Large tank guys I need your help! Fish room questions...

[NanoGurl]

Thanks everyone for your ideas and help so far!

I am a bit confused on a few points.

1. AC into the fish room. If you don't want an AC vent in the fishroom, why do you have AC vents near tanks in other parts of the house? Is it because the humidity in the fish room will be much greater? Meaning, if it's okay to have a tank in the family room, why does it not backflow through the AC vents there and rust out the AC? I guess the answer is because it's not concentrated in one room/build up?

2. Is there a certain % of humidity in the room that I need to stay under? For example, would 50% humidity cause no problems, where as 60% would be moldy? Is there a guideline there, or is it different in every situation?

I talked to them today about the vent, and they are supposed to get back to me.

Another question I had is, I am having them install greenboard where the tank will go. the other 3 walls are exposed studs and drywall from the other room. Would I need to seal those from the inside room of the fish room, or can I leave them exposed?

Thanks!

 

[dsandfort]

I was lucky. Outside wall in the fish room. Just cut the hole and Bob's your uncle.

You might consider a small utility box/plenum through which you could run your ducts.

 

[NanoGurl]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10328274#post10328274 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by clamdigr
NanoGurl- I was thinking about the quote you got to install the vent fan and while $1000 sounds like alot of money to me (depending on the quality of the fan) you might want to have a local HVAC contractor that is experienced with indoor pools and spas take a look at it too, they will know what to do. A pool/spa dealer should be able to recommend someone.

BTW..Your 75G looks awesome.

Yes, thank you I was also thinking of that today.. maybe try to find someone that knows how to put an indoor hot tub or something in.. that they would know how to vent. It is a good idea.

Thanks! =) I will miss the 75 when the new tank goes up!

 

[melev]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10328818#post10328818 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by NanoGurl
Thanks everyone for your ideas and help so far!

I am a bit confused on a few points.

1. AC into the fish room. If you don't want an AC vent in the fishroom, why do you have AC vents near tanks in other parts of the house? Is it because the humidity in the fish room will be much greater? Meaning, if it's okay to have a tank in the family room, why does it not backflow through the AC vents there and rust out the AC? I guess the answer is because it's not concentrated in one room/build up?

2. Is there a certain % of humidity in the room that I need to stay under? For example, would 50% humidity cause no problems, where as 60% would be moldy? Is there a guideline there, or is it different in every situation?

I talked to them today about the vent, and they are supposed to get back to me.

Another question I had is, I am having them install greenboard where the tank will go. the other 3 walls are exposed studs and drywall from the other room. Would I need to seal those from the inside room of the fish room, or can I leave them exposed?

Thanks!

#1) Yes, it is all about concentration. The room can be somewhat sealed from the house, but at the same time you'll get a reverse back pressure or reverse venting back throught HVAC into the central system. When my tech comes out twice a year to check it, he's always wiping out a film and telling me how I need UV and Ozone in my central system. Since I won't put it on my tank, there's no way I'm putting it in my a/c system! Heck, don't they give us ozone alerts (on the news) and tell us to stay indoors sometimes? And UV means I need to wear SPF 1000 when I walk past the unit? No thanks.

#2) It comes down to how the room does condensation-wise and what feels comfortable to you. 60% during the day time with the lights on isn't necessarily something to worry about, but at 3am it would be noteworthy and everything in the fishroom will have a layer of moisture on it (think morning dew on the grass, but saltier). Right now at 11pm at night, the fishroom is 64.7% humidity and the temperature is 77.8F

Green board wherever it will be wet. If you want the full room with greenboard, there's nothing wrong with it and it adds very little to the expense. It cuts the same, installs the same, textures the same, and weighs roughly the same.

 

[erics3000]

One other point about closing the wall up on both sides. Not sure In your situation but noise can also be a factor. On the tank wall I am closing both sides to help with noise leaking form the office to my house. Don't know if that is a concern for you nanogirl but just some extra FYI.

I too have got some good info from this post..

 

[kimberfish]

We had to buy a new central ac unit last year and bought one with a thermidistat (humidity controller) built in.. You can set the humidity level to what you want it to be (mine is at 56) and it will pull and drain the water out for you.
I"m in Florida - humidity capital!! It's works GREAT for me - I have a 265g

 

[erics3000]

What kind is it?

 

[NanoGurl]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10330167#post10330167 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by melev
#1) Yes, it is all about concentration. The room can be somewhat sealed from the house, but at the same time you'll get a reverse back pressure or reverse venting back throught HVAC into the central system. When my tech comes out twice a year to check it, he's always wiping out a film and telling me how I need UV and Ozone in my central system. Since I won't put it on my tank, there's no way I'm putting it in my a/c system! Heck, don't they give us ozone alerts (on the news) and tell us to stay indoors sometimes? And UV means I need to wear SPF 1000 when I walk past the unit? No thanks.

#2) It comes down to how the room does condensation-wise and what feels comfortable to you. 60% during the day time with the lights on isn't necessarily something to worry about, but at 3am it would be noteworthy and everything in the fishroom will have a layer of moisture on it (think morning dew on the grass, but saltier). Right now at 11pm at night, the fishroom is 64.7% humidity and the temperature is 77.8F

Green board wherever it will be wet. If you want the full room with greenboard, there's nothing wrong with it and it adds very little to the expense. It cuts the same, installs the same, textures the same, and weighs roughly the same.

Thank you.

Okay, so basically it really comes down to being this simple:

If you see condensation in the fish room, you're going to have mold issues at some point.

If you don't have condensation/moisture, then mold will not be a problem?

I am scared of not seeing anything, then somehow mold growing inside of the walls.

 

[NanoGurl]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10330856#post10330856 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by erics3000
One other point about closing the wall up on both sides. Not sure In your situation but noise can also be a factor. On the tank wall I am closing both sides to help with noise leaking form the office to my house. Don't know if that is a concern for you nanogirl but just some extra FYI.

I too have got some good info from this post..

Thank you. No, it won't be much of an issue for me, but that's a great point to consider!

 

[NanoGurl]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10331566#post10331566 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by kimberfish
We had to buy a new central ac unit last year and bought one with a thermidistat (humidity controller) built in.. You can set the humidity level to what you want it to be (mine is at 56) and it will pull and drain the water out for you.
I"m in Florida - humidity capital!! It's works GREAT for me - I have a 265g

Thanks, that's a great idea and something I thought about. However, I don't want to have to run my AC 24/7 or a lot if not needed. Our house is huge it would be very expensive I would think.

 

[melev]

Since you are running it in a single section of the home (the basement), it won't be too bad. Plus once you've got it at a certain setpoint (78F perhaps) it only has to cool enough to keep it there.

Of course, that won't help at night when it is cool and humidity gets worse. Which is why a vent fan or dehumidifier can help.

 

[NanoGurl]

I was wrong. The one AC unit does the basment and 1st level... the 2nd AC unit does the upstairs room only.

I wonder if that would make a difference?

I think I can install something called a HRV - humidity something. I wonder if that installed running and the vent would be enough?

Any ideas?

 

[sfilingeri]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10335026#post10335026 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by NanoGurl
Thank you.

Okay, so basically it really comes down to being this simple:

If you see condensation in the fish room, you're going to have mold issues at some point.

If you don't have condensation/moisture, then mold will not be a problem?

I am scared of not seeing anything, then somehow mold growing inside of the walls.

Well Nano, if your worried that much read this:

http://www.oregon.gov/DHS/ph/envtox/mold.shtml

Oh and by the way, you can thank me later......lol

 

[NanoGurl]

Thanks

I'm not OVERLY paranoid Well maybe a lil. I just want to make sure I do what's right for this tank is all.

... going to have mold nightmares now....

 

[kimberfish]

it's a carrier unit and with the digital thermometer that it came with you can set the ac/thermidistat by day and hour... so you wouln't have to run it 24/7 like a traditional unit. Like an average setting for mine is warm during the day then at 8:00 it starts cooling off & by 10 its down to 71 then by 7 a.m. its working back up to a high of 76 for when I"m not home.
I want to say we pd around 4800.00 for it and it is 11 seers - our electric bill has stayed the same as when we had our last unit which was 20 years old and very inefficient.

 

[cward]

I would suggest an atmospheric controller to control the exhaust fan. You can get them for about $150. I've had great luck with an inline Panasonic exhaust fan.

 

[erics3000]

I remember reading about these before. This looks like a goos solution that is not too costly. How exactly is yours setup?

 

[NanoGurl]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10342136#post10342136 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by cward
I would suggest an atmospheric controller to control the exhaust fan. You can get them for about $150. I've had great luck with an inline Panasonic exhaust fan.

Thank you! It's really funny, but I was actually talking to my bf's father about this today.. and he suggested the exact same thing! I did a search for fans and found a panasonic one. I will post below.

Do you use anything else to vent/control humidity besides the fans?

 

[NanoGurl]

Okay, I was talking to my bf's father today about this issue, and he suggested we vent the heat/humidity outside via fans and a humidity controller.

So this is what I was thinking.

I found this fan rated at 380CFM which is decent and only uses 112w of power.

http://www.atrendyhome.com/pafvwhce380c.html

I was thinking about installin two of these directly over my fish tank. One on each end and connect it to a heat/humidity sensor to come on and off as needed. The vent would go directly outside.

What do you think? Would this solve my problems and hopefully nothing else would be needed? Except maybe an AC unti to control the heat buildup if the fans would not surfice. I can deal with that. I am more interested in getting rid of the humidity problems.

Thanks!

 

[clamdigr]

I agree with cward, that is the unit I use too (well, mine is an Air1), works very well. My fan is also a Pany, though it is in-ceiling mounted like bath fan, not inline. Make sure the fan you get is rated for continuos duty in case it's on for long periods, most bath fans aren't meant for that. So far I've been OK using just the controller/fan, my tank is in the basement so this makes a difference for tank/room temp. In the winter the door to the fish room is closed and the outside fresh air vent is open, controller does what it needs to. So far this summer the door is open and the outside vent closed, the vents I put in the door are not big enough for it and the vent to be closed. Recently the room temp has been around 78 and the hum. runs between 45% and 55%. There is no moisture build up on any surfaces and no corrosion issues in the room (there are a few things that could rust in there) after 4 years of use. All of the walls are closed in so I can't say for certain what is happening inside them, I do have an access panel in the ceiling that I had out recently, no mold or anything in the floor joist area above the tank and nothing I could feal when I stuck my hand down behind the drywall on the outside (concrete) wall. Hope that all makes sense.