To vent or not to vent?

[Neebles]

I recently moved my 75g tank and set it up in-wall. The business end of the tank is in the utility room of the basement. I have about 7 or so feet of working space before I hit the crawl space, which is another 20 feet before the external wall. I would say the room and crawl space is probably 20x15. As mentioned my tank is 75g, and I have a sump that probably holds 15-20 gallons at any given point. I also have 2 10g tanks I use as TTM qt tanks and 1 20g tank as an observation tank. So about 140 gallons total at any given time, if all tanks are full. I haven't noticed any moisture/humitidy issues yet...no condensation on anything down there. There is no feeling like I'm breathing yogurt like when it's 90% humitidy outside in the summer. It's actually pretty comfortable. Now long term, would it be a good idea to run some sort of ventilation in that room? I could run some fans in the wall to exchange air with the rest of the basement. I'm not too keen on having to mess with trying to go through the foundation to the outside... Would you think in that size room with my water volume it shouldn't be an issue? Should I try and set up some sort of air exchange with the rest of the basement?

Any advice would be appreciated.

 

[karimwassef]

YES. Any area that has large volume of exposed water surface and opportunity for evaporation should be ventilated.

What's your ATO running in terms of water replacement per week? That should answer your question.

 

[Neebles]

My ATO goes through 10 gallons every 10-14 days. That is for the main tank, not the qt tanks. Not sure how much they go through as they are pretty new and not all filled at the same time.

So would it be ok to vent it into the main basement where there are wo does and a a dehumidifier, or does it have to go outside.

I was thinking about running a couple through wall vents to circulate the air, Ine blowing out of the fish room and another on the other side of the wall blowing back in...

 

[karimwassef]

If you vent to another interior region, you're creating a load on your AC or humidifier.

Also, fresh air is very beneficial to a tank. I would force vent out and create an inlet ducted from the outside.

 

[Neebles]

If you vent to another interior region, you're creating a load on your AC or humidifier.

Also, fresh air is very beneficial to a tank. I would force vent out and create an inlet ducted from the outside.

Alright. I don't suppose there is an "easy" way to do this? I'm hesitant on cutting holes in the side of the house. Can anything tie into existing duct work?

 

[karimwassef]

I have a general contractor who knows my house and helps me with any work I'm not qualified to do. I found him on Angie's list.

You need someone who can walk your house and give you practical advice.

 

[Neebles]

I have a general contractor who knows my house and helps me with any work I'm not qualified to do. I found him on Angie's list.

You need someone who can walk your house and give you practical advice.

Fair enough. Thanks for your help! It's much appreciated

 

[zachts]

Is the crawl space vented to the outside? They generally are somewhere to prevent moisture build up under the house. If you can get to the vents you could pretty easily install an exhaust fan in place of one of the vents to increace air exchange.

If you're not noticing humidity build up with that much water volume I'd bet the space is pretty well ventilated already. Or you just have a leaky old house like mine, LOL!

A dehumidifier in the fish room would be effective as well but costs a lot more electricity than an exhaust fan to do the same work and will add a lot of heat to the room which may or may not be a good thing (it's a good thing in my basement since it says cold down there even in the summer).

 

[Neebles]

Is the crawl space vented to the outside? They generally are somewhere to prevent moisture build up under the house. If you can get to the vents you could pretty easily install an exhaust fan in place of one of the vents to increace air exchange.

If you're not noticing humidity build up with that much water volume I'd bet the space is pretty well ventilated already. Or you just have a leaky old house like mine, LOL!

A dehumidifier in the fish room would be effective as well but costs a lot more electricity than an exhaust fan to do the same work and will add a lot of heat to the room which may or may not be a good thing (it's a good thing in my basement since it says cold down there even in the summer).

Thanks for your input! I haven't noticed any crawl space vent, but I'm also not really exploring down there either lol. I spoke to my brother in law who used to build houses and he is going to put in a vent/exhaust fan in there for me. I'll probably have him do some sort of fresh air intake as well...