Outdoor Reef Tank?

[Ulu]

Anybody have a small one?

I'm considering a 100g reef tank w/ 30g sump on my patio.

I have a FW system there now.

I live in the California desert, but the exposure is northern with lots of shade.

 

[DanimalK]

I've seen setups like this. I live in southern california. The toughest parts are maintaining no rain water gets in that can throw off the salinity. Also maintaining proper temp, swings of even 5 degrees from day to night can be too stressful on corals. And lastly battling sunlight because algae will be a constant battle.

 

[Ulu]

It will be under the roof, so no rain. But my outdoor tank is the algae generator that keeps the indoor tank clean.
So, yeah, the algae is a problem if the fish don't eat it. I have plecos and snails and herbivores that control it now.

 

[DanimalK]

Its going to be a very hard battle with algae in saltwater as well especially a reef tank, you'll still probably want to supplement natural sunlight with LEDs or another fixture.

Also I would put a thermometer and see what temp it stays at, obviously if its connected to your indoor aquarium it will not be as accurate of a reading for true outdoors.

 

[Ulu]

I have insulated the tank and sump, and the system stays at 78F easily. (3 thermometers) But on hot days it could hit 90F.
I've been cooling with evaporation in the mid-summer, which might be an issue too!

 

[DanimalK]

Yeah heat would definitely be an issue. Staying above even 82F for a week could be fatal for some coral. Also check the temps at night. Cause it can get pretty chilly at nighttime here.

 

[TwoHedWlf]

I have insulated the tank and sump, and the system stays at 78F easily. (3 thermometers) But on hot days it could hit 90F.
I've been cooling with evaporation in the mid-summer, which might be an issue too!

Sounds like you'll definitely want a chiller 90F is way too hot.

 

[Ulu]

It dropped into the mid 40's last night (68F indoors) and water temp stayed at 78 outdoors and 77 indoors.

I'm only running 450 watts of heat (plus the heat of 3 pumps is probably another 200 total.)

The outdoor tank does not even have a lid & I'm still growing vines out of pond baskets, floating on the water. This will change today, as I will insulate the lid.

We never have more than a couple days a year that hit 32F, so I think this can work.

 

[Ulu]

Sounds like you'll definitely want a chiller 90F is way too hot.

I've been cooling the water by spraying it on floss-lined baskets, where it evaporates, and filters thru.
This won't work with salt water.
AND a chiller would need battery backups. We usually have at least one short outage for repair purposes, every several months, as they add on to the system.

 

[Ulu]

Without this insulation my fish would have been very cold.
You can't see anything with all the reflections, but this tank holds two 10" sailfin plecos, a malawi peacock 5", and two 3" convicts, plus two serpae tetra and 5 assorted corys
.