Fish Tanks Outside?

[always4lora]

Hi' Guy's,

I'm starting to sort my shead out and was thinking of sticking a few fish tanks in there, i'm just wondering if i'd need out special to keep them warm or out ? Will a normal heater per tank keep them warm enough? It does get pretty cold in there but im not sure if that due to the messed up roof or the large gaps in the door(stuff thats getting sorted over the next few months).

Cheers

 

[KittyKat]

You will need to insulate the shed.. someone I know kept tanks in a barn a few years ago: one day over winter, the temperature difference between the inside (water) and outside (air) of the tanks was so different that about half the tanks cracked in one day.

Also think about keeping the tanks cool enough in the summer: sheds become very hot.

 

[always4lora]

Ahh Coolio , it's like half brick and half wood so will get my dad to see if he can insulate it for me when i sort it out. I dont think the shed will get to hot as theres only one window and it doesnt get more than like 30-40minutes of sunlight a day . It's got an outside toilet thingy in it so means there'll be a water supply which wuill make water changes easier too. Guess i could keep some goldfish in there though if i cant insulate it

Thanks for the advice wouldnt wanna have tanks crack on me

 

[ChrisCook]

Really bad idea. You would neee a powerful heater to heat up water in something so disconnected as a shed and it will be working pretty much the whole time and your electricity bill will rocket

 

[always4lora]

Good point about the leccy , maybe insulation would be the way to go if i can get it done , if not i'll get a tank setup for gold fish. The GF doesnt want any more tanks in the house so the shead was the next place to build up.

 

[bitteraspects]

well, she said no "more" tanks in the house, right?
guess that means you just need to make the ones you already have BIGGER
replace them all with 6-8' tanks. lol

 

[ChrisCook]

Be careful, are you just adding fish tanks for the sake of adding them? What pleasure are you going to get from putting tanks in the shed? Are you genuinely going to go out and sit in the shed to look at your fish?

 

[Honeythorn]

Be careful, are you just adding fish tanks for the sake of adding them? What pleasure are you going to get from putting tanks in the shed? Are you genuinely going to go out and sit in the shed to look at your fish?

THIS.

Also, since you have a shed I presume you have a garden. If you want goldfish as badly as that, build them a pond at least 6 feet long, 3-4 wide and 4-5 deep. Goldfish are pond fish to begin with anyway.

 

[always4lora]

I like fish , i like a variety of fish.

i don't have a garden , back yard with a an outside toilet and shead combined thingy that was made whent he houses were made. And yeh i would go int he shed to see them, i wouldnt sit there looking at them but i generally dont do that anyway.
Since when do goldfish need ponds anyways? like saying fish from a lake need a lake to stay in! silly comment.

 

[Honeythorn]

Since goldfish are a coldwater pond fish, a simple colour morph ( further developed by human intervention for a greater variety of colours ) of a type of carp in fact, who grow to over 12 inches in length , often reaching 14 inches, and the biggest so far ( who is in fact a fancy type ) is 17 inches long. That's why they should be in a pond. They need space.

If you don't have space for a pond then I hope your shed is sizeable because a pair of normal bog standard goldfish need at least a 5 foot tank ( preferably bigger and definitely much bigger if you have more than a pair ) plus external filter, weekly large water changes and general dilligent care to keep the large amount of waste they produce to a minimum.

They also have a well known lifespan of over 20 years ( the oldest recorded died at the age of I believe 43? )

 

[always4lora]

I'm aware of the size of some of the goldfish my dad has a large pond at his house with some pretty big un;s in. I was looking at a 5x2x2 or 4x2x2. Would probs keep the black one with the big eyes, moores i think it's called. They dont grow terribly big so would be fine in there.

Thanks for the advise anyhows