Venting an in-wall enclosure - most efficient means?

C

ChrisOzment

Premium Member
I need to start a build thread for my 435 but until then....

My 8ft tank will be built into a corner of a room and plumbed to the basement where the sumps and such are now.

I am going to have 3x400w and VHO supplementals over the display.

There will be an ac return inside the inwall setup at the bottom.

I want to pull the hot air in the top of the enclosure out of the house. My plan is to get a dryer vent kit to go through the wall and external brick.

My question is will a normal bathroom (fart) fan be enough to vent the space? I was planning on either syncing the fan with the photo period or to my AC3 by temp so in the winter it will remain off for the most part.

I have read several threads about huge fans pulling air out of basements and such but my needs are a bit different.

Any comments / thoughts would be appreaciated.
 
Venting

Venting

Refer to a thread a started in this forum titled keeping large tanks and rooms cool. It is a page or two from the beginning. This has been something I have been dealing with for almost a year. Each season seems to bring a slightly different challenge and as I have found out I am not the only one who has dealt with these challenges. I think you will find the thread informative. Unfortunately to some degree you may be able to plan for this issue, but until your tank is up and running you may need to do more or maybe less.
 
I have a bathroom vent fan on a humidistat above my tank. I quickly rewired the thing to not turn off ever. Then I added a second hole in the wall and added a large fan that also blows air out while the lights are on. I just couldn't keep the tank cool with all that hot air up there. Mine is around 480 gals.

Good luck!
 
I run a pair of 100 cfm bathroom vents above my display tank. No need for a humidistat...they run 24/7. :)

If you go with bathroom vents look for the ones that are 1.0 sone (quiet).

Good luck with your project...

LL
 
Do those of you that use bathroom vent fans over your tanks have any concerns over problems with negative pressure in your house? I read on RC once about having these fans running all the time could create problems in a home, as you are constantly pulling air out, but not replacing it. If I understand the whole negative pressure thing correctly (which I may not), the air that is getting pulled out by the fans needs to be replaced by fresh air from outside, so when the house is closed up, in the summer with the air conditioning on, or in the winter when the heat is on, the very small cracks around windows and doors will allow air to seep into the house to balance the air being pulled out. If I remember correctly, the concern was that if humid moist air was being pulled in through these small cracks, it could lead to mold problems inside the walls of a house.

I don't have any experience with this, and I am planning on putting in a bathroom fan above my tank........just wondering if anyone has heard of this or can give some input. Is it an over exaggerated concern?
 
Last edited:
Well, I'm in Colorado. Not much in the way of humid or moist, ever. In fact, my heating guy was trying to figure out a way to grab the tank humidity and use it for the rest of the house, but he gave up on the idea because there were just too many unknowns for him (he's not an aquarium guy).
 
At the great suggestion of Dave B, in my in-wall system, I vent the enclosure using a fan system by a company called Active Thermal management. They design venting systems for home entertainment component systems, but it works well for aquarium enclosures venting outside. Its website is http://www.activethermal.com/System_1.htm I use the "System 1 EXT" that costs approx $430. I also have the Speed Control switch for $60, but don't think it is needed. I keep it at about 85-90% speed, but would have been fine with simply on-off. I run it 24/7. It is silent - so silent, it is hard to know whether it is on or not, but pulls air really well. One reason it is so silent is that with the EXT - external system, the already silent fan is mounted outside your wall. They also have an internal located enclosure. Worth it on a highend install.
 
Fantech makes alot of models that might fit your needs.
Pb 190 is the unit I went with right above my tank and I have no humidity issues what so ever. Plus everything has lexan coverc over everything to keep evappration to a minimum.
 
Great responses, thanks guys. I think a fantech unit connected to my aquacontroller would be a great way to go. That way I can have it run constantly while the MH's are on and then once every hour for 5 mins or so during the rest of the time. Should help control heat and humidity without running 24x7.
 
I use a panasonic inline on a 4 inch dryer duct.... for my 300 with similar lighting. This is the only means of venting the headspace above my tank. It is adequate... and nice and quiet... but... if I did it again I would probably go with a 6 inch duct setup.

I had wired mine to be controlled , but, I currently run it 24/7... which keeps my lights and glass nice and dry with no humidity or "sweat".

I also use a larger inline fan to ventillate my chiller in the basement via a plenum that I built.

I used dampers to allow me to ventillate exculsively with outside air, mixed air, or inside air only... and also to allow me to "keep" the hot humid air from the tank in the bitter cold of winter. These you can get at Menards.

It all vents through my drafty old unfinished basement.

TankVent.jpg
 
tikireefer said:
Do those of you that use bathroom vent fans over your tanks have any concerns over problems with negative pressure in your house? I read on RC once about having these fans running all the time could create problems in a home, as you are constantly pulling air out, but not replacing it. If I understand the whole negative pressure thing correctly (which I may not), the air that is getting pulled out by the fans needs to be replaced by fresh air from outside, so when the house is closed up, in the summer with the air conditioning on, or in the winter when the heat is on, the very small cracks around windows and doors will allow air to seep into the house to balance the air being pulled out. If I remember correctly, the concern was that if humid moist air was being pulled in through these small cracks, it could lead to mold problems inside the walls of a house.

I don't have any experience with this, and I am planning on putting in a bathroom fan above my tank........just wondering if anyone has heard of this or can give some input. Is it an over exaggerated concern?
Click to expand...

It might create a problem for some newer homes, but I doubt that my 25+ year old house is that airtight... On cool days, I can open a door in the fish room with a screened storm door to allow fresh air to enter...

LL
 
what I did was installed a a bathroom fan in the floor joist and have it come on so many times per day I also have a straight line of freh air coming in so the negitve air wouldnt be a problem. it works for me. my house was built in 54 ,however i have had it refaced and its pretty air tight so it works for me.
 
Both of my Exhaust fans quite working within 8 months in my fish room...Make sure if you use them to not turn them off, I think that was their downfall....I had them off for a couple weeks, since I put an AC unit in the room. Went to use them the other day and neither of them work now.. I guess the humidity fried them???
 
I just purchased a 140cfm fan for my 475g build & I hope it's enough. I was told a 140 cfm fan will turn a 12ft x 12ft room over in a hour so my 14ft x 3ft room that my tank sits in should be turned over in less then 30 min..... so I figured that should be good. I am going to add a humidistat to allow that to turn the fan on/off
 
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