Garage set-up Q's

[klownh8er]

Was wondering how many of you kept your fishroom in garages?
How many have kept fish in them successfully?
It's insulated, but not heated/cooled.
Around these parts (Nova/DC) weather is ridicoulous, gets extremely hot and extremely cold. So are there any concerns?


I have to decide if I want a plywood or a big stock tank.
If I went with the stock tank (most likely will) how do you cover the top? A giant piece of plexi?

Stock will be tropical fish, most likely a few rays with silver arowana, as I've always wanted this, but never had a large enough tank.

thanks for input, and if it can not be done, it won't be. I'm in no rush, and just toying with idea for now.

 

[notanatheist]

I did a few things to help my garage. It was originally bare studs on the back wall (with a covered area behind that) and old wood non-insulated door. I insulated the back wall and put up plywood instead of drywall for a better moisture barrier (easily painted / sealed) and more durability in term of screwing things into it since it is a garage! For the door which faces west and gets to baking in the summer I just lined it with the foil bubble wrap style insulation. It definitely helps. Also, exhaust fans for the summers. I'm hoping to add a solar exhaust by next summer. My servers are in the garage and during the summer I'm expelling the heat outdoors but I'll likely cover the holes and trap the warm air indoors for the winter but draw it out into the room away from the computers.

 

[David K. Bradley]

Was wondering how many of you kept your fishroom in garages?
How many have kept fish in them successfully?
It's insulated, but not heated/cooled.
Around these parts (Nova/DC) weather is ridicoulous, gets extremely hot and extremely cold. So are there any concerns?


I have to decide if I want a plywood or a big stock tank.
If I went with the stock tank (most likely will) how do you cover the top? A giant piece of plexi?

Stock will be tropical fish, most likely a few rays with silver arowana, as I've always wanted this, but never had a large enough tank.

thanks for input, and if it can not be done, it won't be. I'm in no rush, and just toying with idea for now.

klownh8er:
Good questions. I'll answer what I can.

Was wondering how many of you kept your fishroom in garages?
Many members here on MFK have tanks in their garages. The size of their garages will dictate the use of it for a fishroom. Some have just a portion dedicated for their fish. Some use the entire garage. It's a personal preferrance really and what you can afford to do with the garage and available space.

How many have kept fish in them successfully?
Many of the members who have kept fish tanks in their garages, have done so with much success.

It's insulated, but not heated/cooled. Around these parts (Nova/DC) weather is ridicoulous, gets extremely hot and extremely cold. So are there any concerns?
Having the garage insulated is a good thing. But, you need to ask yourself, "How does the temperature in the garage feel to me, during the summer or winter, day or night, when I walk into the garage? Is the garage uncomfortably hot during the day and/or night during the summer?" If so, install a small through wall AC unit, through an outside wall or place it in a small window (if possible) so it can ventilate the AC unit outside the garage, otherwise the vapors produced from the AC unit will collect inside of the garage and will poison and suffocate you and your fish, and will die. So ventilate your AC unit to the outside of your garage. You want to keep your room at a comfotable temperature, say between 65-70 degrees F, day and night so your room air temperature surrounding the outside of your tanks is constant and not causing your internal tank temperatures to constantly go up and down. Constant internal tank temperature fluxuations may cause possible stressing of your fish. During the winter, do the opposite. Warm your tank room air if the air is too cold, by using a good 1100 to 1500 watt space heater. Try and keep it at the same temperature range. It is always a good idea to have a thermometer located in the 4 corners of the garage, to see if you have equal cooling/heating in the room. If it is say, 1 or 2 degrees different in temperature, between thermometers, it's okay. I would suggest using thermometers which are identical so you get constant readings. Medium priced ranged thermometers should be ideal. Cheap one are questionable in accuracy. Expensive ones are to extreme for their purpose, in this application.

I have to decide if I want a plywood or a big stock tank.
I would do a plywood tank. But it depends on your personal budget as to what you're able to afford. I would choose a plywood tank with viewing windows. Maybe one on each end and one in the front side. If you use a tank with a lid on top, you'll not be able to view the fishes from the side. (Just as a word of advise on costs for stock tanks in my town, they run about $10.00 per 1 gallon.) Tanks are usually viewed from the top only. There are many pros/cons on either side that can be found, so really it's up to you.

If I went with the stock tank (most likely will) how do you cover the top? A giant piece of plexi?
You can use a sheet of plexiglass for the tank top. They are made in a nominal size usually of 4 ft. x 8 ft. and if it needs to be cut, it's possible to do. If you choose to use a plexiglass top, I suggest to cut it into 3 sections. 1 @ 2ft. x 8ft. and 2 @ 1 ft. x 8 ft. and apply a piano hinge at each edge, joining each piece so you can fold them back when cleaning your stock tank. Caution shold be exercised when doing this as you need to keep an eye out for jumper's. I do however recommend the 2 ft. x 8 ft. piece be bolted to the top of the tank so it remains stationary along one edge of the tank, with a rubber gasket inbetween the tank and plexiglass to help keep water off of the floor. When you fasten down the other two pieces, use a small 2 or 3 inch C-clamp to hold them down against the top of the tank as well. If there is any overlap of plexiglass on the tank, trim the plexiglass back to where there is about 1/2 inch maximum of overlap from the edge of the tank. Lighting can be what you want to use, just make sure there is at least 1 inch of air space fro the fixture to the top of the plexiglass to prevent excessive and unwanted melting or warpage of the plexiglass.

I hope this helps you with your decission making and if you have further questions, feel free to send me a PM. I'll always answer them. Good luck.

~ David

 

[studd muffin]

If it gets extremely hot you will need a chiller in the summer and when it gets cold your heaters will work double time so electricity bill will be something you might have to consider. If your going to do a plywood use styrofoam as your insulation.

 

[klownh8er]

Awesome response guys! Thanks, I'm still playing with the thought, we'll see what kind of quarterly bonuses I get, Best Buy is so-so at this. Also that's a lot of electricity to be using for cooling and heating on those hot summer days/freezing winter nights. My original stock plan would have been nice, but being realistic with my budget It'll most likely do a native tank, at least I'll be a little more unique.

For now, I'll most likely start cleaning out the garage and see what happens from there. Until then, I'll just have some fun with the smaller monsters.

David thanks for such detailed answers, will definitely PM you if I have some more questions.

-Vinnie