CichlidFish.com - Fish That Think.

Tip 1: Have at least one spare air pump per tank in your house.




Tip 2: Make sure it works.






I had a fantastic weekend
Not one of my spare pumps were working.
Nor the spare filter I had.

Extension board decided to set itself on fire, I lost two filters and two pumps. Not happy Jan.

Holy leaky tanks!! well at least that did nt' happen to U!! A fire thou, that is worse!! I use surge protecters on all my tanks.. they have 6 to 8 sockets and are very realiable and a thick cord to the wall outlet.. I do worry about the electic load on the wall socket thou, I have two surge protecters per set-up per wall outlets.. AS my tanks are doubled this is two surge protectors on one wall sockets x2.. I do only ONE airpump per tank now as they dont' need all that air from two airstones per tank.. Heaters are down to 74F (23c) as if they are to high, the heat in the room along with the dampness is a bad combo and makes the AC run more.. My top tanks run 76F to 78F (24c to 25c) due to lights and the filters.. Bottom tanks are 76F (24c) so they are fine.. I close the door at nite to hold in the heat so eveyone is fine the next morning.. My AC duck is half covered.. Ah what we go through for fish!!

I hope your fish and tanks and YOUR home are fine.. fish can be replaced. Your home well, that is harder to replace..

Ha ha thanks Barb. Everything and all fish are fine, luckily it's a large tank with little fish in it. The extension board was really old and I keep them elevated above tanks to avoid drips getting in them. Not sure why it blew up, I keep those tanks in a large back room that gets a lot of air flow, so I wouldn't think it'd be condensation.

Good tip with keeping tanks heated - We keep most tanks in a large insulated shed. Summer time keeps it warm naturally and in winter we just have a gas heater going over-night. If the temp goes above 25 C we open the door and the window, there's also a vent in the roof. Gas is so much cheaper than electricity lol. Mind you both are used for that heater.

That shed also has a main air pump outside with pvc pipes leading to all tanks. Under gravel fitlers in most of them. That way if there's a blackout (power out) we have a generator for the air pump, keeps everything going. On a cold day without being heated the shed stays warm for about 24 hours so not too worried about heat if the power goes out.


Starting to build my breeding shed at home, it's about 6m by 3.5m. Can't wait until it's complete!!! I'll post my designs at some stage so feel free to comment on them when you see them!