How Safe Is It In The Conservatory?

[Joinerlavin]

Hi all

Im finking about getting into fish keeping again, last time I had tropical fish I was young and couldnt really afford to run it as well as i should have been.

Im finking about getting an AQUA ONE tank maybe but my question is:

How safe will it be if i put it in the conservatory, during the winter its fine as it is cold in there and the heater would make sure the tank is the correct temperature, but in the summer it can get quite hot in there with the sun on it for most of the day.

The conservatory is my only place in the house i can really put a tank as i have no room anywere else.

 

[Rooster]

...then I would abandon all hope ! This game is all about STABILTY, you would need a larger than usual heater (s) to keep the temp up, but even harder to control is the summer heat, as you said....

You really do need to look harder, or prepare for disspointment sorry !

 

[Truck]

please dont use slang,

as for the consevetory i would never put a tank in there as a conservertary is mainly glass or perspex plastic, so light will be hitting the tank from all angles and you will be over run with algea, if a room cant keep a pretty constant temperature then its a no go. tempertature fluctations stress fish out and can kill them, a better room would be aliving room, where there is central heating, and no more than 1 or 2 windows.

 

[Joinerlavin]

ok thanks for your replys, looks like I cant have a fish tank

 

[Truck]

you could if possible get away with a 60 litre (my personal favourite size of tank) and there generally 60*30*35tall and dont accomadate much space

 

[Joinerlavin]

i will try and have a sort out in my bedroom or something, haha remove a set of cupboards what i have no clothes in and put one there

 

[Rooster]

you could if possible get away with a 60 litre (my personal favourite size of tank) and there generally 60*30*35tall and dont accomadate much space

They MUST be space indoors somewhere ?

 

[Truck]

even a 10 gallon takes up about the same space as a small television. or on a kitchen counter?

 

[Joinerlavin]

problem is its not my house, im limited to the conservatory or bedroom.

 

[Truck]

do you have a desk in your bedroom? or could you buy one? say from ikea? look at the weight rating on the ikea products, and then get a tank that wont excede that size or weight.

a 10 us gallon (38litres) takes up no space at all. (an aquaone a 380 is 10 gallons) and its 12 inch by 12 inch by 18inches high. and it has decent lighting

 

[pauly]

What does "finking" mean?

 

[Joinerlavin]

i have 2 large sets of drawers in my room which would easy accomodate a fish tank on top, but my tv is on the wall behind it along with sky box and dvd etc also on the drawers. I could have a moove around thoe, how big is the aqua one 500? and are they loud when set up

 

[Schmill]

Don't give up all hope yet.
Conservatory might be doable, but it will be more expensive, and more complicated than 'standard' tank keeping.

First thing to consider is what direction the conservatory faces, and where it is sited. If the conservatory faces North,(and you are in the Northern hemisphere), and it's built on the back of a house then great. Due to it's sitting it should avoid the majority of the direct sunlight (being shadowed by the house). Put a solid hood on it and you stop directly 'above' light, a dark background on it and you've eliminated that side as well. Now you are looking just at the front and the two sides. Depending where and how you place the tank it might be possible to have one or both of the sides covered to, which will pretty much sort you out for the 'light' problems. Add a few algae eaters in the tank and thigns should be pretty good.

That leaves you with just the temperature issue.
Again, you'll want a nice solid hood on the tank, and if you are putting a background on the tank then a sheet of polystyrene insulation across the back of the tank wouldn't go amiss either. Again this can be repeated for one or both sides depending on the siting of the tank.
Those issues will help to try and insulate the tank, making any change a bit more gradual, and also trying to reduce wasted energy as much as possible.
Then you will definitly need a heater, if the conservatory is heated then fine then a standard one for your size tank will do, but if not you will want to 'overrate' your heater, or perhaps fit 2 to cope with needing to hold the tank temperature that much higher above the ambient temperature.
As for the summer, you can also buy water chillers that simialr to the heaters work on a thermostat to keep the tank water correct, but I've never used one of these so cannot comment on them.

No need to give up, just be prepared to do battle with mother nature

 

[Joinerlavin]

haha battle. The biggest problem is that the sun is facing the conservatory all day, and the temp really does go up. And its more overhead light because there are garden bushes close to the windows .

 

[Schmill]

If the sun is facing the conservatory, (ie. a South facing conservatory, the best kind! ), then I'd try to turn the tank so that it's BACK faces the sun, then on the back I'd probably fit, a dark background, then a layer of that refective polystyrene you can get for behind radiators. If you don't know what I mean it's sort of ploystyrene sheet with tinfoil stuck to it, (which is something you could do if you can't get the 'proper' stuff), with the tinfoil on the outside of course. Hopefully this would reflect as much heat & light off of the side of the tank facing the sun as possible.