Tank in balcony

[JL27AY]

Hi all,

Left the hobby 1 year back when we are preparing for our new child.

Now that we have a new place, cant help but want to set up a new tank again.

Problem with most new apartments is there is always a huge ass balcony which means indoors space is pretty limited.

Must previous 2 tanks where in my room and the problem is always maintainace.

My current place has a pretty decent sized balcony and there is a water inlet and drainage. Seems to work fine for water changes and I can always mess up the balconey and clean it up with a hose.

Does any one have any expereince with setting up a tank at the balcony? Here are some discussion points.

Wishlist

3 x 2.5 x 2(h) tank

SPS dominated (I hope)

Refugium for algae (Nutrients exportation) Perhaps some proper design, I can make use of natural sunlight to grow algae.

1. Natural sunlight effect on corals and temp.

- Nuisance algae?

- Higher capacity chiller?

- Different specturm of light compared to electrical lighting? Effect on corals?

2. Loading on the balcony?

Any other concerns?

Please share.

Thanks

JL

[Guest]

There is a member thread here which he setup his marine planted tank in his balcony , maybe you can have a look for inspiration and ideas

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[acidjc]

Balcony loading might not able to.support the weight, better check and confirm before commit

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[CKS]

Hi JL,

I searched high & low for saltwater aquarium in balcony and couldnt find much too, went ahead and setup one but its still pretty new (4 months).

Posted some photos of my 40g long in balcony setup over at the "Marine Aquarium Plants & Algae" section.

The water temp can register as high as 31 degreeC thought, and the things im keeping are quite ok with it. I don't keep any coral so less of the challenge with keeping water temp low.

Hope it helps

Hi all,

Left the hobby 1 year back when we are preparing for our new child.

Now that we have a new place, cant help but want to set up a new tank again.

Problem with most new apartments is there is always a huge ass balcony which means indoors space is pretty limited.

Must previous 2 tanks where in my room and the problem is always maintainace.

My current place has a pretty decent sized balcony and there is a water inlet and drainage. Seems to work fine for water changes and I can always mess up the balconey and clean it up with a hose.

Does any one have any expereince with setting up a tank at the balcony? Here are some discussion points.

Wishlist

3 x 2.5 x 2(h) tank

SPS dominated (I hope)

Refugium for algae (Nutrients exportation) Perhaps some proper design, I can make use of natural sunlight to grow algae.

1. Natural sunlight effect on corals and temp.

- Nuisance algae?

- Higher capacity chiller?

- Different specturm of light compared to electrical lighting? Effect on corals?

2. Loading on the balcony?

Any other concerns?

Please share.

Thanks

JL

[JL27AY]

Hi JL,

I searched high & low for saltwater aquarium in balcony and couldnt find much too, went ahead and setup one but its still pretty new (4 months).

Posted some photos of my 40g long in balcony setup over at the "Marine Aquarium Plants & Algae" section.

The water temp can register as high as 31 degreeC thought, and the things im keeping are quite ok with it. I don't keep any coral so less of the challenge with keeping water temp low.

Hope it helps

Your right bro,

I went searching around the forum and reef central and couldnt get much also.

However stumble upon some outdoor reef ponds and massive tanks but the climate abit different from singapore thus would be great if there is any reefer in sgreefclub who can share your experiences if you have a tank at the balcony with direct/indirect sunlight.

CKS,

I understand yours is a 'planted' tank, could I check compared to an indoor tank do you get more algae on the glass etc?

I would think if i maintain a low nutrient setup there should be manageable algae growth but for yours you would need the nutrients so that your marco algae will grow so its abut different.

[CKS]

haha yes, also found those gigantic outdoor tank in reefcentral.

Compared to indoor tank which i used to do, yes the macroalgae and undesirable algae does grow much faster especially when the balcony is west facing with at least 2 hours of direct sun everyday.

The cycling phrase was the worse, half of the sediment and the most of the main-tank wall were covered with hair algae, and then followed by lots of diatom or dark brown stuff under the sandbed. I should have documented the cycling stages but didnt

But after i've introduced the macroalgae and start more serious skimming, the hairalgae in the main-tank were gone, they still manage to grow in the sump very slowly since it gets more direct sun light, but thats ok since it act as an 'ATS'
And i'm not exactly running low nutrient tank, PO4 registers 0ppm after cycle and NO3 still hovers from 20-40ppm. Top-up water usually register TDS of 0-5ppm.

I do believe if you have the nutrient under control it wouldnt be so much of a problem, the heat is more challenging aka "expensive" to manage in balcony setup.

Your right bro,

I went searching around the forum and reef central and couldnt get much also.

However stumble upon some outdoor reef ponds and massive tanks but the climate abit different from singapore thus would be great if there is any reefer in sgreefclub who can share your experiences if you have a tank at the balcony with direct/indirect sunlight.

CKS,

I understand yours is a 'planted' tank, could I check compared to an indoor tank do you get more algae on the glass etc?

I would think if i maintain a low nutrient setup there should be manageable algae growth but for yours you would need the nutrients so that your marco algae will grow so its abut different.

[edmund_23]

My frenz did keep his reef tank in the balcony. 3.5x2x2. Direct sun in the morning. It seem ok with algae problem.. Just that the water temp can hit as high as 32degree.. He not running chiller but looking into 1 as he going for sps..

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[Seafront]

Chiller workload will be more?

[Seafront]

Please post pic if you setup already bro :-)

[Seafront]

Hope you have sucess in that :-)