The importance of a "Scientific Laboratory" in fish keeping.

[fishdance]

All of my fish rooms are set out for optimal utility. I'm not taking about a room with a dozen tanks scattered throughout, but rows of racked tanks.

Definitely plan to have a sink - wet area (with sand & fish trap on drain). Water taps at each end. Microscope desk, separate library, shadow board for nets, lots of shelves for spare parts. Fish packing station. In my case, I swap out and use a top load washer to rinse sponges every 4 weeks so I keep 25% extra sponges. The cleaned sponges are floated in a spare tank/tub.

I recommend you use an old refridgerator for storing medications above and fish food below. Rodent proof and insulated.

There would be a huge amount of youtube and online discussions about fish room setup.

 

[surfermike915]

Everyone on this forum with what I would call a "successful" fish room has had a plan for the most part before setting up. Its okay to rethink your setup. Thats something I do a lot of. But I HIGHLY recommend you get a successful blueprint before you reset or whatever you do with your fish room. Just be thorough and have storage for everything. I have a place for medicine in one fish room and food and same with the other fish room. I try not to set up a tank on a whim and throw it wherever I can find space. That's because in the long run I will get dissatisfied with where the tank is and want to switch it around again.

 

[fishdance]

Make or buy at least four low level platforms on wheels. I have ten home made platform trolleys that are 120mm square and only 80mm off the ground. Each can handle 120kg weight each according to the wheel specification. This makes it very easy to move even large tanks on stands or entire racks of tanks. Empty out all water, (substrate can be left), use a hydraulic or car jack to slightly lift one end of stand/rack, slide platforms under each leg, repeat for other end. One person can shift or rotate tanks on stands safely and easily. Some of my racks have 30 tanks each.