Humidity. Why do reefers not talk about this?

[PirateLove]

Why do we not hear anything about humidity from saltwater aquariums? I live in Virginia, close to D.C. and have a 15 gallon tank and a 30 gallon tank in a single room. My whole house is comfortable but when you walk into that one room it feels like the carpet is cold/damp (no i do not have a leak of any kind). I have bought a commercial dehumidifier for the room. Only having a total of 45 gallons in the room, I can not imagine what someone with a 75 or 150 is going through. What do you guys do? Is it living in different parts of the US? Do you just not notice it? Any advice or feedback would be appreciated!!

 

[Sk8r]

Frigidaire dehumidifier, not too pricey, re things in our hobby, and even in Spokane, spring and fall rains can really up the humidty. I have a basement sump and a basement library, not to mention fabric storage. Got it from Amazon.

 

[shiftline]

I don't worry about it with my 30g. Although I'll be doing a bigger tank ends summer and it will be rimless. So I'm curious to tag along

 

[ThRoewer]

Too high humidity isn't really a big issue here in California, rather the opposite, especially during the summer.

 

[ca1ore]

I think if you do a search, you will find that there are a number of threads on humidity issues. In most cases, typical house A/C systems will eliminate the problem, though many of us also run a dehimidifier in basement sump rooms for the humid months at least.

 

[theMatrix]

I got a thread started and solved at the end of it.

70pint dehumid going. Empty every 5 days. The best part about it is, that room was an addition to the house the hvac system doesn't quite keep the room warm in the winter (Chicago negative degree torture) and since addint the dehumidifier. The room is much warmer as i was told the transfer of water in the air converts to heat.
BuT a cover on the aquarium helps drastically to almost no humidity

 

[iClown2]

Do you close the room door or something?

 

[Spar]

i just use an exhaust fan in my fish room that sucks it out. i haven't had any issues. Dallas has sort-of high humidity most of the year at least.

 

[Pastey]

Being from Louisiana, I have to ask - What is this humidity from fish tanks you speak of?

 

[Greybeard]

Had a friend with an online coral business running it out of his basement... several large, shallow, well lit (Metal Halide) tanks, in the basement of a typical wood framed home with open joists.

He rented a store front when the floors started to buckle.

Showing my age a bit here, but didn't 'Mr. 5000' have to tear his system down because the humidity was destroying his home?

It's not that we're adverse to talking about it, but that it's a well understood issue, with well known and effective methods of control. A good dehumidifier and proper ventilation, unless you're 'going huge', it's not a problem.

 

[stingeragent]

Never notice it but humidity in austin texas is usually close to 100 percent anyway

 

[davocean]

Too high humidity isn't really a big issue here in California, rather the opposite, especially during the summer.

Yep

 

[tzylak]

Yes, So Cal is relatively dry.
Regardless, during the summer I keep my windows open. Consider airing out the house often.
In the 'colder' season when the heater is on I used to run air humidifiers; now I have the aquarium to moisten the air. . . . Consider it an asset not a burden .

 

[Pickupman66]

Here in TN we have quite humid air most of the year. I have a 66 gallon open top system in my living room and have never had issues with the humidity over the year we have had it. Prior to this it was a 180 in the den. the house is a very open floor plan.

that said I had the sump for the 180 in the garage and you could tell a huge difference in the humidity and warmth it added to my insulated garage.

 

[sbash]

When I first set up my sump/fuge in the basement (of an older house), there were carpet tiles in the room and minimal air flow. After a couple months, I noticed the drywall near the carpet was wet. I had to pull it all out, I threw out the carpet and replaced most of the drywall. Definitely get a dehumidifier!!!

 

[m0nkie]

I installed a room AC just for this problem.. have over 300gal of water in my study room. Gets so humid in Cali summer

 

[Luke Schnabel]

My 120 is in my basment with a dehumidifier running at 60%... Where I live it's always humid so I can't tell.

 

[Shawn O]

Here in eastern Ma. we call high humidity Spring, Summer and Fall. My living room gets pretty muggy in the summer and the AC usually removes the extra heat and humidity.