Marine Tank In An Outside Establishment

[ProHaloSniper]

Hello,

Here is what I am trying to do.

We live in an old 1890's Farm House with No Basement. I have always wanted a gameroom and large SW tank. My only option is to occupy a large outdoor barn type establishment in order to do this. I have completed most of the work and am almost ready to furnish. So here's my question:

During the summer, the barn gets considerably warm, due to the metal roof and in the winter, gets considerably cold without the wood stove going. Would having a tank out there be a problem? Could the water in the tank be affect by both hot and cold temperatures? If so, would the heater be able to keep the water warm enough consistently in the winter?

Please let me know.

--Jim C.

PS: This is going to be a 125 gallon.

 

[fish_master]

I think if the heater has a thermostat it should be ok and if nit gets realy cold i would get a heater thats rated for abit higher than wat ur tank capacity is if that makes much sense and i think there might be abit of a risk of theft unless ur in the middle of no where or it is well locked up

 

[Matthew5664]

I would op to drywall the barn and insulate it then add a large extractor and dehumidifier/air conditioning unit. these linked to the tanks temperate controls should keep the tank from getting too cold or hot.

 

[ProHaloSniper]

Yes, I am in the middle of nowhere and the barn already has locks on it so I could essentially lock it up every night to keep unwanted wild animals out and such.

I cannot really drywall the barn as it already has wood up for a wall, but the walls ARE insulated. I just believe the problem is the ceiling, which is just bare metal roofing. Maybe I can get some insulation up there and see if that makes a difference.

Can you guys suggest a wattage for a heater, for a 125 gallon?

All in all, thanks for the help! I will definitely be putting a marine tank out there within the next few weeks and will post pictures under "Aquarium Photos" section of FF.

If you have any more suggestions, please post.

--Jim C.

 

[rictheredneck]

what sorta tempratures are we looking at here? 10ft snow in winter, 110 deg in summer? could be something or nothing of a prob if you see what i mean.

 

[kkyyllee]

i would suggest multiple heaters instead of one big ass one, waht type of temps are we talking about here? the water in the tank will be as hot if not hotter then the temps in the barn durring the summer

 

[SkiFletch]

Heat is your enemy, not cold... You can always add enough heaters to keep the tank warm, but cooling in the summer is gonna be TOUGH. You'll first HAVE to insulate the cieling, rigid polystyrene foam insulation is prolly the only easy way to do this. Then, you'll need lots of fans in the hood to blow down on the water surface for evaporation. And finally, because the barn is I'm sure big (thus making air-conditioning possible), you'll have to consider a chiller. Temps should never go much above 83F and in the summer in a hot barn, that's gonna be hard without the aforementioned measures to keep it cool.

 

[STD]

As Skifletch says a cooler will be essential

Some coolers can also be used to heat the water

 

[ProHaloSniper]

I am located in Virginia... in the USA(if you didnt' know that .

We get a very mild winter here so it is never extremely cold. We also get very mild summers, which means it's never TOO hot. The past week it has been near 99* but that isn't normal. Summers usually range between 80 and 95 degrees, with plenty of rain (usually). If I were to guess, with no windows open and the doors shut, the barn probably gets to around 95*F on a hotter day.

The barn is approximately 12' wide by 30' long by 6.5' high (could be a tad smaller). I will definitely consider insulating the ceiling this winter or spring before the summer heat pounds on that roof. What SkiFletch said does seem to be the hardest thing to do, but if I look at it this way, I have a year before I have to worry about heat like that again! In turn, I have one year to insulate and cool.

And kkyylle, I do like your idea of multiple heaters. Probably save me money in the long run. But just out of curiousity, how many watts WOULD i need, minimum, to heat a 125?

Please let me know what you guys think. I'm looking forward to getting this tank running!

--Jim C.

 

[SkiFletch]

Well if it were in a house with normal heating I'd reccomend 300-500 watts for a 125g. In a barn like that, probably more like 500-1000 just in case. Remember, the heater only runs to maintain a temperature. Watts are watts are watts. It doesn't matter if it's a 1000watt heater running for 1 hour or 4 250watt heaters running for 1 hour, in the end the heat balance determines how much heating energy you need to keep the tank warm, not the size of the heaters. Obviously if the heaters are undersized your tank will cool off longterm, but if they're thermostatically controlled (as all modern ones are), it takes what the heat balance determines that it needs. If in the winter heat losses via evaporation, and heat losses to ambient through convection and conduction total 600watts/hour then that's how much energy the tank takes. Ultimately thermodynamics rules here. And in the winter, the more heavier the barn is insulated from the colder outside weather, the less heat required, and in the summer, the more heat exchange you can account for, the cooler the tank stays

 

[ProHaloSniper]

Ski, I certainly do understand what you are getting at.

As long as I have a good heat exchange in the summer and a well insulated building in the winter, I should be alright with my 125 out there.

Thanks for that extremely in depth response. Greatly appreciated.

--Jim C.

 

[SkiFletch]

No problem Jim, keep the question's coming And if you ever wan't me to back off the technical or explain further just lemme know