By Donna M. Recktenwalt
If an aquarium is a container that holds water suitable for maintaining aquatic life, then a fishroom is an area set aside for the primary purpose of keeping aquaria. It may be as simple as a couple of tanks on a shelf, or as complex as a specially designed room with central air and water systems.Individual fishrooms vary as much as those who keep them. Some prefer a high-tech approach to the hobby; others cheerfully utilize whatever available materials will do the job. Some fishkeepers have only a species or two and are content to simply admire them; others can’t wait for the next new fish, or the next show.
Whatever your intent, having a dedicated area for your fish makes for more efficient distribution of air and power and simplifies basic maintenance chores, while limiting potential damage from spillage.
Regardless of location or size, all fishrooms share several basic characteristics. All hold containers of various sizes suitable for holding water, eggs, live food and/or fish. All have power for lights, heaters, and filtration. All provide for storage of equipment and supplies, and many have some provision for storing and aging water. Those fishrooms located in basements often have their own water supply and drains.
There is no “best way” to keep killifish. As long as their basic needs are met clean water, sufficient light, enough heat, plenty of space and protective cover, and adequate food the fish themselves don’t care whether they’re living in a high-tech, gleaming fishroom or a closet corner with a single light bulb and one small tank. Given the basics, most fish will do well. All the rest the design and layout of the fishroom, the tanks and their arrangement, the lighting source, the filtration or circulation, the attractiveness of the plantings are simply a matter of personal taste, aesthetics, and practicality.
Some of the Variables
Aquaria. What constitutes “an aquarium” is a matter for personal definition and convenience, and is limited only by a material’s ability to hold water. “Aquaria” include plastic tubs, boxes, and containers; glass jars and kitchenware; rubber or fiberglass buckets, tubs, and trash barrels; Styrofoam picnic and fish boxes; and regular tanks of plastic, glass, or acrylic.
These may be arranged in any manner ranked in tiers on shelves, placed on the floor or on bookshelves, set on any available surfaces. Most aquarists with more than a few tanks find the most efficient arrangement is to group the tanks, narrow ends out, on heavy duty shelving or 2x4racks with the smaller tanks at the top and the larger ones below. Such arrangement allows for efficient layout of lights and air supply lines, and easier access for cleaning and maintenance.
Covers. Since many killifish are notorious jumpers, tanks are usually fitted with covers. These may consist of sheets of glass or acrylic, commercial combination covers containing lights, or some type of screening to keep the fish in and other critters out.
Lights are usually fluorescent, either hung above the racks of tanks or laid atop them. Species that prefer darker conditions can be kept in tanks at the far ends of rows, or on unlit shelves.
Heating. Most killifish do well at ambient room temperatures, although some prefer much warmer or cooler conditions. If you have a basement fishroom, supplemental heating using either a small room heater or individual tank heaters may be required. If you live in a part of the country with hot summers, air conditioning during some months may be necessary.
Plants. Only a few of the killifish species are aggressively herbivorous; mostdo quite well in planted aquaria. Plants provide cover for both adults and fry, sites for egg laying, a source for infusoria and other microscopic foods, and an effective ammonia soak, helping maintain water quality. Java moss is a staple in most fishrooms, growing in even low light conditions. Other favorites for low light situations include the Cryptocorenes and Java Fern. High light level standbys include Water Sprite, Hygrophilia, Hornwort, and some of the smaller floating plants, such as Duckweed, Salvinia, and Riccia.
Filters. Just about every type of filter has been used by killifish fanciers, from none at all the most sophisticated. All types undergravel, box, foam, trickle, and inside and outside filters have their proponents, but for tanks up to 10 gallons few can beat internal foam filters. For larger tanks, outside and power filters move more water and improve overall tank cleanliness. For small fry, a mass of java moss and a couple of snails in the container often suffice.
Substrates, too, are a matter of personal preference. Some aquarists won’t be without a gravel or sand substrate in all tanks; others swear by the bare tank approach. With gravel substrates, the tank has a chance to develop a good colony of beneficial bacteria; at the same time, it provides hiding places for decaying material, which can cause water quality problems. The bare tank approach assures cleanliness, since you can see potential problems before they become serious; but it may also require more maintenance to keep that bottom spotless.
In both bare tank and substrate setups, corydoras catfish are often used as supplemental “cleaners,” and do very well. Cory cats should not, however, be used in spawning tanks for the annual species, since they will stir up the spawning material, searching for the eggs.
— G.C.K.A. Newsletter, June 1998