question about sump in the garage

[zxanth]

hello all,

i am interested in increasing my water volume for my 125 and came up with this idea which i will need everyones input before i start the upgrade. I have a single car garage that is located on the oposite wall of my fish tank. i would have rather have a sump under my tank but since i have wood joist i was scared to place one bigger then a 29 gall tank. i am now interested in placing a 100 or 125 gallon sump to double my water capacity and the only location i have is in the garage. has anyone done this in oklahoma. i have concern because of the hot oklahoma summer and cold winters. i dont want to put a chiller because that is out of my budget unless someone wants to donate one (G). What does everyone think of this idea. is it doable or not...will the temperature fluxuation stress my corals and fish. please help me list the pros and cons of this idea.

 

[Stealth91RT]

I've thought about a sump in the garage idea many times but you would have to do something about controlling the temp around it. Otherwise the temp swings would play havoc on your system. One thought I had was making a sealed closet out of plywood and foam insulation sheets to house the sump. Then putting a bathroom vent fan to draw in air from the inside of the house with a return line to keep it the same temp as inside the house.

 

[MyMonkey]

Paul has a 100 or so gallon sump in the garage I think. Also, there are several large tanks in Texas that use a garage sump. The ones I have seen are simply open to the air. Although, I think they all use chillers.

I like the built in room idea above.

 

[_Sooner_2]

I have a 55gal refugium in my garage. I patterned my system after Lori's (saltysooner). A chiller is an absolute must for me in the summer. I do my water changes in the garage, if I leave the pump to the fuge off for an extended period...the temp goes up rapidly. I can't speak for Lori, but I do know that she has a chiller on her system also.

Ronnie

 

[GregC]

I just got finished putting a 150 stock tank in the garage, piped thru the wall, used for my 140. I have 3 - 200 watt heaters going in it to help with the colder nights. My plan at the moment, is to build a small room around what I have out there, so I have a bit more control of the air around the sump. I have a chiller for it, but I can't help but believe it will not be enough with the kind of summers we have here. So basically I'm thining on adding a small window unit in the wall, to help, cool the room down a bit when needed. Its not going to be a big room so I wont need much, I think. LOL One of the small things I didn't think of when this plan was hatched, was the fact, that there are a lot of bugs here in Oklahoma, they love light and water. I went out there a few mins ago and had 5 or 6 floating around in there. Hopefully if they actually get in the tank, they will just be a tasty snack for the fish. LOL. When the room is done that will help with that problem as well. So far so good thou, I love the volume of water I have now.

 

[TheMcs]

For my 185 DT, I have another 350g of sump/fuge/prop in the garage.
I built 2 walls to make a room in the corner of the garage. I have the inside wall done with OSB, still need to insulate and cover the outside (garage side).
No heat or cold issues yet, system has been up for a year now. I still don't have lights over the DT, which I'm sure will affect the summer temps, we'll see. I have a great heater, 1000w AquaMedic biotherm. I've had it keep tank temp ~20 degrees warmer than ambient temp at the peak of winter.