I Love Coral
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The real question is... How Much?
Addiction wins, 450 gallon system begins
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I am not to concerned with the torque. Mine will only have to push about 8-10 feet horizontally so i should be good. I am more concerned with noise level, reliability and overall performance with the skimmer. I went with the gen-x purely by what it said on the web site. I forgot to ask Andy about the pumps when I talked with him the other day.
Possible deal breaker
Possible deal breaker
Ok so things in the tank are going really well and the coraline is starting to take off and color up the rock! Everything else is going pretty well......
BUT
The humidity in the house is killing me! It only bounces between 45-60% and I try to vent the house as much as possible. I have less surface water than last year when I was running a 125, a 110, two 55s and a 7 gallon. Two of these tanks were discus tanks kept around 82 degrees. Last year the humidity in the house was about the same (according to the humidistat), but seemed more manageable. This year with only 2 tanks, the water is sheeting off the windows and causing problems with mildew.
When I planed this whole thing I didn't think that there was going to be nearly the amount of problems with humidity. I have 1200 CFH over the top of the tank venting outside and the same in the wetroom. I'm not in the position to buy, nor willing as we will most likely be selling the house in 2-3 years, to install a heat exchange unit. With the cost of gas, I'm reluctant to up the amount of air I'm throwing outside...
And I may have my dream job open in January, causing WAY less time at home for a full blown reef tank.
I dunno what to do, I may wind up scrapping the whole tank and having a single 125 gallon FOWLR in the house. And I was in such a good mood this morning
Possible deal breaker
Ok so things in the tank are going really well and the coraline is starting to take off and color up the rock! Everything else is going pretty well......BUT
The humidity in the house is killing me! It only bounces between 45-60% and I try to vent the house as much as possible. I have less surface water than last year when I was running a 125, a 110, two 55s and a 7 gallon. Two of these tanks were discus tanks kept around 82 degrees. Last year the humidity in the house was about the same (according to the humidistat), but seemed more manageable. This year with only 2 tanks, the water is sheeting off the windows and causing problems with mildew.
When I planed this whole thing I didn't think that there was going to be nearly the amount of problems with humidity. I have 1200 CFH over the top of the tank venting outside and the same in the wetroom. I'm not in the position to buy, nor willing as we will most likely be selling the house in 2-3 years, to install a heat exchange unit. With the cost of gas, I'm reluctant to up the amount of air I'm throwing outside...
And I may have my dream job open in January, causing WAY less time at home for a full blown reef tank.
I dunno what to do, I may wind up scrapping the whole tank and having a single 125 gallon FOWLR in the house. And I was in such a good mood this morning
In theory, not everything is air-tight above the tank yet, as the woodwork is not really finished... But with the amount of air traveling above the tank, I can't see how I'm getting this much into the air of the house. Especially with the wetroom. I don't know, I'm going to give it some more effort tomorrow trying to tune things. I would really hate to get rid of everything, but the health of my kids is pretty important and right now I can drop another ton of $ into this thing.
jnarowe
New member
after all that work man, that hurts. My wetroom is sealed off from the house, is yours? Even the door is an exterior door with weather stripping. There is virtually no way for the moisture to travel into the house, which is a major reason why I went with in-wall. I know there were design considerations in the way you set up your system, but maybe you could alter the in-room part with resin sealed plywood sides and top, at least until you figure out how to proceed.
Mold really isn't so foreign to us but when we see it, we tend to panic. I reality, there is mold all over the place, and all over our bodies in some form or another. My wife freaked when she saw all the dead mice in the wall I took down, but really our homes are full of all kinds of organisms. Don't let it kill your system!!
Mold really isn't so foreign to us but when we see it, we tend to panic. I reality, there is mold all over the place, and all over our bodies in some form or another. My wife freaked when she saw all the dead mice in the wall I took down, but really our homes are full of all kinds of organisms. Don't let it kill your system!!
Yeah the wetroom is sealed off, it gets humid in there at night, but during the day it's ok, when the fan is running. No real concern there.
I was doing OK with the humidity up until today. I noticed that the wood in the windowsill where the tank is located, was rotting a bit. It was wet and pretty nasty looking. The rest of the house is just getting water on the windows and when you open the doors at night, steam rolls out. Also when I come home late at night my glasses fog over when I come in the house. There is also a little odor to the house now and I'm self conscious over it. Bought a ton of potpourri for when people came over for Thanksgiving. It's not a stench odor, by a slight musty one...
I don't want to just give up, I'm just thinking that with what I might have coming up right around the corner, I may not have the time to get things fixed right... And would be playing some serious catch up
We sat down and discussed tonight whether the tank should stay and we work around it, tear it down but keep everything or tear it down and sell everything. As I mentioned in 2-3 years we will most likely be selling our house and either building or buying another one. One of the key points of another house would be someplace more adaptive to a large tank (although now I don't see the tank as being that large any more
)
I was doing OK with the humidity up until today. I noticed that the wood in the windowsill where the tank is located, was rotting a bit. It was wet and pretty nasty looking. The rest of the house is just getting water on the windows and when you open the doors at night, steam rolls out. Also when I come home late at night my glasses fog over when I come in the house. There is also a little odor to the house now and I'm self conscious over it. Bought a ton of potpourri for when people came over for Thanksgiving. It's not a stench odor, by a slight musty one...
I don't want to just give up, I'm just thinking that with what I might have coming up right around the corner, I may not have the time to get things fixed right... And would be playing some serious catch up
We sat down and discussed tonight whether the tank should stay and we work around it, tear it down but keep everything or tear it down and sell everything. As I mentioned in 2-3 years we will most likely be selling our house and either building or buying another one. One of the key points of another house would be someplace more adaptive to a large tank (although now I don't see the tank as being that large any more
)
jnarowe
New member
It's not a large tank, just a small house!
Anyway, there are ways you can get around it. One thought is to just run it as a FOWLR until you move. That will give you virtually no evaporation in comparisson and still let you enjoy the tank. When you move you could build it into the house better, and add reef inhabitants. That's what I would do.
Replace the rotting wood with something that won't rot, or with a coating to retard rot. With it operating as a FOWLR you will also spend less on electricity for lamps and pumps. Could be a win-win since keeping the rock alive in the FOWLR will ensure a great reef when you move.
And when you do, look for a house like mine: 4,100 sq. ft. 5 bedrooms, 4 baths, 1 kid, and a 1,300 sq ft. bottom floor divided into 2 rooms that are 3/4 and 1/4 of the space, on a cement slab. It's the perfect place for a monster tank and includes a utility sink in the tank room. Sweet Mamma...I just had to do it.
Anyway, there are ways you can get around it. One thought is to just run it as a FOWLR until you move. That will give you virtually no evaporation in comparisson and still let you enjoy the tank. When you move you could build it into the house better, and add reef inhabitants. That's what I would do.
Replace the rotting wood with something that won't rot, or with a coating to retard rot. With it operating as a FOWLR you will also spend less on electricity for lamps and pumps. Could be a win-win since keeping the rock alive in the FOWLR will ensure a great reef when you move.
And when you do, look for a house like mine: 4,100 sq. ft. 5 bedrooms, 4 baths, 1 kid, and a 1,300 sq ft. bottom floor divided into 2 rooms that are 3/4 and 1/4 of the space, on a cement slab. It's the perfect place for a monster tank and includes a utility sink in the tank room. Sweet Mamma...I just had to do it.
In our old house we had terrible moisture problems just from the heating. Hot air inside and cold air outside in winter caused terrible condensation. I designed the new house with air cycling in mind and each room has a small air filter which cycles air. Not alot but every bit helps. When the new 340 is up and running with the 450g system water and 400w metal hallides lamps I guess I'll know but the fishroom I created should help alot. It's not 100% airtight due to the door and access doors above the tank but what little humidity escapes should be taken care of by the air filters.
jnarowe
New member
good point. I am not even having access doors on the viewing side. There was so little room that it did not seem practical. I will have to lay down on top of the tank to arrange things anyway. try putting weather stripping on the door. It will help a lot! My tank room door is one of those steel ones. It's prone to rusting but I can take care of that.
I went ahead and listed the entire system for sale in the selling forums I'll still try to fix what's going on, but if the whole system sells, it might be for the best. I really wasn't planning on having this job change happen, but if it does, it would be an absolute dream come true... And unfortunately it would require mucho more time working!
I'll still try to fix what's going on, but if the whole system sells, it might be for the best. I really wasn't planning on having this job change happen, but if it does, it would be an absolute dream come true... And unfortunately it would require mucho more time working!
melev
Well-known member
You just started this line of thinking today and already have it up for sale? This smacks of panic, rather than clear thinking. I have to imagine your posted here to get some feedback and possible solutions. It has been a while since I saw images of your tank and setup, so I'll have to scroll back a few pages to see what you are dealing with specifically.
Remember, the weather patterns change daily, and sometimes you'll see huge effects while other days it will seem quite normal and not be an issue.
Remember, the weather patterns change daily, and sometimes you'll see huge effects while other days it will seem quite normal and not be an issue.
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