Garage tanks in a Warm Climate - who has them?

[FishyDP]

So I want to set up some frag tanks, but have run out of room in my house (or my wife has not approved more tanks inside the house haha). My only option is the garage, and not having frag tanks is not an option!

Has anyone done this? Any tips..the kicker is I live in SW Florida. I have a normal sized window for ventilation, and will be running a portable ac unit only when I am in the garage, and will be investing in a dehumidifier, again only will be in use when I am in the garage. Will be insulating the garage door. My main concerns are keeping water temp stable, and humidity on electronics. Will be running t5s most likely, and maybe a total of 150-200 gallons between 2 shallow tanks and a sump.

 

[Brad Miller]

Maybe do a swamp cooler for a 10*f cooling effect by evaporation on a temp control
(Passing falling water over a fan)
And an exhaust fan with a gravity discharge damper and a motorized inlet damper on the other side of the garage wall from the exhaust fan to run on a humidity control.

 

[Coronus]

How did the tanks come out?

 

[Livinlocal]

I'm not sure if you've already done everything, but I have about 600 gallons of water in my garage spread out between my frag system, and 2 display/fish holding tanks. The biggest issue you'll have is keeping your tank cool. No air conditioner will ever keep up with the amount of heat generated in the summer. I have a 1 1/2hp chiller that is hooked to my system that keeps everything at 78. A dehumidifier is also a must if you dont have a well ventilated garage. You can add gable vents or a turbine roof vent if you dont want to usea dehum.

 

[Dr. Dendrostein]

I'm not sure if you've already done everything, but I have about 600 gallons of water in my garage spread out between my frag system, and 2 display/fish holding tanks. The biggest issue you'll have is keeping your tank cool. No air conditioner will ever keep up with the amount of heat generated in the summer. I have a 1 1/2hp chiller that is hooked to my system that keeps everything at 78. A dehumidifier is also a must if you dont have a well ventilated garage. You can add gable vents or a turbine roof vent if you dont want to usea dehum.

If you do your homework, there's solar attic fans to pull the humidity some move more air than others. Just got to do your home

 

[Dr. Dendrostein]

So I want to set up some frag tanks, but have run out of room in my house (or my wife has not approved more tanks inside the house haha). My only option is the garage, and not having frag tanks is not an option!

Has anyone done this? Any tips..the kicker is I live in SW Florida. I have a normal sized window for ventilation, and will be running a portable ac unit only when I am in the garage, and will be investing in a dehumidifier, again only will be in use when I am in the garage. Will be insulating the garage door. My main concerns are keeping water temp stable, and humidity on electronics. Will be running t5s most likely, and maybe a total of 150-200 gallons between 2 shallow tanks and a sump.

I had a tank setup 120 gallons I believe in a garage no insulation, Southern California where is hits 118 degrees in summer. So I found a good use half horsepower chiller and I kept the water I believe 75 degrees.

 

[FishyDP]

Glad this thread got some more replies. So I can see above that a couple of you have done this in CA. From the sounds of it a chiller is an absolute must, and cooling the garage will be challenging in the summer. This is why I have been stalling on the process a bit, having some doubts especially in sw fl, it is brutally hot here. I just got the garage organized, which was a project in itself lol. I ordered and received the garage door insulation, it is in my garage waiting to be installed. Hmm..maybe a build thread will be started from this. It will be a lengthy process, but I am getting some more inspiration hearing that a couple of you have done it successfully.

 

[FishyDP]

I'm not sure if you've already done everything, but I have about 600 gallons of water in my garage spread out between my frag system, and 2 display/fish holding tanks. The biggest issue you'll have is keeping your tank cool. No air conditioner will ever keep up with the amount of heat generated in the summer. I have a 1 1/2hp chiller that is hooked to my system that keeps everything at 78. A dehumidifier is also a must if you dont have a well ventilated garage. You can add gable vents or a turbine roof vent if you dont want to usea dehum.

As I move along in this process, I definitely may have some questions for you, if you dont mind..do you have a recommendation for a chiller? I may use AC in the garage as a supplement, and to just keep it at a reasonable temperature when I am working in there. I have a temperature/humidity monitor in there now to get an idea of the daily fluctuations. After I insulate the door, next step will be getting the temp down a bit via a portable AC, fans and most likely a dehumidifier, so I can at least work out there comfortably. It is already in the mid 80s down here now. My immediate goal is to get the garage 8-10 deg cooler than outside. The garage stays almost exactly the same temp as outside right now.

 

[Dr. Dendrostein]

All about planning. Thanks for sharing comrade

 

[FishyDP]

I had a tank setup 120 gallons I believe in a garage no insulation, Southern California where is hits 118 degrees in summer. So I found a good use half horsepower chiller and I kept the water I believe 75 degrees.

Do you have a recommendation for a chiller?

 

[Salty Lemon]

How warm is "warm"? Are we talking 90 degrees with humidity or 120 degrees and arid?

Edit: Oops...never mind. I see you live in So Florida.

 

[Dr. Dendrostein]

Do you have a recommendation for a chiller?

Sounds like garage will be insulated that's a help. Definitely add an addict fan. Size I forgot what size tank you're going with but if it's 150 gallon tank, 1/2 horsepower chiller more than enough and if you increase in tank size you don't have to get another chiller. My use chiller only pulled 3 amp. Not bad for a used chiller.

Brand I think I would go with Coral life.

 

[Livinlocal]

You can check out my build thread, I have moved the tank a couple times so you can see how I set it up each time.

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/livinlocal’s-living-ocean.351562/

For a chiller recommendation, I don't really have a brand to reccomend, but I would recommend to get one that is rated for twice the amount of water that you are actually going to be using. I use a ecoplus chiller that works amazing. If you get a chiller that's rated for 200 gallons of water, and you have 200 gallons of water, the chiller is going to be working really hard because it will be struggling to keep up with the warm climate in your garage. My garage doors are insulated, and my garage still gets to about 120ﾟ in the summer. Btw I live in San Diego. If its 90 outside, my garage is over 110. If its 100 outside,my garage us around 120 or so. I have always thought about putting in an air conditioner in my garage, but with the heat output from the chiller, it's almost a waste of electricity because it wouldn't keep up with the heat, and the garage being ventilated, the cold air would just get sucked out. I also run my lights at night from 10pm-9am to help conoinsate the heat.


One thing I am thinking about doing now comment is actually putting the chiller outside of my garage so it doesn't push the hot air back into my garage. This would help keep it cool so that when I'm in the garage comment I can run a airconditioner and it wouldn't have to compete with that heat from the chiller. But I haven't done this yet because it's a lot of work lol

 

[snorklr]

north carolina....30x30 attached garage with 12 ft ceiling....insulated including doors....gets hotter in the garage than it is outside..thats why most people here have carports or leave their garage doors open all the time....40gal with sump...led's...1/4 hp jbj barely keeps up (set at 78 but hits over 80 on bad days)....eventually gonna add a thru the wall a/c unit cause its also a workshop but i figured it would take less electric to cool 45 gallons of water than 11,000 cubic feet of air

 

[FishyDP]

You can check out my build thread, I have moved the tank a couple times so you can see how I set it up each time.

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/livinlocal’s-living-ocean.351562/

For a chiller recommendation, I don't really have a brand to reccomend, but I would recommend to get one that is rated for twice the amount of water that you are actually going to be using. I use a ecoplus chiller that works amazing. If you get a chiller that's rated for 200 gallons of water, and you have 200 gallons of water, the chiller is going to be working really hard because it will be struggling to keep up with the warm climate in your garage. My garage doors are insulated, and my garage still gets to about 120ﾟ in the summer. Btw I live in San Diego. If its 90 outside, my garage is over 110. If its 100 outside,my garage us around 120 or so. I have always thought about putting in an air conditioner in my garage, but with the heat output from the chiller, it's almost a waste of electricity because it wouldn't keep up with the heat, and the garage being ventilated, the cold air would just get sucked out. I also run my lights at night from 10pm-9am to help conoinsate the heat.


One thing I am thinking about doing now comment is actually putting the chiller outside of my garage so it doesn't push the hot air back into my garage. This would help keep it cool so that when I'm in the garage comment I can run a airconditioner and it wouldn't have to compete with that heat from the chiller. But I haven't done this yet because it's a lot of work lol

Wow, just wow. I read through your build thread. Talk about some challenges but you made it through them, and then some. Nicely done, beautiful display. How long have you been in the hobby?..I am not at your level yet, only about 10 months in but have dove in pretty hard, obsessed with these awesome systems and corals.

I thought about the issue regarding the chiller putting off heat, and competing with the AC. I am thinking about enclosing the chiller and venting it outside through a window in my garage. Would this work? I would just enclose it in some kind of cabinet, attach a hose to the cabinet and run the hose out the window like a portable AC. The portable AC would vent out of the same window. I would also add a dehumidifier. I am hoping that the portable AC unit will double as a moisture vent. When I do get the chiller, I will make sure to get one rated for double my water volume like you said, this makes sense so the chiller does not run too hard. Also clever running lights at night.

Where I am in sw Florida (greater Tampa area) the temperature rarely gets above 93-94..but it feels like 120 easy with the humidity and sun. I am hoping the fact that the actual temperature is not insanely high, I am able to keep my garage in the mid- high 80s.

I agree, this is all a lot of work, so this project will be..ongoing lol. My in wall display would be the last part of the plans, I have some convincing of my wife to take care of. Initially it will be frag tanks and a modest display, maybe 300g total for the system. I will design the plumbing so I can easily add a larger in wall display at some point. Nice idea with the frag tank on the metal rack, makes hanging lights etc easier.

Thanks for all the useful info. Hopefully my garage will look like a mini coral farm in the near future, will update.

The tanks will go down the right side wall. The garage in not huge so hopefully this will work in my favor.

 

[SandJ]

@FishyDP would it be possible to partition off part of the garage? Make an insulated room inside the garage the you could cool with the house HVAC system. And you could still use the garage and not worry about anything contaminating the tanks. And it would be removable if you ever wanted to revert back to the regular garage (if you sell or something).
And depending on what is on the other side of the wall attached to the house, you may be able to put a window of some sort so you can see the tanks from inside (that could always come later though).

 

[Subsea]

Thermodynamics 101
When 1 pound of water evaporates, 1000 BTU of cooling takes place. One gallon evaporated is
8340 BTU of cooling.

Indoor fish hatcheries cool water to 80 degrees in 90 degree 90% humidity in south Florida.

A dehumidifier is useless in your application. Air conditioner removes moisture and cools air. Dehumidifier removes moisture and warms the air. In winter applications cooling water is a non issue.

I ran 10K gallons in a greenhouse in Austin, Texas during 110 degree summer heat and maintained 80 degree water using evaporative cooling only.

 

[FishyDP]

If my garage was larger a partitioned wall would more than likely be my first choice. I will have to occasionally park a vehicle in the garage, and a wall would make it very difficult. Supposedly it is a 2 car garage, but there is only room for 1 car with some additional storage (and fish tanks haha). I think it is 16x19ish. My living room is actually on the other side of the garage wall that attaches to the house. It is almost a perfect place for an in wall tank. This is part of my plans in the garage. Originally I was going to do 150-200g of frag tanks, but I know I will just want to upgrade, so I am just going bigger from the beginning. The in wall tank may come before the frag tanks idk yet. It is a hard decision, frag tanks first or large in wall display. First step for me is getting the garage a little cooler, to see if this will work. Its HOT here!

This is the other side of the garage, where the in wall tank would go. I have a little cichlid tank that will have to be moved.

 

[FishyDP]

Thermodynamics 101
When 1 pound of water evaporates, 1000 BTU of cooling takes place. One gallon evaporated is
8340 BTU of cooling.

Indoor fish hatcheries cool water to 80 degrees in 90 degree 90% humidity in south Florida.

A dehumidifier is useless in your application. Air conditioner removes moisture and cools air. Dehumidifier removes moisture and warms the air. In winter applications cooling water is a non issue.

I ran 10K gallons in a greenhouse in Austin, Texas during 110 degree summer heat and maintained 80 degree water using evaporative cooling only.

Very interesting. I would love to hear how this works exactly, but won't ask you to fully explain, unless you would like to In either case I am absolutely open to this option. I am glad you gave the tip of not using a dehumidifier, what you said above does make sense.

 

[Eggs]

If you do your homework, there's solar attic fans to pull the humidity some move more air than others. Just got to do your home

I bought a house in south Florida a few months back that has these; I’m amazed at how cool it keeps the whole attic (storage areas are a premium). I haven’t tried to utilize it for the garage yet....I’m in planning stage for 300g tank and also looking at utilizing garage, as well as attic for water transfer.