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Post by ryansweatt2004 on Dec 15, 2014 18:50:26 GMT -5
So I've got 125 gallons of open water, drafty windows and battling condensation everywhere. Enough to where we are getting mold/milldue on the wood window frames. It's a massive pain in the but to keep on top of. It's puzzling because we moved from a smaller apartment where we had a bigger tank and never had humidity issues. Now with a smaller tank and more living space, our humidity meters reading 66%-71% humidity. I dread having to purchase and run a dehumidifier. Anyone else having humidity issues in your homes with big open top reef tanks?
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Post by scoobnoob on Dec 15, 2014 20:13:10 GMT -5
I run 2 dehumidifiers and empty them daily one in the fish room another in the basement.
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Post by maineultraclassic on Dec 15, 2014 20:54:47 GMT -5
Those damn dehumidifiers use a ton of electricity, they are basically an air condition that puts the heat into the room.
If you are getting that much humidity, you might want to get some kind of fan system to pull the humid air out of the fish room and exhaust it to the outside.
I'm going to mount a bathroom fan over my sump and exhaust it to the outside, the room in my basement where it is get's pretty humid in the summer.
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Post by Syntax on Dec 15, 2014 21:12:35 GMT -5
I've got an open top 125 and I have noticed a little more condensation on the windows in the morning but not so much that it concerns me.
Maybe try some damp rid, it could be just enough to take the edge off.
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Post by Rigor on Dec 15, 2014 22:02:53 GMT -5
My 120 with 45 gallon refugium, along with a 70 gallon up and running is only producing 40% humidity. Your top off system must be running on high.
This time of year, with single pane windows you will get frost on your glass. The mold may have been there before. Clean the wood trim with a mild bleach and water solution.
Try running a box fan on low in the room to disperse the humid air. Re-position your meter away from water sources to the middle of the room. If that does not change your numbers than you need to figure out what is going on. Damp Rid is a cheaper route, but with numbers like that, a dehumidifier may be in order. The high humidity readings may be the first sign for health issues. Black mold will kill you.
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Post by ryansweatt2004 on Dec 15, 2014 22:56:41 GMT -5
Well I'm doing a little test. Shut off my auto top off, marked the water level on my sump with a permanent marker and wrote down the time. I'm gonna check it periodically through the day to see how much water my rank looses. Luckily my tank is a bit low on salinity so this will be a beneficial test. Along with this I'm in the process of re caulking every single drafty window as well.
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Post by jasonandsarah on Dec 16, 2014 6:43:52 GMT -5
I loose a good amount of water everyday (5g every 3 days) in a 75g with about a 30g sump. But my humidity is only 40% in the house.
What kind of heat do you have? Have you winterized your windows?
Sent from my SM-N910R4 using proboards
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Post by gotareef on Dec 16, 2014 8:37:14 GMT -5
my guess is your older house was just that an older house.... new places they try to make air tight to save on heating and ac but this always causes mold. my place has wood/vinyl windows, I have to bleach them weekly....
last year we had to have servpro come remove all the insulation in my attic and spray the whole place with chemicals to prevent and kill black mold...
with my 180g I lost almost 2g a day! the new system is covered so I added a wet dry filter to get oxygen back in the water
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stephen
Full Member
"Slow is Pro"
Posts: 292
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Post by stephen on Dec 16, 2014 8:58:02 GMT -5
I have a bunch of aquariums and use a combination of a few things. I do not have a problem with water and everyone knows I have more aquariums than the average bear.
There is the hole argument about having lids or open water aquarium. I made sure that my lights would provide enough light every with the lids. Also u could move the sump to the basement or put a partial lid on the sump, that will make a huge difference. I know you have a cool basement but u could insulation your sump. Obviously the skimmer is not covered so it provides good O2 for the aquarium. I installed a fan in the cold part of my basement to draw air off the bottom 1" of the floor to suck the cold air out and we have a problem with radon too. We only run the fan for about 4hours a day. I put a wood stove in so that helps dry the air, heat the aquariums and when we lose power it is a second source of heat.
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Post by ryansweatt2004 on Dec 16, 2014 9:25:28 GMT -5
So 12 hrs later, I've lost just over 1 inch of water from the 18x7 compartment of my sump where water is allowd to fluctuate. After using an online rectangular volume calculator It calculates that my tank looses about 1/2 gallon over a 12hr period. So roughly 1 full gallon everyday out of approximately 140 total system gallons is being evaporated.
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Post by moulton712 on Dec 16, 2014 10:59:45 GMT -5
Sounds right Ryan, I loose a little over a gal a day, it does fluctuate with how dry the air is. It's good to have some moist air in the winter.
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Post by jasonandsarah on Dec 16, 2014 11:05:25 GMT -5
So 12 hrs later, I've lost just over 1 inch of water from the 18x7 compartment of my sump where water is allowd to fluctuate. After using an online rectangular volume calculator It calculates that my tank looses about 1/2 gallon over a 12hr period. So roughly 1 full gallon everyday out of approximately 140 total system gallons is being evaporated. That's not bad considering I loose over a gallon in a 85g total water volume system per day. Maybe your getting added moisture from another source besides the tank? Sent from my SM-N910R4 using proboards |
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Post by ryansweatt2004 on Dec 16, 2014 11:33:08 GMT -5
Well that figure is based solely on the overnight 12 hour evaporation period so far. The last few hours the same amount of water has evaporated again but the furnace has been running as well so Ithat looks like I'll have a better figure after 24hours.
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Post by jasonandsarah on Dec 16, 2014 12:05:45 GMT -5
I only asked if you put plastic on the windows because I have leaky windows and when it starts to get cold I get a lot of condensation from the cold air hitting the warm air inside.
Putting plastic on the windows solves this problem for me.
Sent from my SM-N910R4 using proboards
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Post by ryansweatt2004 on Dec 16, 2014 12:27:17 GMT -5
Yea I'm caulking all the window pains and putting removable rope caulking around all the gaps for now. Once I get a ladder I'll be putting plastic on the windows I can get to.
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