What to do about the humidity?

[t11t5]

I have a 150g open top tank. there are 3- 400w MH lights above it. My windows in the house have about 1/2" thick and 4" up the window of ice on them. It melts and runs onto the wooden window sill. It is starting to mold in some places. I have cleaned and cleaned it off. If its not ice on the window the windows are all fogged up. Is there any tricks to stop this?

 

[msman825]

ceiling fans

 

[samtheman]

Are they double pane windows? It is winter time and it is hard to have excess moisture in your home at this time of year. And you state its all over your home, not just in the room with the tank. Did they fog up before?

 

[nyvp]

try a 100cfm inline fan to vent it directly outside.

 

[samtheman]

Wait a minute, something seems wrong here. Many homeowners that live in cold weather, have humidifiers that they use in the winter to keep the humidity about 30%. This keeps the framing and hardwood floors from drying out over the heating season. Its also more comfortable and you don't get shocked or have your sheet rock nails pop. I have two April Air humidifiers. They hook to my RTO system for water. I am adding about 9 gallon per day per unit. Thats alot more than evaporation form a 150 gal tank. Why don't I have a moisture problem? By the way I have a 120 gal upstairs as well.
Does the problem extend throughout the home? How old is the home. Many newer homes have vapor barriers and may retain moisture more than others.

 

[WingnutSr]

It is a matter of having the proper ventilation in the house. I have seen many homes in the cold climates (I used to live in N. Mich.) have issues with sweating because of being too tightly sealed and not enough proper air exchages (ventilation). The problem is NOT the aquarium.
nyvp has a good recommendation as he posted above. An exhaust fan running 24-7 would help alot.
Also, in addition to that, having a make-up air supply duct installed to the duct work of the home would help force more fresh air to be brought in and help to remove the stale, humid air from the home.

 

[rayjay]

The problem is much more prevalent now as newer homes in cold climates have more stringent regulations for insulating them.
In Canada here, most new homes built have Heat Recovery Ventilators installed in order to bring in fresh outdoor air and push out stale humid indoor air, but recovering much of the heat from the outgoing air in the process.
An exhaust vent fan defeats the purpose of new insulation standards as you have to heat up the incoming replacement air.
After about 10 years of reefing, I had to replace all my windows and doors because of rot from having so many tanks in my basement.
Along with replacing the windows and doors, I resided as well and the problem got REALLY bad then.
I installed an HRV and now I can have my humidity down as low as 30%.

 

[izzie]

HRV and try a dehumidifier near the tank. If you already have an HRV get it checked its probably not working properly.

 

[t11t5]

My first problem is the mobile home I live in. It does have double pane windows but the moisture is so bad that I had to open the first window to keep the ice off the wooden window sill. The home is a 2004 model. Every window has ice on the inside.