Heating a tank in the garage during winter?

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A

aeri

Candiru
MFK Member
Sep 11, 2007
566
11
48
Toronto
I have an issue. I will have to move some of my fish into the garage until January but am not sure how well the fish will take it.

They will be going into a ~200G stock tank in the garage, but winters here go as low as -20C (-4F) and as low as -5C (23F) inside the garage. I'm thinking of getting a roll of insulator (http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_hTTnPA60n...AAAAM/ZQHZwineYRI/s1600/Loft_Insulation_2.png) to wrap around the tub, and to construct a top out of.

I only have 2x 300W heaters lying around but am not sure that would be enough.
Do I have to invest into 500-1000W heaters? And would the water temperature be sustainable without destroying my electricity bill?

As for the summer, it's around 20C-40C (68F-104F) so far so I assume that shouldn't be too much of an issue for the fish. And does anybody see any issues with using the backyard hose for water changes?
 
I would invest in 2 more 300w heaters and space them out. My tanks are in the basement which is not heated. During the winter I keep my tanks 68-72 degrees. You will notice an increase in the electric bill.
 
Hello; Not sure if the stock tank you mention is rectangular or some other shape. If rectangular then it may be possible to made a shell of rigid styrofoam panels to go around the outside. They are sold at lowes and home depot in sheets of up to 4'x8' and in various thickness from 1/4 inch to 2 inches. they can likely be adheared to the outside of the tank with silicone that can be removed later without damage. Ii would likely try to fix one panel to be removeable (perhaps with velcro?) for viewing. I would likely also make a panel for the top.
 
i think you should insulate the whole room it would be more effective if you have multiple tanks or a bigg one
 
I think its only a temporary setup. if it where me regardless of the shape of the stock tank I would be using plywood to build a floor and walls around the tank, and then insulate those walls and floor, then like others said use multiple heaters spread out to more evenly heat, and then put a top over it and try to make the top insulated. This way the tank is in an "Insulated room"
 
I have an insulated garage, it's not airtight by any means though with cars coming and going a few times a day. I have ALL of my tanks (180, 125, 55, 2 20's) out there year round, and in a fairly similar climate to yours.

I use an electric space heater that I bought at Lowes for around $60 and don't even mess with buying additional water heaters I (keep water at 78 deg F). It keeps the garage in the low 60's even with sub freezing temps outside. Have had no issues with maintaining proper temps, and temps here drop into the single digits (Fahrenheit) frequently in the winter. That being said, I make sure to not keep the garage door open for extended periods of time or anything.

You're a little colder in the winter overall I'm sure, so using the extra heaters certainly wouldn't hurt.

And nothing wrong with using water from the house... I do, always have. Use water conditioner.
 
nfored said:
I think its only a temporary setup. if it where me regardless of the shape of the stock tank I would be using plywood to build a floor and walls around the tank, and then insulate those walls and floor, then like others said use multiple heaters spread out to more evenly heat, and then put a top over it and try to make the top insulated. This way the tank is in an "Insulated room"
Click to expand...

Hello; This makes more sense than my earlier suggestion if it is doable. This way the lights and filters will not be outside in the cold area and their heat from operation will help heat the box around trhe tank. you also will not have a chilling efffect to the water in back of the tank. I used to hang tarps in the basement area of my old house around where i parked the car so as not to lose heat fro the area of my tanks. Just the simple tarps would hold a suprising amount of heat in. Enough to be noticeable when going from one area to the other.
 
I had a 600 gallon tank in my garage that I had to wrap 2" thick insulation foam on all sides. It worked ok but its no fun not being able to see your fish. I was also running 1600 watts of heat to it. We just did a large pond build in my shop and ended up insulating the complete room and installing a 10,000 watt 240v shop heater. Its wayyyyyyyyyyyy worth it to just insulate the room IMO.
 
My wallet just head a stroke thinking about 10k heater thats $1.10 an hour to run in these parts, I could just see my first bill being $300.00 just for that heater
 
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