Outside Aquairum

[§tudz]

Hi,

has anyone here ever tried, or currently has an aquarium outside? a bit like a pond I suppose.
Just curious, as wondered what sort of protection you use against the water freezeing through the glass etc...

or is this a no go area lol B)

 

[diademhill]

Ice = broken glass

 

[SkiFletch]

An outdoor tropical aquarium in temperate climates is impossible due to freezing and INSANE energy requirements. Outdoor ponds on the other hand do exhist provided they are stocked with truly coldwater fish

 

[demonmagus]

Well a fish house is VERY LOOSELY an outdoor aquarium,

But one with no insulation? It will break

 

[windsor-aquatic]

As already mentioned, the first cold spell of winter will result in a cracked tank, however well you attempt to insulate it.

 

[§tudz]

lol, yeah I thought it might, it was just another of my silly ideas I have buzzing around my head,

well, maybe I should look at moving to greece or spain

 

[Gav_B_UK]

I once emailed a manufacturer of greenhouses to see if they could supply a green house using smaller thicker panes of glass, with a glass floor and opening roof and no door and completely sealed. I do have some crazy ideas...it was a bit of a joke though.....never did get a reply!

The crazy idea was to actually create some kind of pond that was above the ground...therefore being able to see the fish in their environment....I did consider the ice issue and thought it wouldnt work...but I asked anyway as a joke!

 

[§tudz]

OK, lets throw this into the formula, what if you used plastic instead of glass?

 

[Exodus]

OK, lets throw this into the formula, what if you used plastic instead of glass?

same result. unless you were to completely empty the tank in the winter months and cover it to keep waer from getting in. when water freezes, it expands more than you'd think.

 

[§tudz]

OK, lets throw this into the formula, what if you used plastic instead of glass?

same result. unless you were to completely empty the tank in the winter months and cover it to keep waer from getting in. when water freezes, it expands more than you'd think.

but the water in the tank would be heated? so where would the water get to to expand and crack the plastic?

 

[prankster705]

Ok lets say the water would be heated - you do know how much power you would need for that? like about 1000 watts and more for a 20 gallon. So not really a good solution.

 

[PaulEbs]

but definatly do-able..

1000 watts worth of heat is easily achieved with the big heavy duty 100 gallon tank thermo's..

If the tank was insulated underneath, and maybe on the back wall [if it were against a wall], then this may be possible.

But what sort of hood and lights would you use???

 

[§tudz]

Lighting would probably be done by those big lights you buy for growing aqautic plants, not sure what they are called, lol

 

[mpd]

An outdoor tank is fine in Aus, where i come from. wether is always nice! . so sad it cant be done inur countries

 

[andywg]

Remember that those 1000W of heaters would be on 24/7 in the winter and still probably not keeping up (and if they did you would have a huge evaporation issue).

you would be looking at your electricity bill going up about 4fold just for that tank. *(edit - a quick rough estimate gives me a running cost of over £50 per month during the winter)*

You probably could do a raised pond with thick acrylic sealed in as windows so that you could see in (forexample have it 4 feet below the ground and 3 feet above).

Best bet though would be to construct it in a conservatory and have the conservatory well heated. that would make it easier and then you could run the heating of the pond as a second circuit from a large domestic gas boiler. Would still cost a pretty penny though.