Garage tanks?

Kbra · Sep 3, 2012

Anyone have a display or frag tank in their garage AND actually use their garage for parking and doing house project's?

I wanna build a garage tank but I'm concerned about protecting it from debris and other outdoor type environments...

Got pics?

Kbra · Sep 3, 2012

Bumps

Sent from my Xoom using Tapatalk 2

ChoxRox · Sep 3, 2012

Also thinking about something similar and interested in answers...

MBG75 · Sep 3, 2012

I have my fish qt in my garage for the summer. Once temp drops I break it down

bairdimusprime · Sep 4, 2012

i'm in NJ our winters get pretty cold... when i was a kid i kept 4 freshwater tanks in my garage... they all help up fine for years till one of the tanks had a heater malfunction one winter and everything inside was cooked. after that everything was moved inside and i've never attempted it again...best of luck

Kbra · Sep 4, 2012

bairdimusprime said:
i'm in NJ our winters get pretty cold... when i was a kid i kept 4 freshwater tanks in my garage... they all help up fine for years till one of the tanks had a heater malfunction one winter and everything inside was cooked. after that everything was moved inside and i've never attempted it again...best of luck

Cooking the tank in garage v house would be the same... did you use the garage for cars and stuff?

Sent from my Xoom using Tapatalk 2

ruppertb · Sep 4, 2012

while we stay at my inlaws during our house buying process my tanks are in my employers garage. It is just for storage and only gets used once a week for lawn mowing the restaurants lawn. It smells like gas in the garage but is heated. Tanks are doing fine.... mostly just rocks and fish, corals are doing ok but dont look "great" but the lighting was cut in half and it is no where near as clean or stable. only 55 gal tank where b4 it was 210gal system.

All my corals are in a 28gal led tank in there dining room. But all fish seem good, no ich or anything from my two tangs and they went into a smaller tank and are doing great.

ruppertb · Sep 4, 2012

i have my apex hooked up for timer purpose and temp monitoring. not connected to the net or ph or anything else

OurReef · Sep 4, 2012

I plan to partition off a section of the garage if needed to hold my sump/refugium. But I also plan on venting that area directly outside. Only issue I see would be evap. Possible condensation due to warm water cold air during the winter. It would be easier to run a dehumidifier in the garage though. Less worry about heating the house up.

bairdimusprime · Sep 4, 2012

Yes we kept a car in the garage as well as our lawn mowers and tools ect.. i understand that the same thing could happen inside as well. everything help up fine until the accident

revhtree · Sep 4, 2012

My buddy kept a gorgeous tank inside his home and had a GIANT open top sump and frag system out in his garage where he parked 2 cars. He lives in South Tennessee and outside temps would hit 100 in the summer and 20-30's in the winter. He didn't have any issues at all. Matter of fact he grew some of the nicest corals I have ever seen in person. He originally had a chiller connected but he never had to use it because he added one of those Stanley fans that sit on his sump and blew down into it. Then he had multiple heaters for the winter. Also the frag tank that sit directly in the garage was full of frags that grew very well and he was mostly an SPS guy. Also this was in just a basic 2 car garage.

It can be done and I would do it after watching him.

He tore it all down and got out of the hobby due to work and family but it was successful for a couple of years in his garage.

FishScale · Sep 4, 2012

I've tried my hand in a garage tank for a year. The temperature swings were pretty bad with the winter months. My electricity bill was thru the roof. I gave up shortly after and Im glad I did so because I really didn't spend time in the garage.

WesF · Sep 4, 2012

My 250g display, 100g sump, and 30g frag tank are all located in the garage. The display is visible from the living room (in-wall)

https://www.reef2reef.com/forums/showthread.php?t=42803

cdness · Sep 4, 2012

In Fargo it would be impossible unless it was insulated and heated. Outside temps without wind chill can range from -60 to 120 degrees at the extremes. It wouldn't be practical at all.

Now in a more temerate climate it could be done I'd think. Just be sure to get your skimmer air through a carbon filter first to eat up the contaminants from any chemicals, exhaust, etc in the garage.

WesF · Sep 4, 2012

Heaters and a Chiller keep my temps stable. Summer is more expensive than winter. July & August are my most expensive months. The chiller runs ALOT. Before next season I am thinking about plumbing it to the outside in a doghouse. The garage is hotter than outside temps. It is a sauna in there July/August. I think moving the chiller out of the garage will help keep the heat down and make the chiller more energy efficient. The chiller doesn't kick on fall, winter, or early spring.

Winters are pretty mild in NC be we do drop below freezing. The MH lighting helps with heat. 1000 watts of heaters are enough to maintain temp. I replace the heaters before every winter and keep some on the shelf for backup Heater failure in the winter would be very bad.

If I switched to LED lighting my electric bill could potentially increase in the winter.