Large Tank IN a Basement-Ventilation Suggestoin Please oh brethern of the mamoth tank

[griss]

Skippy,

I actually directed Capncapo to this thread after a discussion we were having this AM. He's done this to Nanook's returns and according to Nanook, it is working like a charm. Capncapo has also done it to another local reefers and it is working there as well. He's coming over to my house this weekend to help with mine.

Capncapo told me that it is best to cut a hole in the return duct as high up as possible. If you already have return vents in your basement, it may not help. In Nanook's case (and mine too) our basements have return ducts, but they do not have vents in the basement. By cutting a vent into it, we are now pulling air from the basement where no air was pulled before. The air then passes over the condenser in the AC unit. This allows the moisture to condense and be removed by your AC.

 

[griss]

griss - is your canopy open or closed?

My aim is to have the canopy closed and relatively air tight along with the fishroom so that I can "separate" the rest of the basement from the fishroom and the tank.

Does anyone do this? I'm hoping it should make things easier to control.

John, right now my basement is not finished. Just a few walls away from the tank are up. So, no hood, no walls around the tank. In this pic, you can see there is no canopy or any type of enclosure around the system as it is today. Note: The date on the picture is incorrect.

 

[griss]

Latest picture I have is from November (date on the camera is wrong):rolleye1: and I'm not a good photographer. You can see, still no hood or canopy here.

 

[skippyreef]

Griss,

What I meant by returns is heat registers to heat and cool the basement not actual intakes LOL. I am going to call a friend who is a HVAC guy here and discuss getting this done this weekend.

 

[skippyreef]

I just went down to look and the large black intake (flex hose that feeds the cold air intake manifold (dont know if right word) comes in through the proposed fish room. Would I want to open up and vent in that or just go into the sheet metal and run a 6 inch diameter feed into the manifold from the fish room / tank area?

Also would it be wise to do a run from the opposite end of the basement as well or is one feed into the return enough?

 

[capncapo]

Will doing it this way take care of any humidity I would have? I also have a vent on the side of the furnace from the unit itself that blow out cool air from the furnace or warm air when it is on and this is not closeable. It is not a standard floor or wall ven it is skinnier than those and a tad longer. Will this interefer with things?

Taking care of humidity is the whole reason for doing this.

Your vent will not interfere with this. What it will do is "mix up" the air in that particular room and should keep temperatures and humidity levels relatively even throughout that room.

 

[capncapo]

I just went down to look and the large black intake (flex hose that feeds the cold air intake manifold (dont know if right word) comes in through the proposed fish room. Would I want to open up and vent in that or just go into the sheet metal and run a 6 inch diameter feed into the manifold from the fish room / tank area?

Also would it be wise to do a run from the opposite end of the basement as well or is one feed into the return enough?

You want to open the sheet metal ( provided that it is, in fact, part of the cold air return ). Don't touch the cold air intake.

I don't think that it will be necesssary to put a second register at the other end of the house but if that end should remain humid for some reason, a second register couldn't hurt. After all, if you don't like what it does when you add it, just close it. No harm done.

Something that I have told my "guinea pigs" is that you will be doing nothing that will hurt anything or can not be reversed so feel free to "experiment" if the mood strikes you.

 

[skippyreef]

Well I do appreciate this advice. I called several places in my area about installing an HRV unit and the price was a consistant 1400-1600 dollars for a unit.

I did see one on a website for 459.00 today. I guess If I can do this and its simple then simple is good!

And I also believe the actual volume will be closer to 350 and I only have another 50 gallon tank up stairs so I will likely not have the humidity difficulties like people with more water than I have

 

[Whaledriver]

I am still looking for a varible speed fan controler to operate a 350-450 cfm fan. I am planning to run air into and out of the tank hoods with ductwork that is connected to the outside. I could at a later point add a air to air exchanger to use the heat in the winter.

Most setups for multiple tanks are simple to set up but to operate the automaticly and efficiently is a problem. The HVAC industry is the place to look but you need to be an expert to find the right electronics. I can find controllers to monitor heat and humidity but they dont change speed, they just go on and off. I want to find one that will also control a variable speed fan that increases speed as the temperature rises. The best option so far is to get a 3 speed fan or multiple fans that go on at differant temperatures.

 

[ReeferMac]

Could you hook up an aquacontroller? I'll betcha the dimable X10 modules would work?

- Mac

 

[skippyreef]

I ordered a 290 CFM fan for the room. I also am looking into a split A/C unit as a possibility. My buddy will install it for very little.

A freind here is coming over and we will install the fan to a 6 inch duct to the outside. We are sealing the room off from the rest of the basement. But we are placing dampered vents near the bottom of the wall that lead into the fishroom. When the fan kicks on to exhaust the humid air it will draw in colder dry air from the basement and the makeup air will replenish the air moved into the room.

I am also cutting a vent hole into the cold air return line to draw in air from the basement to pull out humidity in the winter and summer.

I will not have 4K or even 2K like Mr 4000 or Aquariumobsessed but I dont want a moldly basement and house either!

 

[capncapo]

Skippy,

Make sure that your furnace room is not sealed off from the rest of the basement otherwise your make-up air will not be coming from that room. If it is, you will need to add a vent to the furnace room to allow the make-up air out of the room.

 

[skippyreef]

I am going to vent it to allow that so I dont get teh negative pressure thing. Then again if the room is sealed the negative pressure will not happen anyway right?

 

[capncapo]

It should not happen with the make-up air coming in from outside and going into the furnace room.

 

[skippyreef]

This is way moer involved than I ever thought it would be LOL but its a learning experience for sure.

 

[Whaledriver]

Could you hook up an aquacontroller? I'll betcha the dimable X10 modules would work?

- Mac

I will look into that next week. I have never used a controller. Could it change the fan speed based on teperature?

 

[ReeferMac]

I will look into that next week. I have never used a controller. Could it change the fan speed based on teperature?

That one I'm not sure on. I know people that use the dimmable X10's to control moonlights made up of LEDs... If you throw a resistor in there, you can use the AQ and X10 module to simulate phases of the moon. The AQ is programable, you just have to have enough 'steps' in the dimmer module, for the desired effect. In the case of controlling fans, you could have voltage set-points for the fans, based on the temp of the tank? Temp=90, fan/X10 voltage = .... etc.

- Mac

 

[beerman0831]

I also have done this for a few people and they had nothing but positive results.But then again I knew that it would work.Everything that capncapo is saying is true.Nothing that you do will harm anything so just experiment till you get the temp and humidity to where you want them.



Ken

 

[skippyreef]

I am going to get some side cutters and a vent this week and just go for it!@!!

 

[capncapo]

Some right hand and left hand snips would be easier but have at it. You might want to contact griss and see what he says about his humidity level. We worked on his this weekend.

A note for anyone who does this:

Don't expect everything to be better overnight. It takes a while for all of the residual dampness to "leach" out of the floor joists and anything else that is capable of absorbing moisture from the air.

Typically, as long as the A/C is running there will be a noticeable drop in humidity. At night when the A/C doesn't run too much, the air will get humid again from evaporation AND from residual moisture.

After a week or two, the basement has had enough time to dry out significantly and the humidity level remains fairly low overnight.

Also, be careful when cutting the duct work. If you get cut by the tin it will typically bleed like crazy for a short time. Don't know why but it must be something in the galvanizing process that acts like an anti-coagulant. I'm not saying it is a dangerous cut that needs medical attention; it just bleeds a bit and can look like a murder scene.