Intro to Me

[slimbolen99]

Not much for introductions, but I'm very excited to join this site and forum.

My name is Brian Bolen, I'm from Shawnee, KS, a suburb of Kansas City.
I'm a member of the American Cichlid Association, Heart of America Aquarium Society of Kansas City, North American Native Fish Association, and a few other "fishy" organizations.

My wife and I are currently in the process of building a 275 sq foot, 1,600 gallon fish room in our basement, as some of you may have seen on the ACA site. I only have twelve 20 gallon tanks setup right now, so it's truly driving me crazy to get this room done and expand the fish operation.

Pam Chin referred me here, and I've been lurking here for several months. The reason I joined was for the educational value and potential of the site and the expertise I've seen in the forum. I'm here to learn and share my experiences.
Thanks for having me!

Brian

[SergeS]

Welcome! From 12x20 Gallon to 1600 Gallon. Thats what I call progress

Make sure to post some pics, I'd be curious to see what it will look like!

[smitty]

Welcome! If there was ever a forum to enjoy and learn from this is it. Hope you enjoy this forum for all it has to offer and I'm sure it will love all you can share.

[Dan Woodland]

Welcome Brian.

If it were me, I'd go BIG or go home! Just kidding but keep in mind you can do more with a bigger tank than you can with a smaller tank and another pearl of wisdom... You can never make a small tank bigger.

Obviously there are several factors that control the size tanks you get but, keep it in mind because you'd hate to build your room then remodel shortly after that.

I also suggest, since you are starting from scratch, to utilize an automatic water change system. They are relatively cheap to build and very much worth the time it takes to install.

Good luck with what ever path you choose!

[Pam Chin]

Hey Brian!

Glad to see you here!!!

Cichlid Power!
Pam

[slimbolen99]

Thanks for the welcome(s). I guess I forgot to cover what I keep...mostly all SA and West African dwarfs, particularly apistos and nanochromis.

The fishroom will have sixteen 75 gallon tanks, fifteen 20 gallon highs, and sixteen 10 gallon tanks; total of 47 aquariums for 1,660 gallons or so. Like I said, the details on the build are on the ACA site and the Heart of America Aquarium Society website, but I'll share a few pics here of the build thus far for eye-candy.

The OLD fishroom, half of it anyway.


One half of the current setup (NOT the fishroom, just where I have my tanks now during construction).


The old fishroom area that will become the new fishroom. Had to move 30 some small tanks out.


Concrete walls with the polystyrene insulation up.


Framing the walls.


Electrical outlets (11 of them) and five can lights installed.


Sheetrock is installed.


I've actually almost finished mudding, but no pics yet. There is a LOT of cleanup to do. Next step is painting.