Fish tank location and windows

[Lolita]

Hello all!

I have a thread stating my desire to start up a new aquarium--a 20 gallon (long).

I need to locate a place in my room to set the aquarium up before I buy it, though, and I'm having difficulty finding a proper space.

The only free space in my bedroom is directly in front of both of my windows. One has an air conditioner in it, and the other gets direct sunlight in the morning and early afternoon. Neither of these places are acceptable.

My bedroom also has baseboard heaters running along both of these walls. My bed is against one wall without a heater--and cannot be moved because it's built into the wall--and my wardrobe is against the other wall without a heater, and cannot be moved because it doesn't fit against any other wall.

I'm considering two options here.

The first option is that I can actually build a bed table that would work as an aquarium cabinet and put the tank inside it beside my bed. It would have a top on hinges that I could open for feedings and would open completely for cleanings. It would be directly in front of my window--but would have a solid wood cover that would protect it from the sun, and would not reach to the sill.

The only problem with this is that it's directly in front of my heater, so it would be only an inch or two away from it. However, while we turn the heat in the house on in the winter, we never actually put it above 64 degrees F because the entire house is actually heated by a wood burning stove now. We only turn the heat on to keep the pipes from freezing, and in case of an emergency. Would it be safe, then, to keep my tank there providing I know that the heat wouldn't never turned up higher than 64 degrees?

The other option is on top of my wardrobe, which looks like this. It would be very high up, though, and off in a corner in my room--so cleanings would be on the difficult side, as I would have to stand on a step ladder, and wouldn't have much more than a foot of space between the top of my tank, and the ceiling.

Are either of these places suitable, or am I going to have to beg for a room in the house to set up my tank?

[Cristoff]

Kind of a tough situation you have there. Your BEST option is to beg for a spot in another room.

I doubt I would put it on the wardrobe due to the difficulty in water changes. The window area is a little better option, as long as you keep the direct sunlight off the tank as you described. It sounds like it'll cramp the room a bit though.

Just bat your eyes, and give a bit of a pouty face and I'll bet you get to put the tank wherever you want. I know that works when my daughter does it to me!

[DrNic]

Putting the tank in front of the heater isn't that big a deal, even if you use the heater. If you have a hang-on-back type filter you're not going to be able to put the tank right up against the wall anyway. Most of my tanks are in front of baseboard heaters with no problems at all. And that even includes one that's on the floor.

As for the window, if that's the only place you have, it's the only place you have. You're best bet to keep the tank aglae free is to block the sides with black or dark blue paper to keep the light out. You'll probably also want to make sure that you have a plastic (not glass) hood as well. This may not solve the problem entirely but it will help. You should think about getting an oto or two right away to keep up the algae eating.

[rangur1]

if you wrap 3 sides of tank with backing paper you should be ok.
set tank in front of window put on paper and see how much sun hits the tank.

obviously, the window without ac unit in it. lol

[iZinedane]

try window shutters or curtains?