Sumps and equipment in the garage

[Chad]

As I've mentioned here or there, my wife and I are in the process of buying a house in Virginia Beach for a later this year move...

 

I am considering putting the sump and non-display equipment in the garage. Do any of you have that stuff in the garage? Thoughts of or experiences with things like temperature control for the tank or humidity issues in the garage?

 

I don't plan on swapping any equipment or tanks out, so this means I will probably have ~60 gallons in the display and ~100 gallons in the garage.

[Coral Hind]

You've seen my setup. I didn't really have any issue last winter but it was a mild winter. I think the heat from the level over the garage helps to keep the garage semi warm. The tanks do run a little warmer in the summer but nothing critical. I haven't seen any humidity issues so far.

[Chad]

The way you have your stuff set up is actually what was driving me to think about it!

 

What is your DT / other volume split?

[Coral Hind]

The display is 210g that dumps into a 100g stock tank that's only filled with about 50g. The four 40GB tanks also use that sump. So it is a raw 210 / 210. If I guess the minus of rock, overflow, water height. I'd say 170 / 190. The QT is soley in the garage seperate from the main system and it has no issues during the summer or winter. When we had the 100F days it never got over 82 in that system.

[Integral9]

I personally feel the garage would be an excellent fish room. Oops, 50gallons on the floor?! No big deal in there. But it really all depends on how well the room is climate controlled, but it probably doesn't have to be greatly climate controlled. Also, you might to try to avoid any smoke / exhaust from cars or lawn equipment in there. So if the garage is large enough, it might make sense to build a closet for the equipment to hide in / insulate it a bit more.

 

Depending on when the house was built, there may be little to no insulation over the garage. My parent's house which was built in 1945, has absolutely no insulation besides the cinder block walls and plaster ceiling. While it doesn't get below freezing in there, it's probably not adequate for a fish room in the winter w/ out a space heater and the summer time would probably require a window unit air-conditioner.