Line Breeding Setup

[Rivermud76]

I am setting up a fresh line breeding system for show guppies.

tanks=6, 10 USgallon (3 of those tanks are divided in half to make 5 gallons so 6 5 gal and 3 10 gal)
in tank filters (old style)=9
Air Pump to run it all=1
5 way valves=2
25w heaters=9
air hose=tons

total cost with tax 169.36 US dollars

Does anyone think this is a bad deal?

Is there a better setup for a line breeding program for a beginner? I am new to the whole thing and want as much advice as I can get for the setup.

Thanks

 

[Doggfather]

sounds pretty reasonable to me...but you could probably save a bit by buying second hand tanks, and making the stands yourself. Also, if you have a fish rooms, i would probably be cheaper to use central heating, or DIY inline heating...

 

[Idolz]

so you got 6 ten gallon or 10 six gallonlol
Did you get the tanks brand new, cuz that seems like a pretty good price.
To cut some of the costs i wouldn't have bought dividers for the tanks, that would cut your heaters in half. Try adding 1 tabelspoon of Aquarium salt for every five gallons of water, livebearers do better in it as long as you dont have some other type of fish that cant handle salt like cory cats. Good luck

 

[Rivermud76]

Well, actually after all was said and done I purchased 4 twenty gal tanks with hoods and filters with 5 extra bulbs for 75$. The original plan was to use dividers (solid) for 3 of the ten gallon tanks, so I would have had to use multiple heaters. I haven't seen a good divider that has small enough holes for filtration and water flow to use with fry. If someone has a suggestion as to how to make a divider that would work I would appreciate it.

The setup idea now with 4 20 gal tanks is to divide 2 of the tanks 3 times giving me the equivilant of 6, six and a half gallon tanks. I do foresee one problem with this.. Air saturation in the water since I won't have much of a surface area with solid dividers. the other two tanks will be set as grow out tanks divided in half so 4, ten gallon tanks. One of those tanks will be for keeping breeders and the other for sellers. I will be using 10 gallon sponge filters in all of the tanks for biological. I will not have charcoal as it has long term adverse affects, and using it in a line breeding system could affect quality over the long haul.

I have contemplated using 1/16th inch plexi-glass as dividers with hot pin melted holes running continuously through them. I think this would give me decent water flow for heating and filtration without making a large enough hole for fry to slip through. If you have any other suggestions please let me know.

I will be posting a picture of my new (home built) tank stand with all 4 tanks set in it. I am going to age the filters in a stable tank so help speed up the cycling process for the 4 new tanks. Thank in advance for any suggestions.

btw, I will only have guppies in these 4 tanks, and will most likely be using salt.

Total Cost so far:

$79.50 for 4 twenty gallong tanks with hood and HOB filters.
$39.20 for home built tank stand. (2X4) Will be adding birch or maple later.

Estimate $70.00 for sponge filters and pump with hose and valves. and $10.00 for 1/16 plexi-glass. grand total for complete setup is roughly $200.00 without finish wood for stand.

 

[Doggfather]

good luck breeding guppies!!!

 

[MartinB]

I had the same problem with my 10 UK gallon tank.
When I put a divider in with small holes, I found one side was warm and the other side cold.
Seeing as I had a gravel filter.
I put a tube on the end of the tube with the air pipe in and had it going over the divider.
The air pipe pumped the cold water in to the warm water and got more circulation.
It may sound silly but it works.

 

[Rivermud76]

That would be an ingenious method of making circulation. I am not sure hoow to solve my circulation problem though as I will only have sponge filters. I wa considering using a fine mesh sheet over a tube that is set at on angle in the divider, then putting an airstone in it. the air would flow towards the high end of the tube causing a suction action from the lower end that has the mesh over it. .. shrug it would be kind of a pain to deal with. I think I'll just bite the bullet and purchase the extra heaters.

I hope all goes well. I'll try to post any results and pictures I get on the livebearers forum

 

[mrnewbie]

would it not pay u to use a sump for the guppy breeding tanks to cut down on cost of heaters etc as 1 heater would heat the water in the sump which then get distributed to all the tanks ??

i am going to be doing smething similar , myself , as my LFS will buy the guppys from me ,

also check this article on setting up tanks fro guppy breeding THE ARTICLE

 

[Rivermud76]

I have been considering it but, the issue with this is that if I get one sick fish poof all of my fish get sick rather than just one tank. I would like to keep it all separate.. though of course I could treat just one way as well.. it's a give and take. I tihkn that since these are show class guppies that I'll just og the expensive route.. It would be well worth it to have it all done right without worrying about disease killing my entire stock or entire f line. though I am going to build my own dividers that will allow for good water flow so I only need 4 heaters