Getting ideas together - Fish room humidity control.

[Doubledown]

In my basement remodel I will be building a 6x16 foot fish room That will house about 400 gallons or so of water. Before the remodel, this amount of water (plus a little more) was just set up in the open basement with a dehumidifier running 3 hours on/3 hours of 24/7. The dehumidifier worked fine in the open space, but I need suggestions as to what to do with this new closed space.

I believe an air exchanger unit would be best, but that is just not in the budget. I was thinking bathroom fans would be sufficient and cheap enough to replace once per year, but will it work? Also, do I need one fan blowing out and one blowing in to equalize pressure so as to not create a larger problem such as negative pressure in my house (leading to more moisture pulled through window/door seams and every other opening in the old house)?

Any HVAC guys out there with a suggestion?

How about anyone else with a fish room or that much water in an enclosed space?

Thanks
Chris

 

[md fishes]

Tagging along.

 

[mm949]

good circulation is the key....vent air from fishroom outside and draw air from the main room....if u can keep tank temps same as room that will help....i used to run dehumifiers but they create alot of heat

 

[Doubledown]

So venting moist air out of small fish room and into main basement room that has a dehumidifier in it (something that I will keep running in the main room regardless will help?

Or are you saying to vent the moist air outside?

What about bringing fresh air back into the house to prevent negative pressure in the house?

 

[ostrow]

Do you have or can you run air ductwork in there? If you have a return vent to your blower, and have the fan on 24/7, you should be fine unless your system is more than about 400gal total. I'm assuming you have forced air heat and central air. If not, then ignore this post.

For detailed questions, email RC userid capncapo -- he's the guru here on these issues!

 

[Whaledriver]

If you want to do it with simple fans have 2 of them. One blowing in the other blowing out. This should balance the pressure. It will get expensive in the winter if you dont get a air to air heat exchanger. Along with this you should have a dehumidifier for the time the humidity goes out of control. Another option is a window a/c unit for the summer to keep it separated from the house system.

Just a few thoughts, hope it helps for what its worth.

 

[svb57]

Chris

You have seen my set up and I put a vent fan blowing outside and it has not kept up with the humidity in the room. It was the size of a medium bath room fan..but made for idustrial use.

What I have had to do is to put a box fan in the window to help. As you know I have about 750g so a smaller fan might work. Just wanted to let you know what I did and it needs improvement.

Jim Mc

 

[RobTop]

4 or 6" duct work with a couple muffin fains will rock things out. Put openings where you want (above tanks) and have the out put either hit a basement window or cut a hole like a dryer vent. I had this in my old fishroom and I hardly ran the dehu.
I have the pasrts, just haven't made the time to do it, currently I have 2 80 pint dehus running 24/7...ouch.

 

[ostrow]

I am reviving here years later.

I have a question: if I put an exhaust fan in the basement room, how do I make up the air? I can't figure out what folks here did. There has to be a second hole in the wall to bring air in, right? But, isn't it awful in both summer (hot humid air coming in) and winter (very cold air)? And, how far apart do you have the two vents if you have two?

If only a vent for the exhaust fan, isn't that dangerous?

 

[Aqua Man 07]

you can get a heated fresh air bathroom fan ive been looking at them myself.

 

[Aqua Man 07]

there are also a lot of hydroponic setups for it as well.

 

[ostrow]

you can get a heated fresh air bathroom fan ive been looking at them myself.

Huh?

 

[Aqua Man 07]

a vent fan for your bathroom that heats air as it pulls it in and also draws air out i cant remember where i found them but there is such a thing. it wasnt cheap.