when is ventilation necessary?

[Charfish]

Hi all...longtime visitor, infrequent poster. Just built a new house and finally get in-wall display tank and fish-room behind. I have seen horror stories of how badly houses can be affected by the moisture/humidity/etc.

How big does a tank need to be before being concerned about side effects? I'm planning roughly a 210 gallon DT with a 90 gallon sump, a 55 QT, and eventually several more smaller tanks. Will I require ventilation to the outside? Does the room need to be sealed off from surrounding house? I am currently at the clean-slate stage so I can do about anything at this point. Thanks in advance.

 

[thegrun]

You are getting close to the absolutely must have venation size. If putting in a small exhaust fan is not difficult at this time I would definitely put one in. You are going to be in the 3 gallon a day range for evaporation, unless your fish utility room is large, mold is a real possibility. If you do see any signs of mold (it usually starts at the ceiling corners) the fan will be a must. Paint the room with a good quality semi-gloss paint. A one part bleach two parts water mix will kill mold if caught early, but if you see any you have a long term battle in front of you.

 

[Charfish]

thanks thegrun... I am thinking of running ventilation via plastic-covered spiral, much like a bigger size dryer hose. Thought the plastic would put up a better fight against a moist, salty environment. Is there a vent fan that's better than others for this application or am I over-thinking this?

 

[Charfish]

Also- am building room into middle of soon-to-be-finished basement...was planning to make room tight and hopefully moisture-containing to allow ventilation to do its work and keep moisture from escaping to surrounding structure. Is a tight room doable or would it still be a wasted effort? (there would still be fresh air coming in)

 

[Saltydrip]

If your building I sealed it hot humid room you need a vent fan. I wish I had a vent in my bedroom with my 55. One day after being away for a long weekend I got home to the smell of mold in my bedroom. I have stone walls so the cool exterior walls had condensation behind my headboard and almost the entire wall back there was covered with mold. I cleaned it... it came back and made me extreemly sick. i got mold toxisity poisoning so now a have a hypersensativity to mold. I now have the bed pulled away from the wall.a bit and a fan under my bed on a timer to come on after I leave for work and stay on until just befor I get home. No condensation anymore with the moving air.

Any bathroom vent fan should do the trick dont settle for a cheepy though because it will see some seriouse hours. I would put it on a timer to come on for a few hours off and on threwout the day and night. It won't take much. Plus keep just a regular fan going do you can keep air moving in the room any that will prevent stail air or dead air just like in our tanks. Another key for combating mold is just having the room well lit. Mold hates light.

 

[brubakron]

I would put ventilation into your plan since you have a clean slate to start. I am going to be remodeling our basement soon, and going to seal off the fish room with ventilation. I have heard of furnaces rusting due to improper venting, and with a new hvac system am not going to take any chances.

 

[gbru316]

I would advise against attempting to seal the fish room. You'd be better off allowing outside (outside of the fish room) air to enter the room, replacing the moist air leaving it.

Sealing the room up will reduce the effectiveness of the ventilation fan.


OT, Ron, I believe we share a last name.

 

[tkeracer619]

It really depends on where you live as to the route you need to take.

Sealing off the room can be a good thing but it can also cause problems.

Either way you need ventilation.

A ceiling mount air exchanger is IME the way to go. It costs a lot more then a fan but they sure are nice since it can run continuously removing moist air without loosing so much heat. If you just use an exhaust fan to suck air out you can also cause problems with moisture in the walls.

Like I said it depends what your high and low outside temps are as well as humidity.

 

[mcgyvr]

treat it just like a bathroom. A simple ventilation fan sized for something like 8 air changes per hour (ACH)
They even have "humidity" sensing ones that turn on when needed.

 

[sirreal63]

A mini-split system is probably the best way to go. We use one in our office, it is very energy efficient, quiet and works amazingly well. There are several brands, ours is a Mitsubishi Mr. Slim.

 

[Charfish]

thanks everyone... I think I want to seal the room tight, cover whole room in 6 mil plastic, cement board the walls and tile it. I want to vent horizontally to evacuate the air with air replenishment coming from a vent in the fishroom from the surrounding basement.
If the fishroom is vented out it should create a negative pressure that will draw air in from the vent to the surrounding basement. I will glue some fiberglass/plastic 4x8 sheets to 4x8 treated plywood and use them for the ceiling treatment.
That's my plan...tight, vented, and water-resistant. Please, shoot holes in my plan or let me know if I'm getting it planned out judiciously...

 

[Charley Diesing]

thanks everyone... I think I want to seal the room tight, cover whole room in 6 mil plastic, cement board the walls and tile it. I want to vent horizontally to evacuate the air with air replenishment coming from a vent in the fishroom from the surrounding basement.
If the fishroom is vented out it should create a negative pressure that will draw air in from the vent to the surrounding basement. I will glue some fiberglass/plastic 4x8 sheets to 4x8 treated plywood and use them for the ceiling treatment.
That's my plan...tight, vented, and water-resistant. Please, shoot holes in my plan or let me know if I'm getting it planned out judiciously...

Love the plan. I've been in fishrooms that aren't well vented... And humid hot and gross.

You don't want to be uncomfortable in your fav. room in the house!

 

[Saltydrip]

Why not just dind a quality paint to seal up the room? I'm sure there needs to be a far easyer way than all that extra steps and materials you plan to use. Maybe role on a coat of garodge floor paint, scotch bright it and put a coat of outdoor paint on top.

 

[gbru316]

thanks everyone... I think I want to seal the room tight, cover whole room in 6 mil plastic, cement board the walls and tile it. I want to vent horizontally to evacuate the air with air replenishment coming from a vent in the fishroom from the surrounding basement.
If the fishroom is vented out it should create a negative pressure that will draw air in from the vent to the surrounding basement. I will glue some fiberglass/plastic 4x8 sheets to 4x8 treated plywood and use them for the ceiling treatment.
That's my plan...tight, vented, and water-resistant. Please, shoot holes in my plan or let me know if I'm getting it planned out judiciously...

If it's vented externally, I don't think all the additional sealing is necessary. Negative pressure will still exist.