The heater of a tropical aquarium is probably one of the necessities that have the highest energy consumption (unless you are packing some impressive light system), by simply insulating a tank you can save a few buck in the long run. It all ads up especially when keeping several tanks. Another positive side is that as the tank will retain the heat longer you will have more time to sort out a malfunctioning heater.
What you need: suitable amount of styrofoam or another insulating material, a carpet knife, a measuring tape, silicone and paint (optional)
Sheet of Styrofoam:
If you want a background (painted or not) on the outside of the tank now is the time to apply it. I choose to paint the back and sides of the tank before attaching the styrofoam. Make sure to leave a square free from paint around each piece of glass for the silicone, see the masking tape in the picture below:
Cut out the pieces of insulating material that you need and attach them to the rear (and sides) of the tank using silicone:
Detail of the silicone binder (a rough job i know:)):
The next step i optional. I decided to paint the styrofoam just to make it look less intrusive:
My tank is not a display tank but If your tank is a centerpiece it is worth to hide the insulation for instance in a rack or by lining it with wood panels.
Finally, it's never a bad idea to use styrofoam below the tank as well for a minimun heat loss:
That's all, a quick easy and cheap solution.
Melander
Hi was checking out the page as i'm planning to do same to my tank in the shed I't has frogs in it and dont want the temp to kill them and break the glass. Will putting it on the sides, bottom and back be enough. to reduce cold?
ReplyDeleteHi Cathal,
ReplyDeleteI’m afraid that I can’t answer this question, there are just too many variables involved such as glass thickness and more importantly the difference between the tank temperature and the temperature of the room as well as how low the temperature gets in the shed.
The tank in my example is kept at 27-28C and is located inside in room temperature so the difference is just about 10C. I have seen Styrofoam used as insulation for tanks in sheds before and it did work in that case. You might need thicker insulation and it could also be an idea to minimize the heat loss from the top of the tank, for instance use an insulated hood. If your shed is reached very cold temperatures and there’s a risk of the glass breaking I would think about moving the tank inside over the winter.
Sorry I could not help out more and good luck!
Andreas