Many of us in this hobby dream of a fish room, maybe it’s for automatic water changes, more tanks, or just one dedicated space for our beloved fish – but is it worth the hassle? Let’s discuss the good, the bad and the ugly of fish rooms.
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Replay crew!
At this time a fish room isn’t worth it to me. I think 3 full time tanks, quarantines not included, is my max.
Replay crew is the coolest crew!!
Got 3x 75 gallons tanks 2x 40 gallons tanks 2x 20l gallons tanks and a 125 gallon tank in my living room not Counting the ots and 2 Reptiles Enclosures and 125g tank in my bedroom love them but got busy at work so they not getting the attention they Deserve so may have to take down some of them
Replay time. Tickling the algorithm.
Bentley great stream as always. I have 8 tanks in different locations in my house its nice to be able to go from room to room during my day and have fish to look at. I'd like to have a go at breeding fish but would need somewhere to sell them I spli5 up my male and female guppies because had no room no keep them and there are only so many I can give to the neighbour lol. When I decide what fish I truly love I Will have a go at breeding if only to keep my tanks stocked. But I love them all lol When I retire maybe and got more time 🤗💖
Replay crew, thanks once again for a for a fun stream Bentley.
I’d like a pretty fishy room, sort of like a second living room but with a few more tanks, and maybe a little indoor pond!
✌🏻🇨🇦
Catching the replay
If a fish room is a good idea or not depends on the person and their interests. In my case, I couldn't see being in the hobby without one. As for the argument that automation makes you not pay as much attention to things as if you were manually doing water changes, I totally don't agree with that. Every person I have talked to that used that argument were actually using it as a justification due to a lack of comfort level with technology (which is perfectly fine, but not the correct argument to make). For the people I know, including me, that have went heavy into automation, I find I actually am way more attentive to what is going on that before. I'm able to focus on the important things that takes a person making a judgment call and leave the simple things like replacing X amount of water to something I don't have to think about. The time that was previously used to stress over if I'm going to overflow a tank and running back/forth for valves is replaced by me being able to actually stand there and look at the tank. I'm also kind of curious about your statement of $3-4k for automation. Where did you get that? You can easily do a very high level of automation for under $500.
Yeah I don’t want to hear about your 90° it’s 116 down here in the desert
Fish room is the dream by the time I retire in five years
I doubt there is a "right" answer. But I'm in the hard: fish rooms arn't worth it for me. Which I'd guess is the minority position.
For me personally, the idea of a fishroom was somthing I debated internally for several years. It is alluring, and there are strong advantages. But ultimately, the idea of pouring resources into one large tank and sump won out over multiple smaller, centrally located tanks.
However, my transition from planted freshwater to marine reefs added to the weight of consideration. This eroded the idea of cost savings, as having a large room meant I would not only want freshwater on a central air system, but I'd also want an even larger reef tank in the room. Which don't run as easily on a simplified central air systems. That's before considering the cost of alkalinity demands on a large system, skyrocketing costs.
Ultimately, the expectated cost became to much. The temptation of space leads me to grandiose goals. And that was what killed a fish room for me. My goals quickly become unrealistic and well outside my financial means.
I've also found: I struggle to maintain two tanks. I had both a reef and a planted tank, when I started reefing. And before that, I had several small planted tanks much earlier in my hobby. Everytime I've had two or more tanks, one becomes my favorite and the others become neglected. Multple tanks leads me to procrastination; I don't enjoy testing multiple tanks, cleaning multiple panes, doing multiple water changes, feeding multiple populations. So, focusing on just one tank means I may be more limited, however it also ensures all my attention goes into one endeavor.
Thus, with one main tank and a sump: I can have one very extravagant system at a fraction the cost of a fish room. I can run AWC, I can run dosing systems, I can run redundancies, I can run a tank controller. And I only have one box of water to focus on. Meaning chores still get done, testing still gets done. As I'm not procrastinating, stressed by the idea of having to service a dozen tanks. So for me, one tank is by far the right answer.
I think you touched on a key point briefly however: it comes down to our goals.
I don't want to breed species. I don't want a wide collection of fish. For me, my enjoyment comes from watching a semi-sufficient ecosystem thrive. Fish are but one small part of my goal. The semi-ecosystem is my actual goal. And I really only need one box of water to do that. (Or at most one for fresh, and second for salt)
My fish room is an extra bedroom on the main floor so I have to keep floor weight in mind. Next house will definitely have a basement!