Anyone have a fishroom in their garage?

[ericatdallas]

I'm in Ohio.

Okay, so I'm setting up a mini-fishroom in the garage. Well, not really, but I have space for about 4 good sized tanks in there and was thinking of adding two. There's some obvious problems.

It's not quite full summer yet, but the tank today reached 84F without heater. I have the heater set at 82F so it won't fall below that.

Temperature
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During the summer, I'm definitely worried about temperature spikes and fluctuations. The average HIGH temperature during the summer here is around 85F but there are record highs of about 105 or more. So I'm planning for mid-90's as worst case scenario. Obviously this will add some problems.

During the winter, the cold is an issue. I plan to insulate the tanks with foam on all sides for winter.

Noise
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The garage door. I put a few of my 'bad' discus in this tank to see how they would do and they seem perfectly happy. The first time I opened the garage door they seemed to freak out, but not banging on glass freaking out. They grouped together and went to the corner. Successive opening and closing of door they ignored (surprisingly).

I'm thinking the temperature issue in the summer can be countered with a small chiller and an increase the volume (so add a sump). Keep air circulated and a lid with lots of air flow (egg crate). Since most chillers are made to cool large volumes of water by several decades in degrees, I probably won't need too much for a small temperature change and modest sized tanks (55-75G). I'm thinking if it gets to as much as 100 degrees, I still only need to cool by 15F for a 90F.

The winter, my primary concern will be energy costs. I'm estimating a worst case scenario a delta of 70F for two 75G tanks is about 3000W, so about three 500W heaters per tank. I currently keep two 300W heaters in all my tanks anyway.

The garage is partially insulated on two sides (because of the house) and the aquariums will be placed in the corner where those two walls meet.

Any thing I didn't think of? Or should i just scrap this idea? I plan to upgrade the plumbing in the basement to make this possible, but this might work temporarily.

[rubinsteinnyc]

if you could draw a a top view of your garage and how everything would be situated that might help, maybe install a small movable wall somewhere?

[ericatdallas]

A moveable wall...? Hmmm... that might not be a bad idea! I have a lot of extra full-sized sheets of plywood laying around. Although not ideal, it would at least serve to further insulate them from the cold. I'm not sure I feel comfortable using a space heater and plywood, but it would at least protect them when the garage door is open.

[rubinsteinnyc]

just use MS PAINT and draw (top view) the garage, where the door/s is/are, where the tanks are situated, what kinda roof you have, one side/twp side slanted, is the roof insulated(during the summer most heat comes from the roof if its not insulated, like lava drippin from the sky... do you have any vents? you could think of gravitational ventilation, it's free and WORKS. draw the thing first then we can discuss
don't give up on the project, i'd die to have a garage... few more years of school :)

[Bonkaz]

We have just started one up and are still playing with the idea ourselves

[Rex82]

I have a total of 21 at the moment in the garage and another 12 on the way. when i move I am hoping to double that again.

[Ben75]

I have a total of 21 at the moment in the garage and another 12 on the way. when i move I am hoping to double that again.

Would like to see some pics of your setup Rex when you get a chance.

[Rex82]

Would like to see some pics of your setup Rex when you get a chance.

It's a mess at the moment ben, I have put some pics up today of some of the fish. I'm itching to get the next installment going in there.

[scottthomas]

I built an insulated room in my garage with a door leading to the outside. It takes up about 1/3 of my total garage space. The temp does not fluctuate now. Of course there is not room for a car in one side of my double garage now. It was easy to frame two simple walls. It can also be removed fairly easily if I decide I want my garage space back. Those chillers are expensive. Depending on exactly how your garage is laid out, I bet more efficient to seal of one section for your fishroom. Will cost less in energy each month too.

[ericatdallas]

Well, I appreciate the replies. I ended up giving up on the garage idea because I do eventually want the garage back during the winter for my car. I would only be able to fit 2 tanks permanently anyway, so I'm not sure if it's worth the investment to modify the garage.

We did re-arrange the basement and I now have space for 10 4ft tanks down there (if done right) so that's the way I'm going to go. I just need to figure out how to do this cleanout extension to double as a drain and I'm good to go. I'm also looking at a pump that can do 30 ft max head height. It's about 15 ft up, but I figure a pump with that kind of HH I can still get a decent flow. I'm also going to put 2-3 55G drums to store/age water.

[rubinsteinnyc]

no plumber-friend?

[owlay]

I built an insulated room in my garage with a door leading to the outside. It takes up about 1/3 of my total garage space. The temp does not fluctuate now. Of course there is not room for a car in one side of my double garage now. It was easy to frame two simple walls. It can also be removed fairly easily if I decide I want my garage space back. Those chillers are expensive. Depending on exactly how your garage is laid out, I bet more efficient to seal of one section for your fishroom. Will cost less in energy each month too.

This sounds very interesting. I actually never thought about using the garage as fishroom but I will definitely think about it. I would also have enough space in my garage. I saw that such chillers are really expensive and due to this I thought about renting chillers (http://www.aggreko.com/northamerica/products---services/rental-cooling-and-heating/chiller-rentals.aspx) and then wait until I find a cheap offer for buying one.

[Discusgeo2]

I have a 2 car garage and all 27 of my tanks are out there during the summer when it can get up to 118 in the summer in 40's in the winter. When I had the house built I had one wall insulated. The other two are part of the house. My garage door faces North and I insulated it with foam sheets you can get from Home Depot or Lowe's made for our Aluminum doors out here in the desert. I have heaters in the tank in the winter and unplug them in the summer. The temp in my garage never goes above 90 and the tanks stay around 85.

[Fishquake]

My fishroom is in the garage as well. The warmer months don't seem to be an issue right now, however, I'm preparing for the winter, which I suspect will be challenging here in NJ.

[MGKelly]

I would love a garage for discus, but old cars is another hobby.