Aquarium in basement?

[Vikeologist]

I live in Minnesota, and my basement can get cool in the winter and stay pretty cool in the summer. It is around 55-60 in the winter.

I also run a dehumidifier in the summer, but this would probably cause too much water loss right?

Would it be OK to put this in a cool basement like this? Would the heaters have too much trouble keeping the water temp warm?

looking at 55 or 75 gallon aquarium.

 

[neilanh]

It can be done, but you'll be paying quite a bit of electricity to keep it warm.

If you do decide to do it, you'll want extra heater power in there, but run multiple heaters of the right size instead of a larger heater. That way if it fails on, you won't cook anything.

 

[Dimitrios91]

I purchased a 250 Watt Visi-Therm from Marineland for my 55, but heating overall 65-70gal. This is in my basement as well and the temp drops to around 50 down there. These heaters are some of the best around and I personally recommend them. My tank stays consistantly between 79-80. I have a backup heater in the sump tank just incase the main one fails which is set a couple of degrees below to keep it from activating unless the temp drops due to failure or some odd cold snap comes along lol. Neither heater is in the actual main tank only the sump.

 

[BigJim]

+1 for neilanh

You could also just skip the heater issue and set up a coldwater tank.

 

[OldMan]

There are lots of fish that will thrive in your basement with very little heat added. Some that come to mind are white clouds and goldfish along with the entire spectrum of goodeids.

 

[jsoong]

At 50 you will need a heater even for goldfish .... they start to hibernate at that temp! But of course at the lower temp, you won't burn as much electricity. <My temp is set to 75F.>

As for evaporation, just get a good tight fitting canopy (glass tops are best). That will limit water loss & won't add to the work of your dehumidifier.

 

[ChizerBunoi]

I agree with the use of glass tops for keeping the heat/fish in. That prevents evaporation and you don't have to worry about de-humidifying in the summer.

 

[pennyt]

informative post thanks for Sharing