Putting your tank in a COLD environment

[xXTheWendigoXx]

Out of sheer necessity I'm considering downgrading to a twenty or thirty gallon tank until I get into a district full time and we get a house. I just can't take care of my tank properly when it's at another persons house (especially a person who's to lazy to ever check on it when I'm not around) and the only way I'm going to convince my parents to let me have a tank at the house is to knock off about 70 or so gallons.
Problem is, at the moment, the only place my mom will let me even consider having the tank is in their sun room, which is far from climate controlled (and is pretty chilly at the moment.) I have a spare 20g tank, filter, and heater. I only have a pair of clownfish at the moment so I can consolidate down to my favorite corals, some good rock, and sell the rest, then jam the tank/lights/sump/etc. in storage for a year. Has anyone had any experience trying to keep their tank in an environment like this? Will the heater be able to keep up? Equally important, will the stress on the heater cause it to just burn out and then fry my tank/let my tank freeze?
My biggest concern is if the house were to lose power over the winter, especially at night. If the power goes out and I don't know about it the tank would be a done deal (as opposed to when I was awake and could fire up the generator quick).
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Now I will briefly rant about how I was passed up twice for full time jobs by OSU grads who only have a Bachelors Degree and how I should have a house right now and not have to deal with these problems at all. *ONCE AGAIN... INSERT BAD WORDS*

[lazylivin]

I think they have alarms that notify you if there is a power loss by an audible alarm. If it does get really cold in the room say below freezing you would probably need a good size heater. You could do two of them in case one fails.
Or better yet get a temp probe that connects to a alarm in the event the water gets to cold it would set off audible alert. You could connect it to a UPS (backup battery) May get pricey though.

[Revaltion131]

That situation does stink and I agree with Lazylivin.  It could definitly get pretty tough.  Do you have a lower power (250 or less) MH that you could maybe use on the tank?  The 250w on my 34 keeps the temp at 86 during the day without the chiller on.  Using that instead of a cooler light could maybe help.  I'm also sorry to say that I keep picturing a 30 gallon icecube complete with fish and corals. 

[rayk]

My 120 is in a 68 degree basement, and I have a number of heaters working full-time while the lights are out just trying to maintain 75 degrees.  Granted, I have about 50 gallons of water in a large, exposed rubbermaid sump, but still.  If you have good air/water exchange, which if I'm not mistaken you need, it will be very difficult to keep that warm.  Maybe if the heater is oversized tremendously, but even then, I'd have to think the temp swings would be strange.  Not to mention, the steam/humidity that might come off that tank with the degree differential.   

On the other hand, like I always tell my kids, you only fail if you don't try.  (However, the life of animals are rarely in jeopardy in what they attempt).  Maybe with the lights as folks discussed it will be okay. 

- Rayk 

[rayk]

Doh.... I just figured out another change in my tank that affects temperature.  The new 100 gallon rubbermaid sump uses an external pump.  I had 2 mag drives in-sump pumps before, 1 for return and the other for the skimmer.  These produced some heat as well.  So, it was just the sump design change that affected my temp.....  no wonder I might need another heater.... ugh.

Is there any chance you will have a sump with this small tank, with a potential heat-producing in sump pump?

- Rayk

[xXTheWendigoXx]

Negative, just a hob filter with maybe a nano skimmer. Fixture would be a 75w clip on halide.
I suppose since none of equipment I want to use is critical to the life of the current tank, I could just set it up for a few days and see the results. Either modest success or an ice cube (sans fish thankfully).
I've often thought that an audible alarm would be a great idea for this hobby so I'm really happy they exist. Anyone know where to find them?