keeping tanks warm in a cool basement?

**Jaster** · 01-17-2013, 10:58 PM

Well I had a great plan for my fish room but like most great plans... crap happens. So my budget has been tashed to the point I have about $200 thanks to my car and washer at the same time. Needless to say that wont frame out and insulate my basement. The basement gets to about 60 degrees through the winter so i need a way to try to keep the tanks warm or at least retain heat a bit better so my tanks heaters wont have to work as hard. I was thinking of using foam insulation around the tanks. Think this work for a while until I get back on track? Open to any other ideas too
thanks

**Lady Hobbs** · 01-17-2013, 11:07 PM

The heaters will keep them where they should be if you have high enough wattage to do the job. Obviously they will have to work harder but we only have 3 months to go and things will began to warm up abit. Before my son had his basement insultated and paneled, he stuck foam to the walls behind the tanks.

**korith** · 01-17-2013, 11:29 PM

Insulation panels work. Had a tank out on the balcony last year, had it sitting on a piece of insulation and made a box that was just taped insulation panels. Was able to keep temperatures bearable. Have seen some posts on monsterfishkeepers, where people have partitioned off some room in the basement just using plastic sheeting and a bit of framing. That way they can run a room heater in a smaller enclosed area.

**Angelfish11788** · 01-18-2013, 12:44 AM

Originally Posted by korith

Insulation panels work. Had a tank out on the balcony last year, had it sitting on a piece of insulation and made a box that was just taped insulation panels. Was able to keep temperatures bearable. Have seen some posts on monsterfishkeepers, where people have partitioned off some room in the basement just using plastic sheeting and a bit of framing. That way they can run a room heater in a smaller enclosed area.

MFK is a good place for fish room info, those guys are great. anyway at my dollar tree, they have almost like big poster board sheets but it is like foam. just get pieces all around tank except front. then against the wall id insulate it down with foam or somthing. may have to run a de-humidifier. I love this site aswell as mfk. both are good resource but more people obessivaly get in the hobby over there and have lots of fish room DIY stuff

**korith** · 01-18-2013, 12:57 AM

Originally Posted by Angelfish11788

MFK is a good place for fish room info, those guys are great. anyway at my dollar tree, they have almost like big poster board sheets but it is like foam. just get pieces all around tank except front. then against the wall id insulate it down with foam or somthing. may have to run a de-humidifier. I love this site aswell as mfk. both are good resource but more people obessivaly get in the hobby over there and have lots of fish room DIY stuff

Love the dollar tree, or any type of dollar store. A lot of my diy aquarium stuff comes from there. You can get a 4x8 sheet of rigid insulation panel from home depot, i think in the $10-15 range. A few of those sheets could be put up temporarily to make a room maybe?

**Jaster** · 01-18-2013, 01:25 AM

Originally i was going to put the foam board around the room. Its 24x24 so its about $400 for just the foam. So right now I'm dialing my plans back to pretty just the 2 8' shelves i have. Thats why i was thinking just around the tanks for now.

You have a good point Lady Hobbs... Spring is coming. the heaters have more than enough watts for the job.

Just dont want to set up too much until I get the room set up. The money I have right now is pretty much for air. Might just have to stall this out for a while. If I dont get these tanks out of the dining room soon though my wife is going to drown me in them. Lol

**Hardy85** · 01-18-2013, 11:17 AM

I keep my 55 gal in my living room, which I keep at 62F to keep the heat bill down. The heater doesn't work very hard.

But I feel like the majority of the heat will be lost out of the top. So I think you should focus there

**ScottishFish** · 01-18-2013, 11:43 AM

A very cheap option could be bubble wrap? Its a very good insulator due to the air it can hold. Also a very very cheap option for the short term

**Taurus** · 01-18-2013, 12:10 PM

Originally Posted by Lady Hobbs

The heaters will keep them where they should be if you have high enough wattage to do the job. Obviously they will have to work harder but we only have 3 months to go and things will began to warm up abit. Before my son had his basement insultated and paneled, he stuck foam to the walls behind the tanks.

Glass hoods on the top of your tanks and oversized heaters should take care of it. You'll pay a bit more up front for the heaters, but you'll save in the long run on energy costs because they won't run as often.

**Lady Hobbs** · 01-18-2013, 01:09 PM

That's how my son kept his, Taurus. He had a 300 watt heater (for a 55 gallon) and a glass lid.

But so much cold was coming from the cement wall behind the tank, he just hung up a sheet of styrofoam so the tank would not be so near the source of so much coldness. Obviously you need a good heater.