[Blackheart]

Hello all. I know MTS is a big thing with us aquatic hobbyists. I have personally never really had more than one tank setup at a time. I have from time to time had 2-3 different tank setups, but never all setup at once. I have a 33 long setup in my living room which I am quite happy with. I always thought it would be pretty cool to have a dedicated shrimp tank like for RCS and my wife finally agreed to let me have one on several conditions. One of them being it has to be in our spare room.

Now I have done some looking into for the budget how much it would cost for my planned tank, a 20 long. It would cost somewhere around 260 dollars for everything in particular that I would personally purchase. And that's cheaper than the 40 breeder or 30 breeder setup I was originally wanting to do which would cost around 350-400. That's with buying tanks at the DPG sale. I prefer to buy my items brand new.

Now I am curious, at this point, I am wondering if it would even be worth it in this kind of scenario... To spend that much for a tank that's not even going to be out in a main viewing area. This room is just a spare bedroom and we don't go in there very often.

What would you guys do personally? And no suggestions please about finding cheaper deals on craigslist or things of that sort.

 

[sm1ke]

IMO, skip it. Unless you plan to breed a colony of RCS to sell to other hobbyists, it doesn't make a lot of sense (to me) to stick an aquarium in a room you don't spend much time in. Though I suppose I would do this if I were forced to (due to no space in common areas).

Why won't your wife let you have a second tank in the same room as the 33L? Space concerns?

 

[typically]

Would you be able to swing a 10g in the living room? 10g is plenty of room for skrimps and doesn't take up a ton of space. Minimal setup costs if you keep it lowtech.

Build a rack to stack 2 tanks?

 

[evil8]

My advice would be to make sure it's easy enough to do water changes and maintenance in any area you put up your tanks. I had 2 tanks in the spare room (29g and 6g) which didn't get as much love as the 2 in the living room (16g and 45g). It was a pain in the ass to do water changes up there. Things suffered at times. Now I've rearraigned things a bit. There are no tanks in the spare room. The living room has 2 16g tanks and I've set up an old half hex in the basement where I plan to take over a corner to do my "fish room" this spring.

 

[Blackheart]

IMO, skip it. Unless you plan to breed a colony of RCS to sell to other hobbyists, it doesn't make a lot of sense (to me) to stick an aquarium in a room you don't spend much time in. Though I suppose I would do this if I were forced to (due to no space in common areas).

Why won't your wife let you have a second tank in the same room as the 33L? Space concerns?

It's because my wife is strictly against me having more than one tank other than in a spare room. That and yes, there isn't really that much room. There's enough room for one pretty good sized tank, hence my 4 foot 33 long. Other then that, not really.

Would you be able to swing a 10g in the living room? 10g is plenty of room for skrimps and doesn't take up a ton of space. Minimal setup costs if you keep it lowtech.

Build a rack to stack 2 tanks?

Nope. I have to have a sturdy tank stand as well, and as far as I know, most double tank stands aren't that sturdy.

 

[sm1ke]

A rack to stack two tanks is a great idea. Plenty of DIY plans out there - in fact I built a 2x4 stand for a 130g, then added a sheet of plywood across the bottom to serve as a shelf for equipment or a sump. I actually kept my canister filters and a 20g long on that bottom shelf for years - and the 130 is still going strong on the same stand with no issues (10+ years and counting).

That said, if you can't (or don't want) to DIY, or you prefer the look of the stand you already have, your only other option would be to modify/reinforce your existing stand (which would involve some DIY anyway). That is, of course, provided your wife would let you do any of that.

 

[typically]

Nope. I have to have a sturdy tank stand as well, and as far as I know, most double tank stands aren't that sturdy.

Hopefully that's not that case as my pops and I are just finishing up a rack for 2 29g tanks haha. Good luck getting the shrimp tank setup where it may go!