Exaust fan recomendations and lighting ?

[Angela Short]

I am building a 270 in wall and was needing some leads on an exhaust fan. It will be piped to the outside but do you just get a bathroom fan that runs 24/7? That seems a little overkill to me so what are folks doing for humidity and heat control in the big in wall deals? It is viewable from 2 sides so I have the space above the tank to work with. I am also planning 4 250 watt MH's so heat is also an issue.

I would love some sort of fan that would run very low for humidity control all the time and ramp up only when the lights are on. Do they make something like that?? Should I do 2 fans 1 small one running 24/7 and the other on a timer in sinc with the halides??


This is a pic of where the tank is going to go FWIW.... The sump and all the other goodies are going to be under the stairs shown on the left in the second pic. I had the HVAC guys drop in a regular heat and air vent in the closet under the stairs to move air around but should I also have a bathroom style exaust vent to control moisture? I am planning on doing all my water changes (Had a drain and water supply installed), new water mixing, sump, skimmer, uv all that wet stuff under there.

Also where do the ballasts sit in a in wall deal? Mine are electric so heat is not a big issue I guess. I can sit them under the tank and fish the wires up through the open wall cavity on the ends of the tank but is there a better way of doing it?

Basically I will have lots of questions for you in wall guys since this is my first tank I have set up like this and I want to do it right the first time. Thanks for any advise!!

 

[Angela Short]

And while I am at it any good ideas on how to make a very easily accessible canopy for this thing? The actual tank is going to be 7' long 24" wide and 31" tall with the overflows on either end recessed back in the walls so the viewing area is totally unobstructed. The exact same tank size I have now but my overflows are in the wrong spot to work in this set up so YES... I have a nice 270 for sell if anyone is in TN looking .

We are planning on setting the tank and then building the canopy and walls in around it. I was just thinking 3 nice good size doors that swing up? The carpenters didn't get the stand like I specified but a little rearranging of the studs so I can have some false panels added to access the bottom of the tank and doubling up the corner bracing I think it will work. I am not planning on anything under there really anyways except the ballasts.

So, like I said, I have never done a project like this and I am open to all the advise anyone can offer. Truthfully I have very little time to look through posts and research to see what I am doing right or wrong so if I am setting this up wrong feel free to chime in. Thanks!!

 

[tbone28]

I love the location of your tank! Have they really been building your house since 2004?

 

[Angela Short]

Oh no, I have been into reefin since 04' and have a current 270 on a stand now :lol:. The new house broke ground 7 weeks ago and its 100% done on the exterior and only lacks insulation, sheet rock and all the slower stuff on the inside. We have had good weather in Tn and lots of unbuisy tradesmen with the depressed housing market so they were wanting to get paid so the house flew up!

This is a pic of my current set up 2 years ago...

The weird wood panel is what a 24 tall tank would have looked like in the last pic. My dad made the stand/canopy for a 24 tall and I changed the tank to a 31 tall last min after he had already made the sides to make the top and bottom look connected. I just had that up there to show someone ordering a 24 tall the difference a 31 looks against a 24 tall.

 

[Nanook]

I have an exhaust fan controlled by a humidistat to keep the humidity under a certain level.

 

[Angela Short]

I saw those bath fans and was wondering if they run all the time since its pretty humid above a tank. The ones I was looking at were pretty high (nutone) any reasonably priced ones that are not loud?
Also what about just heat control, let the humistat turn on the fan when needed while the lights are off but run the fan the entire light cycle?

Thanks!

 

[Nanook]

This is what I have:

http://www.rewci.com/panfv15vq3.html

Hooked up to the first humidistat here:

http://www.greenair.com/humidistat.htm

The fan is very quiet and efficient compared to most on the market...since I bought this one a couple years ago, they might have made improved models as far as noise goes.

 

[nickjj]

I just received this fan off of ebay for $170. You can adjust the humidity level threshold and the run time duration. Basically it is automatic built in unit. Once the humidity threshold you set is reached in the room it will run the fan for the duration set by the runtime control then turn off. Th cycle will continue until the humidity drops in the room.

Here are the controls for humidity threshold and run time duration. The sensor is built into the grill and plugs into the unit.

 

[FishTruck]

I am using a panasonic one sone 140 cfm remote fan that pulls air out of my canopy via a 4 inch duct. Right now, I run it 24/7. It is totally silent. My tank is upstairs, the fans and vents are in the basement.

Without it running, since my canopy is otherwise sealed, water droplets accumulate on everything over-night.

During the day... the hood temp goes up to about 95 degrees with four, 400, MH lamps going. I am planning to add a second fan to run only when the lights are on. I would like to keep the hood temp around 80 to 85 degrees.

I also have plans to vent the tank with outisde air to try to take advantage of natures endless supply of cold air here in chicago. Maybe, next season. Right now venting through the cold drafty basement works fine.

http://www.plumbersurplus.com/Prod/...an-for-Single-or-Multiple-Inlets/8126/Cat/631

 

[Angela Short]

Thanks for the info and your links guys! I was looking at those NuTones on line.

 

[AgentSPS]

For ventilation I would recommend the Fantech duct fans:

<img src=http://www.lumenarclighting.com/prodimages/fantechfr.jpg>

http://www.lumenarclighting.com/proddetail.asp?prod=FR100

I use one and they run wisper quet and are very powerful. They are expensive but you get what you pay for. They are very well built.

 

[tedu]

What reflectors are you going to use ?
I'm doing a very similar build (270 in-wall, 72x36x24). My plan is to use the Lumenarcs with the vent option.
Supply the reflector with cool air and extract the hot air directly from the reflector to outside.

 

[AgentSPS]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12203360#post12203360 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by tedu
What reflectors are you going to use ?
I'm doing a very similar build (270 in-wall, 72x36x24). My plan is to use the Lumenarcs with the vent option.
Supply the reflector with cool air and extract the hot air directly from the reflector to outside.

Dont waste your money on the vent option. In theory it sounded good when I purchased in practicality they didn't work well. Problem is all the air comes out between the gaps between the glass and the frame. You need to seal that gap which makes it very difficult to remove the glass for cleaning.

 

[tedu]

Don't want to hijack the thread, do you have a build thread or gallery showing how you implemented the venting ?

 

[Angela Short]

Hijack away I like seeing how others have done things.

I really would like to get the LCD light deal but they are so expensive. For now I am planning on just taking my existing 4 250 halides with spider reflectors over to the new tank. I am having the tank built with 4 openings for the 4 bulbs like my current tank.

 

[ozkrogh]

Revisiting an old thread I had bookmarked because of the ventilation links/suggestions. To ask tedu's question again... has the venting been implemented for this tank? If so, I'd also like to see some pics.

Thanks!

 

[sdfish]

Nice tank pics

Here is how i did my ventelation for my tank, just an idea. its A 230 CFM fan and vented out threw my roof.

the small basket in the middle is the vent

 

[spazz]

the best ventilation for humidity control is an air exchanger. ther more expensive than a standard exaust fan but it will benifit you 2 fold over an exaust fan. most houses are so air tight that you cant bring in much fresh air if your exausting alot of air. the house ends up under a vacuum. so when you open the door it opens fast like there is a puff of air behind it. an air exchanger brings in air at the same rate as it is exausting the air. it also controls the tempature of the incomming air and brings it up or down to the same tempature as the room air is. that way your not blowing hot air out in the winter and cold air out in the summer. it will save yo money in the end. it also filters the incomming air so you dont get alot of dust and particles in your house.

 

[sdfish]

i like that system better then mine haha were do you find those at spazz?

 

[jakano]

I am also in need of some humidity control and would like to find some solution, tagging along here.