Garage fish room build....on a budget.

I wish I could keep tanks in my garage without killing everything. I live in Tucson, and we get extreme weather from as cold as 18 in the winter nights, to hotter than 115 in the summer days...
 
Please do! What size is that flat back hex tank? It looks huge.

EDIT: Also what kind of filtration are you going to use?
It's drilled in the bottom on each end. It's actually small, its 6 foot long but only about 6 or so inches wide. I couldn't pass it up when I saw it, lol. I got it for 50 bucks with a fluval somethin or other canister, a guy had it as a barrier between his living room and kitchen.

I am running most tanks on 3" sponge filters that are held in place with magnets and it is all powered with an Alita AL-60 air pump. It is supposed to run at least 50 tanks so I think i'll be good for a while.

That looks awesome! Is summer heat going to be an issue with the lack of insulation?
Possibly. I'm going to tack up some insulation at some point. The landlord gave me the idea to run a duct off of the main vent and into the garage, so I may do that at some point also, we'll see.
 
Hi
Curious as to the plans for water changes?? Will they all be FW and will you be using tap?? What abbout sewer??
gary
 
Hi
Curious as to the plans for water changes?? Will they all be FW and will you be using tap?? What abbout sewer??
gary

We are on city water here with a septic tank. For now, I'm just using a python and changing water from the tap outside. Eventually, once the tanks are settled in, and I have more funds to work with, first I am going to drill a hole through the brick to run a 3/4" pvc line outside and along the house to the tap in the back of the house. On the inside I'm going to run a pipe system of 1/2" with intake tubes and ball valves on each tank so that I can open and close each one for individual drain and refill. Finding the ball valves in bulk, cheaply, is slightly difficult. I think US plastic is going to be the cheapest route.
 
Concur with thebrandon, even when I was assigned in California I was not able to keep a tank in our un-insulated garage between the temperature swing of the uninsulated garage, excessive light through the large garage door left open by the then kids, and glass tanks conduct both temperature and bright sun lighting made things too unstable to control by heaters or algae controls through an entire year causing fish stress disease and excessive green tanks. Here in SW Arizona a garage fish room is not even a consideration unless the door is sealed and insulated along with the walls for AC & Heat. Even so the yearly increased cost in temperature control energy would be considerable. Something to think about but I hope wherever you live it works out.
 
I'm glad you guys brought that up. I need to put insulation up towards the top of my list, so that when summer hits it is less of an issue. It gets pretty hot here (fl panhandle). The central ac unit is new and can handle the cooling, but I definitely want to have it insulated to keep the costs down.
 
First thing I did when we moved into our house was tap the A/C for the garage since I also use it as my woodshop. In the summer it's still too hot to work in there most days. And that's with shade on the outside of a concrete block wall. You may wind up with a chiller. I have another detached workshop that is super hot if ac isn't on
 
Hi
Would certainly put in insulation central filtration , lots of electrical taps as well as plumb the whole thing. You will probably have to have some serious AC for sure. What is the goal ?? Breeding , trying to make a buck or two?? If you intend to sell, check into small business loans or at least tax deductions . Sounds like yore setting up the tanks before you've thought through the needs of the operation. It is REALLY tough to add the basics afterwards lol gary
 
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