advice:sumps in garage? anyone?

[goslugsgo]

Framing up a little fishroom in the garage with insulation and a window a/c unit mounted inwall would do the trick if the humidity was manageable. That small of a space should not be difficult to keep at a reasonable temp. I'd still plumb a chiller inline, but it would be nice to address all of the issues stated by quan325i in one solution. You could even do gravity-feed waterchanges if your supply was in there, too.

 

[dots]

The best thing IMO is being able to run dedicated lines to the room from the electrical box and if your handy enough a drain for dumping the water. But as you can see, I want to be able to control EVERYTHING from here. While at the same time thinking ahead, standardizing the whole system and having spare parts and back up pumps on the shelf for emergencies.

I could have a lot of fun with a garage "fish-closet" like this. It is really what I am looking forward to when getting into a home I plan on staying in a while and can do stuff like this in.

As far as a debate of using XYZ or ABC, this or that equipment wise.....its really difficult to determine the overall efficiency or cost of equipment in determining this set up.

Yes, it will work, but as you can see there are many things you need to consider ie.....humidity, contamination....etc......I think the greatest thing to consider before going into the time and expense of plumbing and buying a mongo pump for this is: Your dedication to the hobby, the size of tank you have, the sump you want in the garage, distance between the two....etc, but most importantly......WHY do you want to move it and what is wrong with under the display? Is the trouble worth it?

With that in mind, thinking of the benefits of the added space and what not, I find the pros outweigh the cons of the scenario. But of coarse I live in an apartment and HATE seeing everything "puked" all over the floor, and have nightmares about the current I am pulling through my wall sockets.

However, without specifics its hard for anyone, including an Engineer, to return a specific answer for general questions such as this because we deal in a world of specifics to begin with. Thermo and Heat Transfer is hard enough having all your metrics to begin with.

I think there have been many great considerations brought up here that you need to weigh. If you decide to move forward with this project I would figure out a space allocation and go from there.

Personally, I think its a great idea....but like I said its more than throwing a 55gal on top of a bench and calling it good......that would not be a good idea to do.

 

[fishnerd]

Thanks everyone for you inputs, maybe I should add a little more information. My garage is insulated and it runs plus or minus 5 degrees difference from the house. I painted the walls with mildew resistant paint, but have not treated the concrete. I have a 100 gallon sump and 100 gallon refugium and a frag tank that is yet to be determined. The will be inside the house which is climate controlled at 75 degrees.

The garage has a dedicated 20 amp circuit which is going to run the ER 12-2, return pump and frag tank(TEK 8x 54 watts T-5) all controlled by RK2 (along with the future frag tank). The main tank has 2 15 amp circuits which willl have a sequence Cl pump and 2 seaswirls and some streams controlled by another RK2 and tunze multicontroller. The lights are dual PFO 250 DE on L3 with the ballasts in the garage.

I am keeping most electrical gadgets to a minimal, lighting is low at best but that is the way I like running my tanks.

I was just wondering if anyone has tried this in sacramento other than Warren and what were their outcomes. I know that it might differ since the setups aer variable.

anymore opinions will be appreciated.
Thanks in advance, Bryan

 

[MandM]

Apart from the heat issues, where I think everyone agrees is a big risk in Sacramento, the contaminants from your garage are an equal risk. If you don't have that sump isolated from car exaust, dust, bugs and any other chemicals you may have in the air you can easily pollute your display tank. MY garage is full of sawdust, car crap and paint fumes on many days so I wouldn't consider it. Framing in an insulated sump room and ducting your central hvac unit to it would save you some space in the house.

 

[P.Kelly]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10430897#post10430897 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by fishnerd
anymore opinions will be appreciated

You know what they say about opinions? They're alot like rectums. Everyone has one and most of them stink.

 

[dots]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10432129#post10432129 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by petes97
You know what they say about opinions? They're alot like rectums. Everyone has one and most of them stink.

I hope your just being playful.......comments like that can be taken the wrong way by people and are a SURE FIRE way to end an interesting discussion.

 

[P.Kelly]

yeah, all in good fun, but seriously I've read SOOOO many conflicting "facts" given on RC since I joined.

Take all opinions for what they are.

 

[dots]

Yes, you are correct about that. I find this place to have the greatest amount of "engineers" per capita.

There is no doubt that this is a VERY technical hobby that one needs to know a little biology, chemistry, fluid mechanics, Thermodynamics, and all the other misc. physics that goes along with it.

Combine this with the fact that NOTHING in this hobby is set in stone and we are all still learning, there are great oppurtunities for theory, speculation, and discovery yet. Yes, there is going to be some wrong information, but without the ability to suggest willd arse ideas, there would be no inovation.

Which is one of the reasons I encourage it.

But yes, much like buyer beware........there is a reader beware on ALL online forums.....not just here.

However, it took me a long time to realize......"There is more than one way to skin the cat" and that is so true with this hobby. If it works for you, cool. Please share why you think that is true or not......

It also works the other way, I notice a lot when Biologists, Engineers, and others who have the training in these fields attempt to explain things why or why not they don't work......they are attacked by others to "prove" themselves as if the afore mentioned "professionals" were trying to put them down. Which I think is rarely the case.

That is why, if you respond and participate here with the sole purpose of helping and sharing rather than being ego driven "my tank is better than yours" BS.......the better the general tone of the forums are and a more welcoming place.

Which I have to say, the MARS forum has been lately.....very group oriented.....and low on the drama.........keep up the great work guys and gals!!!!!

 

[Larry Robison]

FWIW, if your tank absorbs enough heat to climb 13 degrees F over the course of the day, and you evaporate a little over one gallon of water (when the tank is to stay @ 82 degrees F), it is a rub. A fan blowing over the sump in the garage would probably do that. Of course, there is the issue of contaminates getting blown into the water. I am planning on trying the sump-in-the-garage thing (with a huge-a** skimmer), and plan on dealing with the temp issue that way. My garage is pretty clean (except during cigar time - I hope the fish like the maduro wrapper thing), and the cat and dogs are not allowed in there either. I plan on sort-of walling it off (the bifold doors sound like a nice place to start). As to this thread, the DRY heat of Sacto will help to evap. enought water to keep the temp. down. I think one could DIY a temp. controller to turn on and off a fan to keep the temp. in the ball park. If anyone wants to check my math on the one gallon thing, I will gladly share it (first semester physics, but that has been a while). Just, please, no flames without warning . . . I am sensative and burn easily, don't ya'know.

 

[Auntbeez]

I don't know about the math and tech-no stuff, but the fan I have blows over the sump, is on a timer, and keeps the tank at 80ish during the hot part of the day. At night the temps drop to 77-78ish and fans are off. I don't keep track of how much H2O I add each day, but it seems like a lot.
My sump is indoors, but in the end... I think your garage plan should work.

 

[fishnerd]

I had planned on one of the huge fans to blow over the sump as well. I really don't care about evap. it'll keep the kalkwasser dripping. As far as contamination, Sanddollar kept his frag tank inside his garage (plumbed to his main tank) also and if some of you were fortunate enough to see his tank. You would never would think his tank had any contamination of any sorts.

does anyone actually have their sumps or frag tanks in their garage ?

thanks bryan

 

[tfp]

bryan, even though rich had his frag/prop tank in the garage, he also ran a very powerful chiller .

i think sparks and bigred are running some type of evaporative chiller that might suite you.

 

[fishsoldseprtly]

I do B and I havent had NO issues at all.

 

[tacocat]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10454628#post10454628 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by fishnerd
does anyone actually have their sumps or frag tanks in their garage ?

thanks bryan

I had one last year, and my earlier comments were drawn from that experience. Personally, I wouldn't do it again. Mind you, I'm very picky about the condition of my garage, tools, cars, tank, etc.

When we broken down John's (tubs) tanks down last year, every tool he had looked like it was recovered from a shipwreck.

Personally, I'd put the effort down to try to enclose your sump in the garage, especially if you aren't using a chiller. Your energy bill will be lower, and there will be less of a chance of a disaster during a power outage.

Leaving it exposed in the garage is doable, but it'll make life a little tougher.