sat higher but I have nowhere for it, might be better to get rid of this one.

So how about you guys? Too many tanks? Time to downsize or somehow improve efficiency?

 

[John58Ford]

Efficiency is where I went with it. Tapping my refill line in at the shut off valve for the whole house for the cold side, and at the bathroom sinks shut off in the wall for the hot side(the wall valve is before the flow restrictors in the sink valve cartridges) got me crazy fast refill rate. I added a long rain bar into my refill rig so it doesn't tear the tank up and that's pretty easy. My drain rig is set for 50 percent drain on each tank by switching PVC tubes and has varying filtration methods based on each tanks stocking (to prevent cross contamination, or rapid extraction of fry into the garden). It's all set and forget other than having to mix buffers as I fill, well I don't use the float valve for the fill rig as it slowed the flow so I try not to forget that. Between the 3 running tanks right now I can do a temperature matched 50% (about 120 gallons each way) across the wall in 45 minutes start to finish, including unrolling and rerolling the hoses and mixing buffer. Could be faster with a second drain rig. Aquascape days are optional and I've been known to spend anywhere from 1-6 hours playing with my underwater garden, but that's a choice I make. I think I do that every 3-5 months now. When I ran more tanks with different themes, an hour here, three hours there was much more tiring.

Also, having all the small tanks, with similar total water volume, it took much more care and I didn't think I ever did it faster than an hour and at that speed it was borderline reckless with the filler nozzle causing drama in the smaller area.

If I were to downsize, it would be a complete downsize, and I would keep one freshwater nano, likely tiny like my work tank, and one saltwater nano. But... I don't wanna!

 

[sir_keith]

My fishroom has grown and contracted over the years, but I did do a deliberate downsizing some time ago. In years prior I had been doing an angelfish breeding project, which required many tanks, then switched over to breeding Tropheus, which paid for the fish food for many years. At that point I had nearly 30 tanks, but it was becoming too much, so I scaled back, eventually selling about half of my tanks. After moving to Poulsbo I reorganized yet again, and I now maintain 12 tanks from 125g to 40g, with a total volume of ~1000g. That said, at the moment 4 of my 40L grow-out tanks are unoccupied, and even that small change in upkeep has made a noticeable difference.

People often ask- 'What is too many tanks?' That my response has always been- 'If it's becoming a chore, you have too many tanks.' It is often said that you can't have too many tanks, but IME that's not true. This hobby is supposed to be fun, and when it's not, it's time for a change.

 

[DMD123]

Efficiency is where I went with it.

I need to figure that out for the big tank... As to the Fluval, it might make more sense to get a normal 40B to replace it.

People often ask- 'What is too many tanks?' That my response has always been- 'If it's becoming a chore, you have too many tanks.' It is often said that you can't have too many tanks, but IME that's not true. This hobby is supposed to be fun, and when it's not, it's time for a change.

yep, it should be fun!

 

[DMD123]

I have thought about the Fluval Flex a lot lately and I know what I need to do to make it more efficient. Either change the loc-line outputs to a custom spray bar and/or add a bigger pump. The current pump is rated at 214 gph and doesn't move the surface water much. For $100 I can get a pump that would fit in there, but do over 500 gph. Im sure this would get things moving and might make that tank work better. Of course the combo of spray bars and pump is the best but that is going to end up at about $150 to upgrade. This is where I think it might be better to just scrap the Fluval and buy a new 40B and put an existing AC110 on it. Been thinking a lot about efficiency lately.

 

[DMD123]

Havent really thought about this much lately in regards 'downsizing', in fact if anything it is probably worse since I first thought about this. I have added a hospital tank, and am keeping two tanks of the most messy fish you can own, lol. The fancy goldfish have given me a renewed interest in the hobby so I justified things a bit. As summer fades I do get more time for tank time and it will not be an issue through winter but as spring and summer approaches my time is spread out more and I rethink the number of tanks. I am still considering swapping out the fluval...