Tank in basement

[Vin7250]

I am moving to a new house and it has limited room for all of my tanks. I want to put the 90 gallon in the basement as this tank is more of a holding/quar. tank. The basement opens up into the garage but it seems like it stays around 60 degrees. Will it be ok to put the tank in the basement, with a few different heaters of course, if the temps stay around 60 all year? Other than that I am going to have to sell my bubble coral (15 years old) and break that particular tank down. I'd rather not do that but the basement seems like a great place for it. We just don't indirectly heat it.

Thoughts? Other suggestions?

 

[RayAllen3422]

My tank is in my basement. It is heated but on the same thermostat as the main levels so it runs about 7-8 degrees cooler which is around 62 or 63. I just have two heaters in there and I keeps the tank at 78. Should be fine.

 

[Vin7250]

Any thoughts on moisture with the tank in a basement? Did you do anything above the tank? Inspector said I should use Styrofoam insulation above the tank and do a batroom ventilator out of the house from above the tank. That sounds excessive but do you do anything like that? Also, does the furnace affect the tank at all? Mine vents through the chimney but it still has a faint basementey oil burner smell like most basements.

 

[Sk8r]

I run a basement sump (30 gallons) with no heating, and a tank upstairs, and still have no temperature troubles. I'd recommend a glass cover and canopy at least on the tank, plus a somewhat oversized and good heater. I do have a Frigidaire dehumidifier that I turn on occasionally. It can pull a gallon or so water out of the air overnight. I have my library in the basement with the sump, with no problems.

 

[Vin7250]

Excellent Sk8r I appreciate the advice.

 

[thegrun]

I would agree that moisture could be an issue if your basement does not have good ventilation. Your tank is likely to evaporate about a gallon a day so depending upon the size of the room it could be problematic. The furnace may also require you to run an airline to your skimmer from outside the house or the lack of oxygen and abundance of CO2 will lower your pH and available oxygen in the tank.

 

[Vin7250]

So, @thegrun - what should I prepare for? Installing an airline that will go to the outside of the house? The garage is part of the basement so there would be a major amount of air exchange when the doors open. And there obviously wouldn't be any idling in the garage anyways. Also, if the moisture is a problem would installing a bathroom vent to vent to the outside be sufficient over the tank? Also, if I got the tank in and didn't do these things right away (as I am moving to a house so I'll have a lot of things to do other than work on the tanks) will that be a huge problem? Say I get the airline and vent in the first two months.

 

[thegrun]

I would install a simple bathroom exhaust fan over the tank. Ideally you would use a humidistat to turn it on or off, but manual control would be fine. I would run a 1" pvc line outside or at least to the garage and then connect it to your skimmer intake.

 

[Sk8r]

Costco is currently offering a bathroom fan that turns itself on when it senses moisture. DUnno how well it works, but...

 

[Vin7250]

how would the 1 inch pvc work to connect to my skimmers air intake? I have a CSS Super Skimmer. Just cap the one inch PVC near the tank and drill a hole in it that fits the air tube and then silicone around it?

 

[Kies1]

Just run a dehumidifier. I have a 90 gallon in my finished basement. The dehumidifier works perfectly. When I had the 35 gallon in the basement I did not need to run the dehumidifier at all.

 

[Vin7250]

So with the frigid temps in the north east this past weekend, it has made me reevaluate this. I haven't moved into the house yet so I don't know exactly how cold it was in the basement during the -5 temps but what would be the best way to insulate the tank in case of disasterously cold temps? I already have 2x300 watt heaters lined up for this tank and my laundry room is in the basement so I doubt it gets so extremely cold down there but I want to be sure I'm doing this the right way before I commit to setting it up down there. Do you think if it ever gets cold like that I should use Styrofoam insulation sheets around the tank or whatever or am I over thinking this?