Multi-Tank Syndrome - Confessions Of An MTS Sufferer By Littlefish

As some of you are aware, although I only found the joys of fish keeping in the autumn of 2015, I very soon realised that there was a whole watery world of wonder available to all, and it was not long before I was looking at other tanks, and very soon caved in to multi-tank syndrome.
I have been doing a lot of moving tanks around over the past few months, which has caused my total tank chaos.
Recently I also realised how much I'd given in to my MTS. I have just counted all of my tanks and I'm not sure how I feel about admitting that I have 18 of them.     
Not all of them house fish. Some are for plant storage, snail breeding, growing algae on rocks, or quarantine. Some are still empty but are marked for specific projects.
I am still a long way from finished, but thought that it was time to come clean and admit to my problem.......


My name is Donna, and I'm a fish addict. 
Tanks have completely taken over the living/dining room, and have expanded into the hallway and spare bedroom (downstairs).


Over the next few days/weeks, as I work on finishing some of the tanks, I'll be posting pictures as a warning to others of the dangers of MTS. 

I read this with pelting heart - honestly - as I thought you were about to say you'd decided to quit cold turkey. What an absolutely massive relief to learn that the MTS is alive and well. I definitely have those tendencies but have not been allowed to give into them, and so can only "contain" them through my "virtual" tanks which I read about on this forum ie yours in particular as well as others'.

Keep up the excellent work.

The 125L tanks was started because my bristlenose was being nipped by penguin tetras in the South American tank. The BEA was having similar trouble in another tank, so they were moved to a 70L tank (it was an emergency, and they were still quite small) until I could get the 125 sorted.
Moving the bristlenose caused the name Harry (Houdini) after the trouble I had catching the swift little fella, and it wasn't until I moved "him" to the 125, and in comparison to Bertie, I realised I had a female, so Harri it is. Probably explains the lack of bother between the two of them.
The tank has been completed with Black neon tetras and lemon tetras, but I had an accident when I went to the independent LFS for the fish, when I spotted the Peru gold stripe cories and just had to have some.
Haari and Bertie have been in the tank for a while, but the others only came out of quarantine yesterday, so today has been the first time I've had any lights on to take pictures.
Everyone is still settling down, so I expect the colours to develop given time. The corys are very bold, and spend a lot of time at the front of the tank in the open, even when Harri is around. Lemon tetras are shoaling more than the black neons, and one of them is not the same colour as the others. Apparently there is a conspecific orange/red colour form, and it seems quite happy shoaling with the others, so as long as it seems happy then it's staying with them.

Over the next few days/weeks, as I work on finishing some of the tanks, I'll be posting pictures as a warning to others of the dangers of MTS. 

Or inspiration to others.  Looking forward to more great pics.

Or inspiration to others.  Looking forward to more great pics.

Agree entirely. 

These updates and pics were such an enjoyment to read, even if there was a brawl between the mudskippers late on Sat night - glad you managed to intervene to calm the situation down, LF. 

I had a bit of an accident last night.
Previously I'd been looking for tanks that would fit onto the reinforced book case/cabinet things I'd built to house the Fluval Roma 125s at the bottom. My spare tanks (currently housing separated mudskippers) are 60cm x something over 30cm, and the shelves are around 85cm x 30cm, so I would have had to build deeper shelves, which would stick out a bit, and the tanks wouldn't have been wide enough to take advantage of the 85cm. I thought I'd found some tanks at a store, but then they went out of stock, so the tank moving went on hold for a while.
Last night I had a look on ebay and found tanks that are 80cm x 30cm for £99. The fact that they don't have lids will be a bit of a problem, but they were the exact size I was looking for, so I couldn't resist, and ordered 2. One will be for the betta & friends, the other will be for one of the mudskippers. I'll have to build lids for the tanks, so thinking hats on for that, but I'm sure I can put together something suitable eventually.
So, MTS strikes again. 

Luckily all of my "accidents" involve shopping rather than anything else. 

Absolutely loving not only the pics but reading of your latest MTS "escapades".

I used to have a Clearseal aquarium which had one of these lids - http://www.aquarium-supplies.co.uk/hoods.htm - and perfect for fitting a Fishmate auto-feeder on the in-built condensation tray in it. To my knowledge, it's no longer possible to buy these lids anywhere but they may give you inspiration for making your own.

I recently bought a new lid/hood for my fishtank when the lighting unit failed, so you may find that various brands of fishtanks of the same dimensions as your new one do sell stand-alone lids which would fit your new tanks.

This thread is just wonderful, something many of us aspire to, I'm sure. 

Oh Colin, if only I could blame it on a couple of glasses of wine, but no. I've actually been looking for some tanks that are exactly 80cm x 30cm for a while, so I wouldn't have to put larger shelves on the reinforced unit to hold larger tanks.

You'd be amazed at how many of those sorts of accidents I can have stone cold sober. 

Unfortunately I've had a call from the seller this evening to inform me that the couriers have told him that the tanks have been damaged in transit. The seller was very apologetic and offered to send me some larger tanks as replacements, but I said that I was happy to wait for another delivery of the tanks I ordered because I wanted that particular size. Nice of them to phone to apologise and offer rapid replacements, bless them.

I'm so having tank envy right now.   You keep everything so lovely and neat too.