# The building of a manfish cave



## Fourthwind (Jan 28, 2015)

I decided it would be fun to chronicle the building of my Manfish cave. I will be housing and breeding from my little set up of tanks, and there was a lot of questions and desire from folks to see the progress. With that being said I opened a new thread specifically for the build. So here we go.

I have a basement that was finished back in the 90's that we really have not been using except for guests and kids catoons, so I decided to update some lighting and make myself a Manfish cave where not only can I feed my betta passion, but get my office work done as well. First part of the project is the tank section.

My wife put the nix on me cutting the carpet in the basement, so I decided to build myself a floor to help keep the carpet around the tanks dry. I purchased a 4 by 8 foot piece of 7/16 OSB, and 33 sq feet of vinyl flooring that looks like hard wood. It even has a bit of texture, so for a total of about 45 bucks, I have my floor base. I will be adding some step down trim with sealant later. about another 20 bucks.


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## Fourthwind (Jan 28, 2015)

*Morning day 2*

This morning I put together my main rack. The rack is a heavy duty 48w by 24d by 72h. It will have no problems holding the weight of theses tanks. It will initially be holding three 15 gallon tanks, and two 10's with room for a couple more when I expand. Down the road a bit, I will be adding a second 36 inch wide rack to hold 20 gallon long juvenile tanks. That's why I laid down a 8 foot long floor.

Later today I will be installing the 48" long LED shop lights I found at Sams club for 35 bucks. Should work really well.


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## Fourthwind (Jan 28, 2015)

*Evening day 2*

Got the lights installed. 40 watts each and 4200 Lumens. Plenty of light. I have a clip on light coming my way as well for the breeder tank for when the male is tending his eggs he can have continues light to do his job.

Got the tanks I am setting up for now arranged. Tomorrow is cleaning day and get the backgrounds on so the tanks are ready for when the filters, pumps, and the rest of the stuff shows up.


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## BlueInkFish (Jan 13, 2013)

Awesome it looks great I wish I could have a man cave of my own too bad being a minor has too many limits


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## Fourthwind (Jan 28, 2015)

Hahaha you think being a minor has restrictions. Just wait till your on the other end of that. Married with children!


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## BlueInkFish (Jan 13, 2013)

Fourthwind said:


> Hahaha you think being a minor has restrictions. Just wait till your on the other end of that. Married with children!



Do fish fry and younger siblings count? Haha, everything looks great! I really need to start a man cave once I've moved out!


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## Vireo (Mar 5, 2015)

I'm moving into your fish man cave.  Looks great!! Can't wait to see everything set up fully.


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## Tolak (Nov 13, 2012)

Looks good!


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## jjposko (Jan 3, 2013)

Nice setup. I like the floor idea...well thought out.


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## CelticRavens (Feb 21, 2015)

Subbing.

Already like what you've done with the space. So envious.


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## Fourthwind (Jan 28, 2015)

*Toys are here!*

Good ole brown truck showed up with the filters, heaters, air pump and accessories today. Got the tanks cleaned and have been filling slowly checking for leaks and such. I decided to make myself a portable water filling rig since I know have tanks in three places in the house. Here is a little video of it in action. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RzYSEvhA5hU&feature=youtu.be

I will have the Manfish cave tanks all up and running tonight, and I will post some pics then.


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## christinaporreca (Feb 22, 2015)

Can't wait to see the rest!


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## Fourthwind (Jan 28, 2015)

Tanks are up and running! Tanks in the top row running sponge filters are the breeding and fry tanks. Bottom tanks will be for my pairs. The bottom tanks will be getting some substrate tomorrow, and dividers after the tanks cycle. I used Finnex PX- 360 canister filters. I absolutely love these filters and would suggest them to anyone with 10 to 20 gal tanks. Very quiet, comes with plenty of biological media, good water flow, and less than 50 bucks. I have these on four tanks now.

Now to get some glass lids cleaned. Going to a not so local fish store to get some new hinges and backsplash tomorrow.


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## Axeria (Feb 6, 2015)

Oooh nice setup! Subbing


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## Zhylis (Nov 4, 2014)

Nice fishcave! How innocently it starts... one fish and one tank, then to one rack then to one room...

_*Three tanks for the betta-ranks leaving the nest.
Seven for the halfmoons in their jars alone,
Nine for plakat mohr's striped in stress,
One for the Fish Man in his fish room
In the basement where the bettas rest.

One room to hold them all, one room to find him, 
One room to breed them all and in the basement bind them.*_

MWAHAHA, one of us, one of us...


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## Greenapp1es (Dec 4, 2014)

Zhylis said:


> Nice fishcave! How innocently it starts... one fish and one tank, then to one rack then to one room...
> 
> _*Three tanks for the betta-ranks leaving the nest.
> Seven for the halfmoons in their jars alone,
> ...


OMG - that is awesome.


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## Fourthwind (Jan 28, 2015)

LOL That is a great poem. I thought I had kicked the "habit" after moving and selling all my tanks (25+ tanks). It is funny since all it took was one small tank and two betta's for me to resume my passion. Glad all my years in the fish store and marine biology are coming back to me. Going to need it!


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## Cranly (Apr 14, 2014)

Zhylis said:


> Nice fishcave! How innocently it starts... one fish and one tank, then to one rack then to one room...
> 
> _*Three tanks for the betta-ranks leaving the nest.
> Seven for the halfmoons in their jars alone,
> ...


Amazing! hahaha.

And this Manfish Cave is great! Nice work on it.


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## Greenapp1es (Dec 4, 2014)

Just a small nitpick - will this setup contain only man fish? Do females get no love? You *are* calling it a "manfish" cave. 

Maybe it's just me. Otherwise I'd *personally* go with "Fish Man-cave" or "Man Fish-cave" 

Regardless, this setup looks awesome. Even though I technically could set up something similar if I wanted to (joys of adulthood and all) - I'm still quite jealous.


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## Tress (Jun 6, 2014)

Greenapp1es said:


> Just a small nitpick - will this setup contain only man fish? Do females get no love? You *are* calling it a "manfish" cave.
> 
> Maybe it's just me. Otherwise I'd *personally* go with "Fish Man-cave" or "Man Fish-cave"
> 
> Regardless, this setup looks awesome. Even though I technically could set up something similar if I wanted to (joys of adulthood and all) - I'm still quite jealous.


Why am I suddenly reminded of Octodad....


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## MattsBettas (Dec 18, 2012)

VERY nice, cleen looking setup... Just a question, how big are the tanks on ythe top left of the picture above? The ones displayed width-wise...


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## Hallyx (Jun 11, 2011)

Terrific, Fourthwind. You don't mess around. I've never seen anything get built that fast. Ahh...but you've done this before, eh?

That's lovely Zhylis. I really enjoyed that.


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## Fourthwind (Jan 28, 2015)

MattsBettas said:


> VERY nice, cleen looking setup... Just a question, how big are the tanks on ythe top left of the picture above? The ones displayed width-wise...


They are 10 gallons. Those are my breeders. Need to re orientate the heaters so I can drop the water level after I have them cycled.



Hallyx said:


> Terrific, Fourthwind. You don't mess around. I've never seen anything get built that fast. Ahh...but you've done this before, eh?
> 
> That's lovely Zhylis. I really enjoyed that.


Yeah I have done it once or twice... Helped build one store, managed another, and had my own custom aquarium and pond business, and we wont get into what my last house looked like LOL. :roll:




Greenapp1es said:


> Just a small nitpick - will this setup contain only man fish? Do females get no love? You *are* calling it a "manfish" cave.
> 
> Maybe it's just me. Otherwise I'd *personally* go with "Fish Man-cave" or "Man Fish-cave"
> 
> Regardless, this setup looks awesome. Even though I technically could set up something similar if I wanted to (joys of adulthood and all) - I'm still quite jealous.


Hey now! I am man and I have fish.. Of course girls will be allowed. How else will we breed. I mean the fish :tease:


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## BlueInkFish (Jan 13, 2013)

And the wife is okay with this :lol:!!?? In the future... I'll need a wife who will stop me from buying fish... Because if we would both be fish lovers.... Our house would be a fish palace!


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## CelticRavens (Feb 21, 2015)

litelboyblu said:


> And the wife is okay with this :lol:!!?? In the future... I'll need a wife who will stop me from buying fish... Because if we would both be fish lovers.... Our house would be a fish palace!


There are worse things Blu. :-D


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## Fourthwind (Jan 28, 2015)

litelboyblu said:


> And the wife is okay with this :lol:!!?? In the future... I'll need a wife who will stop me from buying fish... Because if we would both be fish lovers.... Our house would be a fish palace!


She enjoys them and has her two tanks. Only one of the boys is hers, but she has a sorority going on now too. Of course I get to take care of all of them lol She has been very tolerant with all my habits.

Of course I did make one mistake. I showed her Aquabid.. She surfs it as much as I do.. Could mean trouble lol


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## BlueInkFish (Jan 13, 2013)

CelticRavens said:


> There are worse things Blu. :-D


Rather than having a fish mansion!? Haha. :lol:


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## Fourthwind (Jan 28, 2015)

Got a few things done to my Manfish cave / office. Desk and PC are here now. Tanks have been cycling nicely. All were seeded from healthy tanks and have had giant danios in them. The fry tank even has some fry in it. Danio fry but hey it's fry :lol: wife walked up to the tanks one night and said hey where did the babies come from lol. Been waiting till the tanks stabilized down here before moving my two nano plant tanks to my desk. Also ended up having to buy a water filter system as the city changed water supplies that created all kinds of havic in my established tanks. :roll:

Looks like another 2 or 3 weeks before I start working my first project.


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## Axeria (Feb 6, 2015)

Looking awesome! Wish I could get a fishcave, would be a girly one but still


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## Greenapp1es (Dec 4, 2014)

I am so jealous of your setup. Just so you know. 

Seriously though, it looks awesome.


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## InStitches (May 26, 2014)

so awesome.


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## Fourthwind (Jan 28, 2015)

Getting more organized, but not finished yet. Got my nano plant tanks moved down to my desk. One tank is re plantscaped, and waiting on wood and plants for the other one. (That's a 5 foot desk BTW) Love having them on my desk! Soooo relaxing :-D

kids Betta's are in their new home. (10 gallon divided on the lower left side of room pic) All the breeding tanks are cycled and all the adult giant danio's are back to the LFS. Still have about 30 baby danio's in the grow out tank ranging from 1/4 to 5/8" long. Yeah three of the tanks spawned during the cycle LOL. Have 4 male betta and two female breeders in the stock tanks. Going into phase one of breeding one of the pairs on Wednesday. Here is the spawn log for that

I have to say I am loving having my own space here in the cave. It has helped tremendously with stress levels of having two kids and working from home. :thumbsup:


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## Hallyx (Jun 11, 2011)

Keep it coming. You have a lot of jealous keepers hanging on your every picture.


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## Warhawk (Feb 23, 2014)

Very nice setup.


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## Fenghuang (Dec 28, 2012)

+1 what Hallyx said. Extremely jealous.

Beautiful setup. Very clean. I have seen people with larger setups, but few with ones as organized and seemingly well-planned out as yours.


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## Fourthwind (Jan 28, 2015)

I am truly trying to keep myself under control. lol 20 years ago I had a large fishroom with around 17 tanks for breeding wild caught African cichlids. My living and dining room show tanks were another story lol I learned a lot back then, and while breeding betta's now has my full attention as they are probably the most complicated (in my opinion) There is just soo much to the genetics, courtship, and fry raising, that it helps me indulge the technical side of my brain. My current problem is going to be heated segregation of the aggressive males. Maybe looking at building a barracks on the top rack. Ugh I am so addicted to this hobby again. Is there an AA for betta owners? lol I am up to 8 males and 7 females and will be working on my first batch of fry this week. Know any good shrinks before I go broke?


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## Hallyx (Jun 11, 2011)

By joining this forum, you have subscribed to Enablers Unanimous. Don't look for any sane help here.


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## ZeroChan (Feb 1, 2015)

That looks like an awesome space to be working in!


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## Kim (Apr 30, 2008)

Hallyx said:


> By joining this forum, you have subscribed to Enablers Unanimous. Don't look for any sane help here.


Hahahaha! So true :lol: 

I have to say though, that this certainly isn't the worst form of insanity in my opinion ;-). 

I can't wait to finally have my own fishroom, but for now I will just have to live vicariously through this thread!


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## Fourthwind (Jan 28, 2015)

Kim said:


> Hahahaha! So true :lol:
> 
> I have to say though, that this certainly isn't the worst form of insanity in my opinion ;-).


My wife begs to differ on that Kim! :lol::lol:


I told her I could be a drinker, and she actually thought about it for a minute before agreeing LOL


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## Schmoo (Oct 3, 2014)

Zhylis said:


> _*Three tanks for the betta-ranks leaving the nest.
> Seven for the halfmoons in their jars alone,
> Nine for plakat mohr's striped in stress,
> One for the Fish Man in his fish room
> ...


Oh my GOD, this is amazing. xD


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## Schmoo (Oct 3, 2014)

On a more related note, this is amazing! I love your set-up. Like everyone else posting in this thread, I'm super jealous. xD


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