Garage Mixed Reef Tank

[Dvidster]

I put a 75 gallon reef tank in my garage. I thought I would share my information and see if anyone was doing the same or thinking about it.

I built the stand myself.

I got a 75 Gallon Visio.

Equipment:
2 - Radion XR15 Pro
1 - MP60
1 - Tunzee Comline 3168 (Carbon and BioBalls)
1 - 9004 Tunzee Protein Skimmer
1 - Heater

Fish:
1 Midas Blenny
1 Flame Hawk (Not doing well. He is being bullied by the Midas Blenny)
1 Vrolik Wrasse ( I think)
A few hermit crab

Corals:
1 Frogspawn
2 Leptosteris
1 stylo
1 Birds nest
1 Purple Ribbon Gorgonian

Not planning on doing any sump or refugium. keeping it simple. It has been up for about a month thus far.

More photos to come.

 

[r20crazy]

nice... I have to much automotive chit in my garage for a tank...

I have however worked with several people with garage growouts... just be ready for summer early... have fans and a chiller on hand and a plan...

 

[TeoTheCoral]

interesting. I just bought a new tank and put it in my garage which is finished. I first insulated the garage door with foam boards and sealant. Text me would like to discuss the changes of outing tank in garage: temp, outlet availability, etc

 

[laverda]

I have pretty much always had at least one tank in the garage for the last 20 years.

 

[Smite]

I had a garaged 180g mixed reef At my last place. It was one of my favorite tanks. Didnt have to worry about aesthetics at all. It was 2 large MH reflectors with Radion supplementation. Didn’t need to worry about spills ect either. At one point I added a SCA 66 g as a display fuge. Very fun system.
I expected summer to be rough but the killer on the E bill was actually winter if I remember correctly. My garage was not finished or insulated.

at my current house the garage is the only place I could eventually do a larger tank. One day I hope to finish and insulate it and if I’m able to add solar go with something larger.

looking forward to other experiences with it.

 

[TeoTheCoral]

I have pretty much always had at least one tank in the garage for the last 20 years.

What are your techniques. Do you mind sharing to us young Pediwans?

 

[TeoTheCoral]

So far I have insulated the door and used a thermometer from Govee to constantly monitor temperature day and night. The temp in the garage has not been much different..3-5 degrees lower than in the house. I think winter will be okay but not sure about summer (Orange County)

 

[TeoTheCoral]

Day time 71 degrees and drops slowly down at night to a nadir of 65.5 degrees in the morning before coming back up.

 

[Dvidster]

I monitored the temp in the garage and it was about 10 degrees difference than inside the house over the summer and so far in the winter. I would be interested in how you insulated around the garage door. I have not done that yet.

The furnace was is the garage at my house so I opted to pop out a duct into the garage. So now anytime the heater or A/C runs, the vent blows into the garage which has really helped with the temp so far. It cost $300 to do that. For me that was an easy decision because I think I will not need a chiller with this set up.

My plan to insulate the openings in the garage was to use Foamular which I found at Home Depot. I was going to cut this and cover the gaps with it. I would be interested in how you did it.

 

[TeoTheCoral]

First, my garage is pretty furnished as all the walls are cover with Sheetrock and probably have insulation in them. Further, the garage is situated below a bedroom so heat from the roof is not s problem. There remains just the garage door itself and the edges that need to be insulated. For the door itself, I used a garage door insulation kit Insulfoam from Lowe’s (Home Depot has the equivalent of Cellufoam but was out, Amazon has the Matador which costs a lot more). All have R valve of 4.8. I am considering using Reflectic (foil like material with a double layer of bubble) on top of the Insulfosm if needed to. Fit the edges (top and two sides) I sealed Yotache Weather Stripping from Amazon. For the bottom, I added Universal Garage Door Bottom Threshold Seal also from Amazon.

The next problem is the slant on the floor which I’ve put engineered hardwood on. That was addressed by the adjustable feet on the Reefer xl300.

 

[TeoTheCoral]

I wish I don’t have to put the tank so need the door but this is the location that the slant in the floor is least (< 1 degrees). I might add foam insulation to the back of the tank or Reflectic to the door.

 

[Dvidster]

Your garage has a similar setup to mine. Your set up looks nice. Yes, getting the stand level in the garage is a challenge. The floors are built to slope away from the house.

 

[TeoTheCoral]

Thank you. At the front of the garage near the door the sloping is the least and so I have to put the tank there. Thought I get your and anyone’s input on a few things:

1. Will the sloping of the floor (1 - 2 degrees) which is made of engineered wood board cause slipping especially in a small earthquake? I’m thinking of shiming with woods planks despite the adjustable feet.

2. Will the feet cause high pressure to the floor that it might crush the engineered plywood. The tank holes 80 g (80 g x 8.34 lbs/g = 672 lbs) + 300 lbs or so for stand and glass tank = around 1100 lbs. Each foot is less than 1 inch square more like 0.5 inch and there are really 6 main feet meaning each foot put 366 lbs per square inch on the floor.

3. Will the evaporation from salt water possibly cause rusting to the metal structures near by? I know that usually only water evaporate but then why do they have to repaint the Golden Gate bridge constantly? I’m thinking of wrapping the metal structure nearwith plastic.

 

[Smite]

@TeoTheCoral
I had a small frag tank in the garage while swapping from my 66g to my 180. Probably about 3 months out there. My Harley, tools and safe all had rust by the time I took it down. It’s a major issue you’re going to want to address with a hood or added vents in your garage ceiling.

if I ever do a large build in my garage I plan to do a canopy or floating canopy with exhaust fans to suck moisture up into the attic space and put the roof vents to avoid that.
My 180 was on false wood with 6 metal feet. I had a few planks left over from my floor that were 6’. I put a plank running the length of the front and back between the feet and the floor to avoid any imprinting.

 

[TeoTheCoral]

Thank you. At the front of the garage near the door the sloping is the least and so I have to put the tank there. Thought I get your and anyone’s input on a few things:

1. Will the sloping of the floor (1 - 2 degrees) which is made of engineered wood board cause slipping especially in a small earthquake? I’m thinking of shiming with woods planks despite the adjustable feet.

2. Will the feet cause high pressure to the floor that it might crush the engineered plywood. The tank holes 80 g (80 g x 8.34 lbs/g =

3. Will the evaporation from salt water possibly cause rusting to the metal structures near by? I know that usually only water evaporate but then why do they have to repaint the Golden Gate bridge constantly? I’m thinking of wrapping the metal structure nearwith plastic.

3

@TeoTheCoral
I had a small frag tank in the garage while swapping from my 66g to my 180. Probably about 3 months out there. My Harley, tools and safe all had rust by the time I took it down. It’s a major issue you’re going to want to address with a hood or added vents in your garage ceiling.

if I ever do a large build in my garage I plan to do a canopy or floating canopy with exhaust fans to suck moisture up into the attic space and put the roof vents to avoid that.
My 180 was on false wood with 6 metal feet. I had a few planks left over from my floor that were 6’. I put a plank running the length of the front and back between the feet and the floor to avoid any imprinting.

Wow. Thank you for the very useful input. It’s just what I needed. I decided to put the tank in the garage as I was concerned about tank failure (seeing broken seams with RedSea) and earthquakes not so much in property damage but human injuries (kids) but there are definitely challenges. I think I will wrap the metals with plastic and maybe get some type of hood (this may be harder).

yes I have the false plywood hardwood basically a thin layer of hardwood glued into layers of plywood. I am concerned more about slipping of the tank as I can always replace the planks.

thanks smite

 

[bigpaul]

I have over 200 gallons of water in a single uninsulated garage and rust, peeling paint and mold have been an issue. I added a 90 pint dehumidifier with an automatic drain pump and have not had any issues since. I do put glass lids on the tanks every night which also helps keep the evaporation down and helps warm the tanks at night.
I would not run a tank long term in a garage without a controller with multiple backups and fail safes. For me heaters have failed and it seems to happen at 3 in the morning, I have learned to have extra heaters in the tank incase my primary heater fails. I also have 3 back up heaters incase both heaters fail at the same time.
I have also had issues with my chillers. I have found if the ambient air in the garage gets to hot, the fan on the chiller will work but the condenser will not. If the condenser is not working the chiller is not cooling the tank. During the hot days of summer I have to use an extra large Styrofoam box, ice, pvc and a fan to keep the condenser cool enough to work. Fortunately that only happens a couple days per year. I also have my lights programed to turn off if the tank gets too hot. I have all of this programed through my Apex and it has saved my tank several times when my heaters have failed or my chillers were not working. I have the Apex notify me if the tanks get too warm or to cold and if I lose power to the garage. I am not plugging Apex here, it is simply the controller that I use.
I hope this is helpful.

 

[bvysochin]

Yeah, like the others have mentioned, the salt environment will wreak absolute havoc on anything in the same space. Like EVERYTHING. Your garage door rails (which usually arent even steel), the bearings, door hinges, door knobs/handles, hand tools, and anything else that is remotely metal. The high humidity will lead to water runs/drips where the warm, moist air contacts the cool air, from outside. IE: within the attic, around the garage door frame, at the high points of the ceilings, and directly underneath any exterior doors. Also, if you have an RO line that feeds cold water into the warm room, it will sweat, like crazy. The biggest issue we've found is light fixtures and anything else that has any type of electronics/circuit boards. Battery backups crap out. Fan wires corrode and just break off. Ventilation is of utmost importance.. but.. it's a fine balance juggling proper venting and wasting money on heating/cooling. Dehumidifiers are great, but a lot of times will cool the space, resulting in the need for additional heating... and they are expensive to run. The joys of having tanks in a garage. Speaking from experience: 2500+ gallons of water within a 600 sq ft space (3 car garage equivalent).

 

[TeoTheCoral]

Is it because everyone is having a big tank. Mine is 65 g with an exposed surface are of 3 ft x 2 ft. What about leaving the door from home to garage open? How is this different from having the tank inside the house?

 

[TeoTheCoral]

I have a 34 g DT with a 15 g sump and each week I change 4 gallon of ato. Your 2500 g is 50 x more volume so perhaps the amount of ato you use is about 200 a week. No wonder you would have all that problems

 

[bigpaul]

Is it because everyone is having a big tank. Mine is 65 g with an exposed surface are of 3 ft x 2 ft. What about leaving the door from home to garage open? How is this different from having the tank inside the house?

The difference is the temperature swings. The temperature in your house is probably pretty stable between day and night, in the garage not so much. I have a 250 gallon tank in the house with no heaters or chiller and I run 2 eight bulb ati fixtures and the temperature in the tank during the summer never gets above 81 degrees.
I have also had one 65 gallon tank in the single car garage and had issues with rusting, mold and peeling of paint. That is what made realize if I was going to keep the tank in the garage I would have to either insulate the garage and keep a constant temperature or try a dehumidifier. I choose to try the dehumidifier, and it has worked well for me. bvysochin has some more good points about the humidity and electronics and yes dehumidifiers are expensive to run.
I am not saying you will have the same issues, I am just posting about things I have experienced here in my garage.