fish room in a shed outside?
 

so i havent even gotten any livestock into my tank and im already thinking of expanding... wow

ok anyways, this has been going through my head. I was going to put a few holes in the wall and plumb outside into a "shed"

has anyone ever plumb outside? is there any drawbacks into doing this? im guessing I have to insult the shed to keep heat in.

btw its not really a "fish room" but somewhere for a big sump, bigger than display.

I'm not speaking from experience but if you're not nice to the shed I doubt it's going to make this easy for you.

What I would do is maybe add some insulation?

I know I've seen people plumb their chillers outside successfully. A lot depends on how cold it gets there. Perhaps have the shed built right up against the exterior wall like an addition? Maybe building code plays a part in doing this properly as well?

you would have to insulate as well as add a heater to the shed and run it all winter to keep from freezing up not only the lines but your tank inside not to mention if it drops your tank temp too much if a heater fails... i personally like the idea but think there is too much room for mishap not to mention if a neighbour kid breaks into the shed and pees in the sump or worse.. lol

I have plumbing that goes outside into a small shed that houses the chiller, never had a problem in the winter but I am starting to have overheating issues now that summer is here, the shed traps and transfers too much heat (even when left open to vent the chiller), kind of defeats the point behind the chiller, I am dealing with close to 1000 gals on the system, I think a smaller system would see even greater temperature swings. I know Lance has the sump for his corner tank outside in an insulated box and has not had a problem but it is well insulated and right against the house.

he is in north van, you dont really even get winter there, a nice space heater and some insulation and you should be good to go!

just because we had no snow for the Olympics doesn't mean we dont get winter!! ive seen almost 1 inch of snow before!!!

lol i have seen alot of snow on the island before but it never sticks around long. and its more of a slushly snow than real snow. haha

Snow doesn't always mean extended periods of cold temperatures. I think Regina typically gets weeks of -25 C on a regular basis thru Jan & Feb, whereas the coast will rarely see anything colder than -10 C and that might only last a day or two. I spent many years in Cold Lake Alberta and it was crisp, let me tell you.

oceanics prop tanks are in a barn/shed type thing. their corals and fish seem to handle it just fine

I'm in the process of building a fish room under our deck, which i have walled and insulated. Even in hot days it is cool down there. So done right, it should not be an issue.

ok for me i could never put a fish room in a shed i live in the crotch of canada sask where in summer its 30 above and winter its 50 below.. i was just thinking from my perspective if you dont get the harsh weather changes i think an outdoor fish room would be great. all the noise and pumps out of the house who wouldnt love it. in my case id have to build too much weather resistance. maybe i need to moove west

i have a bunch of family in cold lake, so i know all about it! haha they dont call if cold lake for no reason!

What about using one of those plastic sheds from home depot and throwing a bunch of insulation in? I think they are only couple hundred bucks.

LOL try Winnipeg it gets really crisp there I have seen it at -54 without the windchill there (winter 2003first winter back there for 20 or so years we only stayed 3 years too cold.) growing up just outside Winnipeg there were some winters colder than that. Often the inter chill there is colder than Antarctica.

Bill

I think just as long as it is done right. It would work, otherwise it would just be a headache in the long run if things are not planned properly.

Hah, Winterpeg, way too far south. Did I mention I spent part of my youth in Gimli (or Grimly as my Dad referred to it)? That's 60 miles north of Winterpeg I'll have you know. I was too young to remember how cold it got in Gimli or I didn't care, not sure. I do remember freezing my toes playing hockey on a makeshift outdoor rink though. I also remember walking to school one day in Cold Lake. When I got there I found out it was closed due to the cold. Only happened once, but the temperature was reportedly -80 C with windchill. We must have had the radio turned off that morining, or more likely, there was no one at the radio station either. So I turned around and walked home again... Aaaaah, the sunny Okanagan.

And Milad, you should be fine with your idea in North Van. A bit of insulation and an extra heater or two should make it work in the winter for you. You might consider some sort of bypass scenario just in case though. Do you have a basement?