Fish tank outside??

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franlovera

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Oct 12, 2009
162
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Argentina
Hi, I live in the first story of an apartment complex. I have a little patio and was thinking it would be awesome to have a aquarium there. Since the patio is surrounded by apartments with 15 floors each in ever direction, i have little sunlight there. I tried planting grass, but it died from lack of sunlight (also the tank would be in the shade). So i think algea wouldn't be a great problem. However, in the winter it gets close to 32 degrees ferenheit, and usually snows very lightly once or twice. In summer, the highest temp. would be 98ish. Would this be a big problem? I was thinking maybe a 100 gallon, with a cooler to keep the temperature in summer, and for winter i would add some heaters to maintain the temperature. Would evaporation be a problem?

I was thinking of using africans becuase there is a rock wall behind where the tank would be and i think it would look sweet. Would africans handle such cold weather?
 
Africans are called africans for a reason lol. It doesnt get cold theres so that would be bad. You have to go with a coldwater fish like a goldfish or something unless you brought it back in when it got cold. One thing I would be worried about though is cold, water, and glass do not mix. If it got cold enough for the water to freeze it would expand and crack the tank.
 
But with a huge amount of heaters in there, would that heat the water enough to maintain it hot enough?

I'm more worried of the water boiling during summer.
 
Id think it would be VERY expensive to maintain temp with that much seasonal variation.Id imaging youd need at least 20 watts per gallon of heaters minimum for the winter.Of course its possible,but Id think cost might make you take it down.
 
You can get 2 300watt heaters on ebay for like $30 for both, and during the summer, unless in direct sunlight, the tank should not go above 85 since water is a poor heat conductor.
 
Your heaters would prob be running none stop. Do you really spend that much time out there in the winter? If I was you id make it seasonal and bring it back in during the winter. You would still need a chiller during the summer and those can get pretty pricy.
 
I don't think he will need a chiller since it won't be in direct sunlight, he will be OK with Africans in the summer. You should post some pictures of the patio so we can see what your working with..
 
erk419;3901141; said:
Your heaters would prob be running none stop. Do you really spend that much time out there in the winter? If I was you id make it seasonal and bring it back in during the winter. You would still need a chiller during the summer and those can get pretty pricy.
Click to expand...

:iagree:
 
The heaters i can get quite cheaply, so that wouldn't cost as much.

The chillers are expensive, but if water temperature won't rise more than 86 than it should be fine.

I was thinking of using a total of 300 watts. About 30 per gallon(not sure yet about the size of the aquarium will be around 100gal though). I can get two 150w heaters for a whopping total of 30 dollars. Or I can get two 200w for also 30 dollars total. Not sure if 400w total would be too much though.

I will look into what miguel said about the summer temperatures. If so, i honestly don't see it costing that much more to maintain.
 
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