Car Exhaust bad for tank water?

[Fmellish]

I am planning on setting up a 150 gallon reef tank. The wall is shared with the garage so this presents an opportunity to place all of the equipment in the garage.

However the garage is where we park our cars and it fills up with nasty smelling fumes for 30 minutes or so after just pulling in.

Would it be bad to have an open sump in a frequently used garage?

Also, what is the minimum size sump I should use for a 150-180 gallon aquarium?


Thanks

[Darroll]

With an open sump there will be some pollutents getting into any open space. Not sure if it will be enough to worry about. If you could enclose the sump I'd think that would be enough protection.

[ILikeFish]

Car exhaust is pretty nasty stuff anyways. Do you wanna gamble on the inhabitants on a 150-180gal. One bad chemical could wipe you out.

[WaterKeeper]

Wow that is a tough question. Of course the main concern is the carbon monoxide in the car exhaust. CO is soluble in water and has been reported to have a lethal dose level of 1.2 mg/l for FW fish. That would be a good reason in itself to avoid exposing the tank to car exhaust gasses. If that isn't enough an automobile engine puts out even larger amounts of carbon dioxide. This would cause all sorts of problem in maintaining pH. If you could provide positive pressure ventilation to the equipment bay location in the garage it should be fine. If not, then avoid placing it there.

[merlock116]

i think your biggest problem would be the skimmer intake injecting the CO into the water directly. You could just run your skimmer air input from outdoors. i doubt much CO would settle into the water via other modes of transport.

[Fmellish]

Thanks a lot guys, you have given me things to think about. I could just declare that no one in the family is to park cars in the garage anymore. But I don't know if that's a viable option.

Also, what risk are mice to the equipment area? I live on a hill and am surrounded by vermin. They ate their way into my above ground spa, and they eat everything in the garage, including the weather seal under the garage door and my dry foods in the garage.

What is the ill effects of a mouse falling into the sump and drowning? Or a mouse eating through a power cord or flex tubing?

Has anyone ever used their garage for their aquarium equipment? I wonder what their experiences were.

Thanks