Outdoor Tank?

[Future]

I've been thinking that if I don't get my 75gal. sold, I'm going to set it up. I've given thought into the tank being setup outside though when I buy a house.

Here are some questions I've run into though...

1. Has anyone done this before? and if yes, how successful was/is it?
2. For a Reef, would I need to supplement lighting aside from natural light?
3. Would I need to do anything special with the filtration system? I would be running a wet/dry, sump & chiller.

This should be enough to get my thoughts rolling for now

[Ninong]

Here are some questions I've run into though...

1. Has anyone done this before? and if yes, how successful was/is it?

People who live in tropical locations (e.g., the Philippines, Indonesia, etc.) set up reef tanks outdoors all the time.

The Waikiki Aquarium has a large reef tank outdoors, plus a 7,500-gal reef lagoon outdoors. They have revised their website, so you'll have to browse around yourself to see if you can find pictures of their large outdoor reef tank. They also have grow-out tanks for coral frags on the roof of the building. Here. I had pics of all of these exhibits posted in a thread on Reefland, but they were lost during one of the many "upgrades."

2. For a Reef, would I need to supplement lighting aside from natural light?

No, sunlight is quite sufficient. None of the world's tropical reefs have supplemental light.

That's not your problem. Your problem is that the farther north (or south) you get from the equator, the more variation you have in the seasonal photoperiod (length of the day) and the more variation you have in the position of the sun above the horizon.

Honolulu is 21°18′N. Miami is 25°47′N. Manila is 14°35′N. Jakarta is only 6°16′S.

The closer you get to the equator, the better environment you have for coral reefs. Indonesia's reefs are by far the most diverse in the world. Hawaii's reefs are not very varied at all. The same can be said for the Florida Keys. Key West is 24°33′N so it's not even subtropical, it's in temperate waters. All of Florida is temperate. You do have reefs as far north as the Bahamas but they're not much to talk about.

Besides having short days in the winter, compared to locations closer to the equator, you will have the problem of sporadic cold spells. You will have to have a heater capable of dealing with occasional dips into the low 30's. And don't overlook the potential problems you could run into if a hurricane even comes close to you. You would have to cover the top of your aquarium anytime you are expecting more than an inch or so of rainfall for two reasons: 1) your sump probably can't handle six or eight inches of rainfall, and 2) your salinity would drop too much.

When a hurricane dumps ten inches of rain on the ocean, it has very little effect except for the top few feet and even that dissipates. You can't dump ten inches of rain on an aquarium that is only 20" deep. In fact, you shouldn't even add two inches of rain.

Maintaining an outdoor aquarium in Miami is probably not a good idea.



P.S. -- Rocky (Scubadude) maintained outdoor reef tanks in Port Charlotte but they were inside a greenhouse. And, of course, he lost everything in the first hurricane that came his way. You can find his threads about that on this board but the pics are probably all lost because of the many "improvements" that have been made to the board over the years in the various "upgrades."

[Future]

Well what I mean by outdoor is in a car-port type of shelter. That's why I asked about supplemental lighting. I have a thing against rain water..lol

Heating & cooling wouldn't be a problem, neither would a sturdy cabinet/stand/enclosure, but yea the Hurricane thing would pose a small problem even though I never leave the house anyway during one. (Except when the last ones hit, I ran out in the middle of the tornados because some diamond plate was being ripped from my truck...I do dumb things like that for fun)

Anyway... I'm in Deerfield Beach, bout 40 miles N of Miami and always figured it would be a good place for an outdoor tank. It can always be protected in the event of storms, but I guess one would need something much much larger in order for it to work. Guess I'll be stuck w/ a dang Koi Pond or something when I get that house.