will I have moisture problems?

[Chad W]

Hi All,
I am just starting to gather some equiptment for a 225gal. tank. I think I will probably have a total sytem water volume of maybe around 250gal. give or take. The tank will be going into a daylight basement w/ dimensions of about 600 square feet. I will run it w/ a open top and a suspended pendant.
I know alot of the members here have systems of this size and many even larger. I was wondering if you all did anything in particular to help w/ avoiding moisture damage to your houses? I've never had a tank this large before and not a whole lot of experience w/ setting up tanks in basements. I'm also wondering if a system set up in a basement would be more prone to moisture problems? Who knows maybe I am worrying for nothing .
Thank you for any help or advice it is greatly appreciated.
Chad

[Pikeman]

FWIW. I have a bit of a unique tank set-up. I have my tank (140g w/glass covers) upstairs and my sumps in a room in the basement (~12 x 24). If I keep the A/C vents to the room open, the humidity/heat is very manageable. However, if the room is isolated from your homes HVAC system, or you couldn't keep a window open, I think you will develop moisture/heat problems. I'm always amazed how much heat is generated by my tank.

Jeff

[Chad W]

Thanks Jeff, that's kind of what I am seeing. When my furnace is running periodically throughout the day the room does not seem so damp feeling. My problem may come in the summer months when my heat does not run much and I don't have AC. I was hoping maybe some had ideas on how I may be able to vent the room or if it is even needed.
Thanks, Again,
Chad

[skippyreef]

I insulated my fish room and also have a single AC/heat vent in teh ceiling of the room.

To mitigate the potential moisture I purchased a 290cfm panasonic bathroom exhaust fan. This should do nicely. When doing this though the makeup air must come from some place. I luckily have two fresh air make up returns in the basement. I also am installing a large 60*42 slidder window in the basement stairwell to allow more fresh air in as needed.

Some people completely isolate the room with the equipment from the rest of the basement. You could use one way dampers on vents that draw air into the fish room when an exhaust fan is running.

Others have cut into the cold air trunk lines and installed vents that can be opened to draw damp air into the A/C compressor in the summer and this will mitigate moisture. I am not sure though if the air taste salty if this is a good idea because of teh corrosive properties of salty air/salt water environment. those who have done it report no problems. there is a thread I started in the large tank forum on R/C months ago looking for answers to this vexing question.

You can see pics of where I am in the process for my tank here in zeovit.com. the thread is entitle starting new 270 gallon and is in the general forum.

I would suggest some sort of aor handling system to be cautious and also if it gets troubling a de-humidifier would be a good idea.

Mike

[TJcop]

I have my sump/prop in the basement. They don't seem to have any effect on the house humidity, but there is humidty in the basement from them. I have a dehumidfier setup to keep it around 60% in the basement. Not the best, but better than 80%!!! I might have to install a vent, just to recirc the air to the outside and bring in some fresh air.

[skippyreef]

here is a link to the thread I mentioned

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh...5&pagenumber=4

[Chad W]

Thanks for the replys. I have a adjoining bathroom to this room and I am wondering if maybe I just replaced the switch w/ a timer how much of a improvement this would be. Maybe not alot since my fan is probably sized to vent a normal bathroom size. My cold air return for my furnace is located on the stairwell going down to this room. If I was to run just the recirc. fan on the furnace could possibly be a improvement but as said above I don't know how this moist air would affect the furnace. A dehumidifier sounds like a good idea. Does anyone know if possibly something like this could be added to a furnace? I do have 3 fair sized windows and a sliding glass door down there so i can get a good amount of fresh air.
Thanks for all the replies,
Chad

[skippyreef]

they sell whole house dehumidifiers. I think they are over 1K

[Chad W]

Skippyreef, Thanks for the link. Looks like plenty of great info. I just skimmed over the last couple pages but I subscribed to it and I will go back tomorrow when I have more time.
In my house my bottom 2 floors are heated by a furnace in the garage which is on the same level as my rec room (tank room). I have a cold air return on the stairwell going up to the main living floor. In the rec room I have 2 heat registers in the ceiling as well as 3 windows and a sliding glass door. Maybe I am in not such bad shape after all. I just kind of worry about the months when the furnace does not run much.
Brand new house, I'm not real sure how I would explain mold,mildew, rot to my wife haha.
Take Care,
Chad

[skippyreef]

I am going the mod but will only use it as a last resort. I think the dehumidifier is a good idea esp in the summertime. But I might also open the vent from time to time to see if it helps a bit.

I am waiting though also to hear from people who have used it and if there are any ill effects from it.

I also live in a brand new house and really do not want ot explain a rotting house to my wife