Garage Fish Room in Cold Weather

[Dan Fagan]

Thinking about moving my setup into my family room which is adjacent to my garage. Does anyone have a setup where the fish room (sump and other equipment) is in the garage ? Here is the catch. I live in Connecticut and my garage gets pretty F-in cold in the winter. Does anyone have this setup up north ?

 

[fishgeeksrus]

we kind of do....

We live north west of chicago and have our fishroom in our garage. the only thing is we built a 4' x 8' room inside our garage that houses our sump, chiller, and back of the tank. We actually had temps around 10 degrees and the air temp inside the fishroom was 85 degrees. Metal halides keep thing pretty warm!

 

[tom obrecht]

fishgeeks...Any pics of that set up? I'd like to see that.

 

[fishgeeksrus]

sure click on our little red house and you can see our thread. I will try to post some more pics later.

 

[ReefBum]

I would think twice about doing it unless the garage is fully insulated. You lose power for a few hours during very cold weather and your sump will cool off in a hurry...power goes back on and the cold water shocks the tank critters.

 

[olemos]

I have mine it the garage, last year I could not keep up with the heaters, so in the summer I built a wall, basically making a room in the garage and this year had no problems with the cold, only 3- 200watt heaters on a 350gal tank 500gal total system they go on and off normally as the room stays between 69*/80* depending on the outside temp but the water temp stays stable.
For cooling I installed a small ac, in the summer, it comes on once in a wile and helps not only the water but also the equipment stay cool.
For me the big plus of having all the equipment in the garage is, no worries of spilling water or making a mess and always easy add new equipment when or if you need.

 

[fishgeeksrus]

Dan, posted a few pics onto our inwall thread click on the red house to see them....

 

[dougchambers]

Our in-wall has it's own support room off the garage. We had a HVAC duct run into the room in case we need extra heating or cooling. Outside temperatures have been ~13Ã"šÃ‚° in the mornings and we might see 40Ã"šÃ‚° for a high today. I actually depend on the extra cooling from the room to offset the moisture and heat buildup from the Metal Halides. We also run a oversized bathroom exhaust fan on a timer in the room.

The only problem we've had is with rust formation on tools in my garage. We have since started closing the door to the room most of the time and leave a small window open in the room for additional ventilation.

-Doug

 

[Dan Fagan]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6812893#post6812893 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by fishgeeksrus
Dan, posted a few pics onto our inwall thread click on the red house to see them....

Sweet ! Thanks Dennis. I am not sure I am going to be able to swing it the way I need it. There is just not enough space even if I just wanted equipment in the garage. I basically have 24" or so of clearance from the wall to the garage door. Not enough to fit equipment let alone an enclosure. Basement below the family room may be an option for equipment but that kinda defeats the purpose since my setup is already in the basement. Sewer lines are in floor between basement and first floors too...