Sorry I did search but question about fireplace and my tank

[michael43]

The best looking place for me putting my future reef tank is directly in front of my fireplace again the opposite wall. Probably 10-12ft away. We do not use the fireplace much but want to know I can at least. I do plan on having a chiller. I also plan on investing a lot of money in this tank over time other than the fact I love all life and living creature and certainly don't want to see any preventable death. The room with the fireplace on can get to 85-88 degrees and the fireplace is a wood insert which can only blow directly across the room toward the tank. I researched and see it can possibly effect ph.. Will a good chiller be able to maintain the adequate temperature? Is this overall a terrible idea? My problem is that it's literally the only free wall in my living room where I'd want the setup. Thank you guys for any input and patience. I know this has been talked about before but want to get done opinions on my exact scenario from everyone

 

[thegrun]

At 10' away you should not have an issue with heat to the point where your chiller cannot keep up (assuming you do not have a raging fire in the middle of summer on a 100 degree day). You may need to open a window if you see your pH start to drop, but most homes have enough leakage to the outdoors that pH and available oxygen are not an issue.

 

[homer1475]

I have a pellet stove not 6 feet from my tank, while it doesn't blow directly on it, I have no problems with temps. Before the pellet stove I had a wood stove in the same place. It typically got over 100 in my livingroom, still never had any issue.

I can't see it being an issue either, specially if you have a chiller.

The only issue I had was low PH due to the stove using up all the oxygen. A simple airline to the outside on my skimmer took care of it.

 

[Reef Frog]

Do you have to run the room at 85-88F? First, that doesn't sound particularly comfortable. Keep in mind that some tanks run hotter than ambient room temp thanks to lights, pumps etc. So a chiller might have to be oversized to be effective. And of course a chiller can always break down.

It's certainly doable. But can't you limit the maximum temperature to a lower level? Bad things begin to happen in the mid 80s. You need to be comfortable with the risk.

 

[michael43]

Thanks for your input guys. It's suppose to heat most of my house. So even on the lower setting it gets 80+ in that particular room and the ducts draw the heat to the rest of the house. But yes it does get too hot for me down there at times. I think we maybe used it 3-5 times a year the last 2 years. I'm going to move forward most likely. Doing a Red Sea reefer 350

 

[Reef Frog]

Good luck with it! I'd try to buy the coolest running hardware you can find.

Size the chiller properly. I'd also have fans handy as an extra assist to boost evaporation which will help a little in cooling.

 

[billdogg]

I heated my house primarily with wood for years. One of my tanks sat all of 6' from it and I never noticed a problem.

 

[mokeyz]

My concern would be what may get into the tank from the fireplace. Smoke, debris, etc.. I have the same concerns about a tank in or near the kitchen re: grease and smoke, though many people have tanks in their kitchen.
Just my 2 cents.

 

[A1t2o]

Maybe invest in a ceiling fan and/or some other way to move that air out of the room. If you can circulate the air better then you are being more efficient with the heat for the rest of the house and making it so that room is not unbearable for the fish tank.

 

[outy]

its not a problem


have mine next to my propane heater, helps heat it in winter