outdoor fishtank

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
D

dee

Feeder Fish
Oct 8, 2006
1
0
0
texas
We've had indoor tanks for years, but would like to put our 165 gallon tank on our back porch and have lots of questions about the feasability of it. We've got two Pacu and a Pleco in the tank. All about five years old. Can we do this without killing our guys? I guess the main concern is water temp. regulation. We're in Texas, and though the winters aren't bad, we do get a couple of below freezing nights each year. And, of course, the summers are hot. I'm guessing there are such things as water coolers? Any experience with this out there?
Thanks!
 
You would need a VERY high wattage heater, or a lot of small ones. I think it would be a pain.
 
Well, here is some advice from someone familiar with weather like yours. Yes you can put a tank outside. During the winter (if you want to call it that) on those chilly nights, just keep a thick blanket over the tank for insulation. You will need additional heating on those nights too. Over the course of the year the power consumption will work out roughly the same because an indoor tank must be heated to counter the air-conditioning. An outdoor tank will not need to be heated during the summer.
 
Their is an article in TFH about outdoor tanks. Check it out! My friend read it and was going to do it because he got his wife convinced on it. Then I reminded him the guy that wrote it lived in Puerto Rice, not the north east!
 
hes in texas... so for for it
 
Welcome from the other half of Florida.

Outdoor tanks are a nice change of scenery. Are you going to have it againt a wall or are you going to want to see it from different angles? The reason I ask is if it's against a wall you could insulate the back & sides (& bottom) of the tank with styrofoam insulation. It will help stabilize the temp. (and for those cold nites one for the top & front).

Do pay attention to where the sun shines too...only certain colors of green are nice in a tank, and your pleco may not be able to eat that much.

Here's a calculator http://boonedocks.net/fishtank/ftweb.php it gives a calculation for heat too. Figuring tank temp at 70* and 30* lows it says you need about 700 watts of heater...BUT that's for continuous cold weather.

Summer heat: I've buried coils of copper tubing 6ft in the ground and pumped the water thru it, since the ground water temp is about 72* here. Check yours out bby calling your agricultural extention office nearest you. Also try a couple of cement contractors to see about frost levels (depth).

Some people have put coils of plastic or copper tubing into a small refridgerator with some success too.

Oh yea you could buy one too http://www.jbjchillers.com/

And this gives you an opportunity to get a larger tank for inside. :headbang2

Send some pics by of your tank and where you want to put it.

Dr Joe

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