Any ideas for an outdoor fish shed?

[Windy]

For a long time I had a goal of building a greenhouse to raise coral. Before I got the chance to build it along came LED lights and made the potential savings very small. The green house I was going to build was designed and built in Alberta somewhere. It had one sloped wall that was at 90 degrees to the sun at noon on January 1st. This whole wall was glazed, but could be covered with insulation at night. If the angle to the sun was wrong you could lose much of the energy during the coldest part of the year. So if you expect to get any real benefit from the roof window, it has to be set up correctly. I would rather have a very snug shed and light it with LEDS. It will be cheaper to operate.

 

[Cory]

It has begun. Laid the blocks. Placing in foam board. Wish me luck!

 

[L0stmykeys]

4 pages of reading later.....HE'S ACTUALLY DOING IT!!!! ...... i was on the fence im all in now!!! following til the end CORY! kinda makes me want to insulate my 10x16 prefab and drag it closer to the house lol... personally ive been looking at sunlight also but its just not something that is going to work as well as i would like it too compared to cheap leds..... But what about using light tunnels? Any one have success and want to chime in even in larger tanks 3 tunnels and some leds between seems like it work??? btw amazon has some pretty cheap light tunnels now 150 ish 1 time instead of electric bills? Even if just to cut down on extra fixtures?

 

[Cory]

4 pages of reading later.....HE'S ACTUALLY DOING IT!!!! ...... i was on the fence im all in now!!! following til the end CORY! kinda makes me want to insulate my 10x16 prefab and drag it closer to the house lol... personally ive been looking at sunlight also but its just not something that is going to work as well as i would like it too compared to cheap leds..... But what about using light tunnels? Any one have success and want to chime in even in larger tanks 3 tunnels and some leds between seems like it work??? btw amazon has some pretty cheap light tunnels now 150 ish 1 time instead of electric bills? Even if just to cut down on extra fixtures?

Ive thought of light tunnels. There are actually quiet a few builds with them. My main problem is I want more light. I plan on having mangroves and palm trees inside too. I want the sun to hit the water and make shimmer. Kind of a dream since i was a kid. Heres a good indoor sola tube build:

Monster Build - Our 400 Gallon In Wall Natural Sun-Lit Reef

Hi guys my enjoyment for aquariums started over 30 years ago as a child, when I would help my father care for his aquariums aquarium equipment has come a long way since then. My first personal aquarium was 37 gallons, over the years I had 155 fresh water African Cichlid tank and a 10 year old...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[Peach02]

King of DIY has one https://www.youtube.com/user/uarujoey/videos

 

[Cory]

King of DIY has one https://www.youtube.com/user/uarujoey/videos

Which video exactly? A shed or light tube?

 

[Peach02]

Which video exactly? A shed or light tube?

a shed but its more of a house now he has it in several videos.

 

[Dr. Dendrostein]

It has begun. Laid the blocks. Placing in foam board. Wish me luck!

Your area is cold mine hot. I did mine outside, with chiller

 

[Cory]

Your area is cold mine hot. I did mine outside, with chiller

Yes thats awesome. Hows the sun treating things? I wish i lived in a warm country.

 

[Dr. Dendrostein]

Yes thats awesome. Hows the sun treating things? I wish i lived in a warm country.

Chiller makes everything normal. 74° in DT , refugium at 76°, but on 105° days up to 78° . Only NPS corals. What's available, with coral bans, not much variety.

 

[Cory]

Chiller makes everything normal. 74° in DT , refugium at 76°, but on 105° days up to 78° . Only NPS corals. What's available, with coral bans, not much variety.

Very nice. Thanks for sharing!

 

[Dr. Dendrostein]

Very nice. Thanks for sharing!

You welcome

 

[Jon Fishman]

How are you going go heat this thing in the winter?

 

[Cory]

How are you going go heat this thing in the winter?

Im not sure yet but my options are either electric, propane, and sun durring the day from passive solar heat gain. Any suggestions?

 

[Jon Fishman]

I would suggest making it subterranean..... and electric radiant heat

 

[Cory]

I would suggest making it subterranean..... and electric radiant heat

You mean a partially burried shed/greenhouse? Its a good idea but too late for that. I tried to dig up this gravel driveway in my backyard but discovered it has boulders under it for support. So i left it there and built this thing overtop as a gravel pad is a reccomended foundation for a shed anyways.

Ive also considered making a solar can heater and attatching it to the south of the building to get free heat from the sun.

 

[BrandonS]

I personally wouldn't have a large skylight. To hard to keep heat in at night. I have a fish shed and had to take the glass door out because even dual pain glass door let to much heat out at night. I am on the coast and have mild winter though.

 

[andrewkw]

Interesting. When I started reading I never would have thought this project would break ground, and just recently too. Good luck! Some questions.

Is this for fun or commercial purposes? While 10x10 avoids the permit as already mentioned everything else will probably mean it still needs a permit. What is your water source going to be? Why are you not just building a giant tank in your house? One of the problems with these "fish houses" if it's going to be for a display you're going to have to go out there to view it. My main display tank is way way smaller then I'd like but it's in my dinning room / office so I see it for hours and hours everyday, as does everyone else in my family.

 

[Cory]

I personally wouldn't have a large skylight. To hard to keep heat in at night. I have a fish shed and had to take the glass door out because even dual pain glass door let to much heat out at night. I am on the coast and have mild winter though.

Is your shed insulated?

 

[Cory]

Interesting. When I started reading I never would have thought this project would break ground, and just recently too. Good luck! Some questions.

Is this for fun or commercial purposes? While 10x10 avoids the permit as already mentioned everything else will probably mean it still needs a permit. What is your water source going to be? Why are you not just building a giant tank in your house? One of the problems with these "fish houses" if it's going to be for a display you're going to have to go out there to view it. My main display tank is way way smaller then I'd like but it's in my dinning room / office so I see it for hours and hours everyday, as does everyone else in my family.

Its for fun. i will just bring the water in 5 gallon buckets daily for auto top off. I can make it from the house and pump it there. It will be stored in a brute trash can. I have no problems being there to see it.