basement tank pros or cons?

[idgy]

I am thinking of starting my 60 gallon reef tank in my finished basement. There is heating on one side of the basement. Although in the winter it is not cold down in the basement, but it also is not as warm as the rest of the house.

The reasons I am thinking of putting this in the basement is because in the summertime with central air I am concerned that it will get too cold and effect the temp of the tank. Also in the winter time the temp in this house tends to run on the warm side.


Any thoughts on this would be greatly appreciated!

Plus God forbid the tank should ever overflow there is a drain in the basement floor.

Thanks!

 

[lizardarm]

hey idgy
unless you're either not planning on having a heater(s) in your tank, or you keep your house really, really cold i don't think that the central air should do too much harm. another thought that i have is that you want your tank to be somewhere where you can see and enjoy it. if you spend a lot of time in your basement, then it's probably not a bad idea to put it down there. how does your basement do humiditywise? up here in bremerton many of the older houses with basements have real bad problems with moisture. this could cause your stand to fail prematurely. don't even want to think about how bad that would be.

 

[Scooterman]

I'll add to that, also your lighting will heat things up quiet a bit, so having the room cooler is a plus. Winter time things get cool, so some outside room heat is also a plus.

 

[wrightme43]

Do you have a water supply in the basement? Otherwise its bucket toting time. I have always thought that tanks should be in the room where the most time is spent. The out of sight out of mind thing seems to happen to everyone. If you have a good electricity, and good water supply and drain, it would be a great place for it. On the heat and cooling isssue. I have 2 tanks in my unheated garage. They dont get to hot in the summer and the heater keeps them nice and warm all winter. Not a problem at all for me. HTH Steve

 

[reefer]

I have mine in the finished basement. In the summer when the basement is cooler (because of the heating system) the tank heat runs pretty steady temp. In the winter it runs al ittle warmer than I'd like and gets more swing in the tank temp form daytime when the heat is on to night time when the heat is off but it does fine. Winter 79 to 82. Summer a steady 79.

 

[cronicreef]

I've had my tank in the basement for 2 years now. I'm in michigan so during the winter I do have a heater but in the summer even with the ac going my tanks stays in the high 70's without a heater. Some people use heaters year around just in case but I don't see any cons of haveing a tank in the basement unless your never downstairs.

Like it was said above if you have a sink in the basement it makes life alot easier for reef keepers. If your tank was set up by the water supplie, it would be a big pro.