Tank in COLD Room-Temp Control?

C

ChrisColumbus

New member
I'll be running a 500 gallon tank in a room kept between 65 and 70 degrees year round. I'll have my fuge and sump in the basement which is around 60 degrees year round. I was planning to use LEDs to eliminate needing a chiller, but now am thinking I'll have the opposite problem with my system...being challenged trying to keep the temperature warm enough without going bankrupt.

Anyone have experience running a large system in a cold room? I,m starting to think MH lighting would be the way to go to take advantage of the "free" heat during the day...or would that run up temps too high? Any other suggestions or ideas would be welcomed.

Thanks.
 
I don't have first hand experience with large tanks however I've been looking into the same problem.
One solution so far using an actual water heater (I assume gas is where the savings are at). I've only seen a few examples and haven't seen the long term effectiveness. I suspect that precipitation/ copper/ corrosion would be the biggest concern.
The metal halides would for sure provide some additional heat. This would also heat up the room. Hard to say if this would be a "wash", savings, or use more energy. As for running temps up to high, you can program fans to turn on in the canopy and sump.

Also insulation around the tank/pipes might help some,especially in the basement. I don't think it will be night and day, but over the years I'm sure it would add up.

Only other heating method I can recall is a build someone did in the carolinas. They built a box with black hose into a box and had it outside. It would warm the water in a hot box. A little too ambitious/experimental for my taste, but I'll throw out the idea never the less.
 
I have a 400g system. The display is in the living room which is around 70* most of the year. My house is 100 years old so it has a cold basement and that's where my sump, frag tank and equipment reside. Seems to be a setup very similar to yours. I use two 500w finnex heaters and one 400w Eheim in the sump. This is more than enough juice to keep the system as warm as I want. If we go out of town and turn the house heat down a bit I will use an electric space heater in the basement but I'm not sure that's actually needed. I also use LED's exclusively on my system.
 
I've been having the same issue with heating. Right now I've got a 1000watt heater almost working full time to keep my 600 gall system at 78 degrees. Steve Garrett of Garrett's acropolis has been using a separate NG water heater in a closed loop system. I have personally seen his system and its pretty simple. The savings from it are substantial. I'll be setting mine up in the next couple of weeks
 
one thing to consider is that you if you run a small water heater with a closed loop, you wouldnt need to connect it to a water line, just add water to the heater as needed.
 
nikunjpatel said:
Right now I've got a 1000watt heater almost working full time to keep my 600 gall system at 78 degrees.
Click to expand...

:eek2::eek2: YIKES! That's my fear.

Thanks everyone. I do have a gas water heater and this is one idea iv'e recently heard of. I wonder what it would really cost in terms of gas to heat the tank...gotta think it would be cheaper than running a 1kw aquarium heater nearly full time! That would cost $2 to $3 a day in electricity!

This is one aspect of my upcoming build that I really want to get a good handle on...that and lighting...since they both will affect temp control. I like my house cold so it runs in the mid to upper 60s year round.

Oh and the display tank will be "capped" with a full hood up to the ceiling with an exhaust fan vented outside so I'll have flexibility to direct heat from lighting to the outside. Hopefully this will keep the room temp from rising and help with humidity control a bit as we'll.

I originally thought about going with LEDs but am starting to think I should use MH and use some of the "free" heat for the tank.
 
no thread yet, but i can send photos of how im going to set this up. MH halide can help but are you going to run a chiller in the summer? Also what wattage MH are you thinking and how many?
 
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