Fan with humidistat above tank????

Jersey WiseGuy · 02-18-2009, 05:34 PM

First, Hello all. Since this is my first post a little background. I had a 55 saltwater tank while in College about 15 years ago. Didn't know what I was doing, didn't test the water, just listened to the local pet store guy who I now realize also didn't know what he was doing. Loved the tank and all the insane fish I had (before they all died off one by one), but I had things that were totally inappropriate for the size of my tank and the other inhabitants.

Fast forward to now. I've done my reading and when I finished the basement in my house designed an spot for an in wall 125 tank. Found a good fish store with smart employees and bought all top of the line equipment. I have much more modest goal for # of fish and types, and mostly just want the tank to be eye catching and successful. Soft corals nothing too testy and some nice community fish and shrimp, etc.

Now for my current question (of which there will be many more I'm sure). I have everything in my house now and just finished painting the back and sides of the tank - what a pain that was!!! The tank is positioned so that the front can be seen from the main room of the basement (behind the bar) with no access from the front. The room behind the tank is the bathroom which has a door which when opened reveal the back of the tank. I hope that's somewhat clear. The LFS guy suggested that I install a fan which would run off a humidistat (which I could tap into the bathrooms exhast fan duct) to relieve some of the humidity that will be created. He said I could run into a mold issue otherwise and/or rust out any pipes up in the ceiling above the drop ceiling. Sounded like a reasonable suggestion. My electrician thought it might cause a lot more evaporation if I have a fan running all the time and that it might be more trouble than it's worth.

Finally the question - has anyone had issues with humidity from their tank and would you suggest doing the humidistat and fan? It isn't a cheap solution as I estimate the fan and humidistat to run me $250-300 by the time it's installed.

Any opinions would be appreciated.

BigAl07 · 02-18-2009, 05:47 PM

Hello

and welcome to RS!

We're going to REQUIRE lots of pics of your set-up both now and through any previous stages you've got some for.

I have no idea about the "humidistat" but it sounds fairly reasonable.

jjohnson3 · 02-18-2009, 05:52 PM

I would think that the humidistat would control how much you have to top-off you tank. That thing does control humidity, correct? I am by no means tecnologically inclined...lol

Jersey WiseGuy · 02-18-2009, 06:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jjohnson3

I would think that the humidistat would control how much you have to top-off you tank. That thing does control humidity, correct? I am by no means tecnologically inclined...lol

Well it should minimize the humidity in the wall above where the tank will be which actaully should increase the amount I have to top off the tank with. I'm ok with that since I bought an RO/DI unit (or whatever they're called) and an auto top off sensor. I just don't want it to get too out of hand.

jjohnson3 · 02-18-2009, 06:31 PM

Why do you want to minimize humidity? Do you like in a place that has extreme humidity that causes walls and ceilings to bow?

PEMfish · 02-18-2009, 06:33 PM

Humidistat is flawed idea. You would position it above the tank, right ( yes, that is were most the evaporation will occur ). You will place the fans it controls above the tank, right? ( Yes, that is where the humidity will be at so you want the air movement there). So you have fans blowing room air on the controller. Soon as the fans kick on the humidistat will read a low humidity and shut off the fans.
Yes, having fans over an open surface of water will greatly increase evaporation.

The only way to counteract those to problems is to us exhaust fans. Suck air out from above the tank and vent it to the outside.

Jersey WiseGuy · 02-18-2009, 07:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PEMfish

Humidistat is flawed idea. You would position it above the tank, right ( yes, that is were most the evaporation will occur ). You will place the fans it controls above the tank, right? ( Yes, that is where the humidity will be at so you want the air movement there). So you have fans blowing room air on the controller. Soon as the fans kick on the humidistat will read a low humidity and shut off the fans.
Yes, having fans over an open surface of water will greatly increase evaporation.

The only way to counteract those to problems is to us exhaust fans. Suck air out from above the tank and vent it to the outside.

Sorry if I was unclear - I'm talking about an exhaust fan with a humidistat attached to it. So the exhaust fan would kick on when a certain humidity is reached.

Jersey WiseGuy · 02-18-2009, 07:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jjohnson3

Why do you want to minimize humidity? Do you like in a place that has extreme humidity that causes walls and ceilings to bow?

Humidity and a confined space can = mold. Not good. The LFS guy told me a story about his uncles gun collection rusting because it was in the basement with the fish tank. I'm not worried about the rust issue too much, but with little kids, I'm not interested in playing around with a mold issue either.

PEMfish · 02-18-2009, 11:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jjohnson3

Why do you want to minimize humidity? Do you like in a place that has extreme humidity that causes walls and ceilings to bow?

I think there is a typo here.

mps9506 · 02-19-2009, 12:34 AM

You have a few options, without seeing a picture of the setup I'm kinda guessing to how exactly your setup is. Sounds like the entire top portion is closed off when the trap door is closed?
My suggestion would be to have a few simple fans in the door that would cut on when your lights turn on. I'm not sure what the best setup would be but maybe two intake fans and two exhaust fans.
You could also have a temp controller turn fans on when your water temp hits a certain temperature. A simple Raanco controller hooked up to some 120 volt fans would be simple to wire up.
Either setup would be much easier than using an exhaust fan tapped into your bathrooms exhaust duct, and assuming you leave your bathroom door open most of the time, other than when using the bathroom I owuld assume the airflow would be sufficient....

Jersey WiseGuy · 02-19-2009, 01:17 PM

I'll see if I can post a photo or two a little later so it's easier to understande the setup.

r2d2 · 02-19-2009, 06:00 PM

Your bathroom is closed with no ventilation at all? In that case maybe you want that humidistat and exhaust fan.
It also depends on your place normal relative humidity. I think if that is around 40% to 60% you should not have any problems. But, if your RH% is around 70% or 80% (near beach for example) you may experience a huge humidity inside that bathroom.
Maybe you just need to connect the exhaust fan to your bathrooms light, much easier and cheap.
Greetings

mps9506 · 03-06-2009, 09:03 AM

You might want to look into this. I don't know much about it...
https://diyreef.authsecure.com/shop/...roducts_id=735

matt210g · 11-03-2009, 04:52 PM

I am not sure if this issue was resolved..however I would like to add my comments as the topic can be very serious if overlooked.

I had a 210G with a 75G sump in a new home that we had moved into 2 years ago. The tank had been up and running from January 2009 until a couple of weeks ago without any problem. However with the cooling weather and the AC being turned off within 1 week I noticed huge mold growth all down a finished wall that was behind the tank. As the home is new and very "air tight" with the AC removing the humidity the house began to sweat !! Mold grew and the end result is the whole tank had to be dismantled fast !!!! I then had to scrub the whole arae down with a chemical mold killer. Cut into the walls pull up the carpet. Fortunately I caught it early enough that the mold was only on the surface. The results could of been far more serious !

So as it relates. The inclusion of an exhasut fan that vents outside, and a dehumidifier that is connected to a drain is a VERY wise investment. I am now in the process of building a room behingd the in wall tank that will be sealed from the rest of the house. All mechanical fixtures have been relocated so as to avoid any rust. The walls and ceiling have been insulated with NP styrofoam and will be sheetrocked with waterproof drywall and then painted with an oil based paint. A local window in the room has become an exterior vent and two Panasonic bathroom fans installed into the room with a humidistat. A 50pint dehumidifier will be left on auto connected to the floor drain eliminating the need to empty.

Please do not overlook the need for ventilation, the results can be tragic !!!

02-18-2009, 05:34 PM	#1 (permalink)
Jersey WiseGuy Tunicate Join Date: Feb 2009 Posts: 5 View Gallery Karma Komment	Fan with humidistat above tank???? First, Hello all. Since this is my first post a little background. I had a 55 saltwater tank while in College about 15 years ago. Didn't know what I was doing, didn't test the water, just listened to the local pet store guy who I now realize also didn't know what he was doing. Loved the tank and all the insane fish I had (before they all died off one by one), but I had things that were totally inappropriate for the size of my tank and the other inhabitants. Fast forward to now. I've done my reading and when I finished the basement in my house designed an spot for an in wall 125 tank. Found a good fish store with smart employees and bought all top of the line equipment. I have much more modest goal for # of fish and types, and mostly just want the tank to be eye catching and successful. Soft corals nothing too testy and some nice community fish and shrimp, etc. Now for my current question (of which there will be many more I'm sure). I have everything in my house now and just finished painting the back and sides of the tank - what a pain that was!!! The tank is positioned so that the front can be seen from the main room of the basement (behind the bar) with no access from the front. The room behind the tank is the bathroom which has a door which when opened reveal the back of the tank. I hope that's somewhat clear. The LFS guy suggested that I install a fan which would run off a humidistat (which I could tap into the bathrooms exhast fan duct) to relieve some of the humidity that will be created. He said I could run into a mold issue otherwise and/or rust out any pipes up in the ceiling above the drop ceiling. Sounded like a reasonable suggestion. My electrician thought it might cause a lot more evaporation if I have a fan running all the time and that it might be more trouble than it's worth. Finally the question - has anyone had issues with humidity from their tank and would you suggest doing the humidistat and fan? It isn't a cheap solution as I estimate the fan and humidistat to run me $250-300 by the time it's installed. Any opinions would be appreciated.

02-18-2009, 05:47 PM	#2 (permalink)
BigAl07 Do I look as lost as I am Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Waynesville, North Carolina Posts: 21,551 View Gallery Karma Komment Add yours!	Re: Fan with humidistat above tank???? Hello and welcome to RS! We're going to REQUIRE lots of pics of your set-up both now and through any previous stages you've got some for. I have no idea about the "humidistat" but it sounds fairly reasonable. __________________ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~ *Live Rock Rubble will do the SAME thing as Bio-Balls and is NOT a suitable replacement for BIO-BALLS in a Reef System! It's ALL gotta go!!* Nitrate (NO3) reduction is directly proportional to percentage of Water Change. Allen's home-made formula...currentNO3-((%WC.01)currentNO3)=finalNO3 (thanks Luukosian) This means if you change 50% of your total water volume (That's EVERYTHING) you'll get a net reduction of (NO3) somewhere around 50%. Ask me about how to increase your REEF budget without going without FOOD!!* Big Al's 10g Julie's (BigAl's Gal) 6g NanoCube Gone but not forgotten BigAl's Slow 90g Tank Chronicle Allens OFFICE 12g Nano-Reef

02-18-2009, 05:52 PM	#3 (permalink)
jjohnson3 Elegance coral Join Date: May 2008 Location: Alabama Posts: 1,056 View Gallery Karma Komment	Re: Fan with humidistat above tank???? I would think that the humidistat would control how much you have to top-off you tank. That thing does control humidity, correct? I am by no means tecnologically inclined...lol __________________ >Jason< reefing........it's an addiction........ Here is how the tank is stocked(this will change) FISH 2-Occelaris Clownfish(mated) 1-Royal Gramma CORAL Pagoda Cup, Open Brain, and 12 awesome LPS frags from PEA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

02-18-2009, 06:31 PM	#5 (permalink)
jjohnson3 Elegance coral Join Date: May 2008 Location: Alabama Posts: 1,056 View Gallery Karma Komment	Re: Fan with humidistat above tank???? Why do you want to minimize humidity? Do you like in a place that has extreme humidity that causes walls and ceilings to bow? __________________ >Jason< reefing........it's an addiction........ Here is how the tank is stocked(this will change) FISH 2-Occelaris Clownfish(mated) 1-Royal Gramma CORAL Pagoda Cup, Open Brain, and 12 awesome LPS frags from PEA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

02-18-2009, 06:33 PM	#6 (permalink)
PEMfish Manta Ray Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Kane Co. Il. Posts: 3,048 View Gallery Karma Komment Add yours!	Re: Fan with humidistat above tank???? Humidistat is flawed idea. You would position it above the tank, right ( yes, that is were most the evaporation will occur ). You will place the fans it controls above the tank, right? ( Yes, that is where the humidity will be at so you want the air movement there). So you have fans blowing room air on the controller. Soon as the fans kick on the humidistat will read a low humidity and shut off the fans. Yes, having fans over an open surface of water will greatly increase evaporation. The only way to counteract those to problems is to us exhaust fans. Suck air out from above the tank and vent it to the outside. __________________ Paul `EM My new 48" reef chronicle; http://www.reefsanctuary.com/forums/...chronicle.html My new planted; http://www.reefsanctuary.com/forums/...-planted.html# Make it idiot-proof and someone will make a better idiot. I'll make the whole damn world jealous if given the money to do so. Don't make mistakes and learn from them, read and learn how to avoid mistakes. a)Fix the damn problem b)live with it -But absolutely no b*tching

02-19-2009, 12:34 AM	#10 (permalink)
mps9506 Totally back Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Wilmington, NC Posts: 8,525 View Gallery Karma Komment	Re: Fan with humidistat above tank???? You have a few options, without seeing a picture of the setup I'm kinda guessing to how exactly your setup is. Sounds like the entire top portion is closed off when the trap door is closed? My suggestion would be to have a few simple fans in the door that would cut on when your lights turn on. I'm not sure what the best setup would be but maybe two intake fans and two exhaust fans. You could also have a temp controller turn fans on when your water temp hits a certain temperature. A simple Raanco controller hooked up to some 120 volt fans would be simple to wire up. Either setup would be much easier than using an exhaust fan tapped into your bathrooms exhaust duct, and assuming you leave your bathroom door open most of the time, other than when using the bathroom I owuld assume the airflow would be sufficient.... __________________ Mike Reefkeeping Since '99 Help Build Reefpedia Premium Memberships Available! Support Reef Sanctuary Sponsors

02-19-2009, 01:17 PM	#11 (permalink)
Jersey WiseGuy Tunicate Join Date: Feb 2009 Posts: 5 View Gallery Karma Komment	Re: Fan with humidistat above tank???? I'll see if I can post a photo or two a little later so it's easier to understande the setup.

02-19-2009, 06:00 PM	#12 (permalink)
r2d2 Sea Pen Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Monterrey, MX. Posts: 334 View Gallery Karma Komment	Re: Fan with humidistat above tank???? Your bathroom is closed with no ventilation at all? In that case maybe you want that humidistat and exhaust fan. It also depends on your place normal relative humidity. I think if that is around 40% to 60% you should not have any problems. But, if your RH% is around 70% or 80% (near beach for example) you may experience a huge humidity inside that bathroom. Maybe you just need to connect the exhaust fan to your bathrooms light, much easier and cheap. Greetings

03-06-2009, 09:03 AM	#13 (permalink)
mps9506 Totally back Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Wilmington, NC Posts: 8,525 View Gallery Karma Komment	Re: Fan with humidistat above tank???? You might want to look into this. I don't know much about it... https://diyreef.authsecure.com/shop/...roducts_id=735 __________________ Mike Reefkeeping Since '99 Help Build Reefpedia Premium Memberships Available! Support Reef Sanctuary Sponsors

11-03-2009, 04:52 PM	#14 (permalink)
matt210g Tunicate Join Date: Nov 2009 Posts: 1 View Gallery Karma Komment	Re: Fan with humidistat above tank???? I am not sure if this issue was resolved..however I would like to add my comments as the topic can be very serious if overlooked. I had a 210G with a 75G sump in a new home that we had moved into 2 years ago. The tank had been up and running from January 2009 until a couple of weeks ago without any problem. However with the cooling weather and the AC being turned off within 1 week I noticed huge mold growth all down a finished wall that was behind the tank. As the home is new and very "air tight" with the AC removing the humidity the house began to sweat !! Mold grew and the end result is the whole tank had to be dismantled fast !!!! I then had to scrub the whole arae down with a chemical mold killer. Cut into the walls pull up the carpet. Fortunately I caught it early enough that the mold was only on the surface. The results could of been far more serious ! So as it relates. The inclusion of an exhasut fan that vents outside, and a dehumidifier that is connected to a drain is a VERY wise investment. I am now in the process of building a room behingd the in wall tank that will be sealed from the rest of the house. All mechanical fixtures have been relocated so as to avoid any rust. The walls and ceiling have been insulated with NP styrofoam and will be sheetrocked with waterproof drywall and then painted with an oil based paint. A local window in the room has become an exterior vent and two Panasonic bathroom fans installed into the room with a humidistat. A 50pint dehumidifier will be left on auto connected to the floor drain eliminating the need to empty. Please do not overlook the need for ventilation, the results can be tragic !!!

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