Outdoor Reef Tank - Starting an experiment in my backyard

[k2-]

Hi,

I am curious about natural reef tanks. I am starting an experiment (and idea is to start simple and then adjust based on results). The experiment goes like this

Setup a 10-gallon saltwater aquarium outdoors (coastal southern California)
Manage salinity and temperature of water through a water reservoir (50 gallons) - constant flow through this 50 G

I am planning to start this cycle in the upcoming weeks, simply put set this up in the backyard safe and start to cycle. If all goes well would love to add some porites.


Glad to be among the experts and any pointers will be useful.

 

[Daddy-o]

I was looking into this a while back and saw that some reefers put a storage tank underground to help stabilize temp. Apparently it is easier to heat water than keep it cool.
Cheers! Mark

 

[davidrod8]

I have had am outdoor reef tank in TX for a year now, it's 210 Gallons. Without a chiller and heaters it will not survive. Temp swings too much.

 

[k2-]

Got it.

 

[k2-]

Can you share the picture of your tank ? I am in so cal but stil few times a year temperature swings too wildly.

 

[reefer_87]

You might have more issues given the small volume + water loss through evaporation. It will lead to wild salinity+nutrient swings that might eventually crash your tank unless extreme precautions are taken.

 

[Cory]

Its worth doing. O2manyfish has a youtube video if his outdoor tanks.

You might need a shade cloth to reduce heat from direct sunlight.

 

[Zionas]

Wow! How did you do it?

 

[davidrod8]

Can you share the picture of your tank ? I am in so cal but stil few times a year temperature swings too wildly.

Look on my build thread, all the info is there. Wilder than the swings that we have here I doubt it
Just had to battle through a week of freezing weather for a whole week, 3 days with no power, it was interesting to say the least I need to update the thread with new info