Fishroom Humidity Control

[Tony]

I want to rid my basement fishroom of humidity. Currently, I run a newer dehumidifier in the room (8'x12') and it does a decent job, but I have to empty the bucket about daily. I don't think that this is a permanent solution for two reasons: it's probably using a ton of energy and kicks off and does nothing once the tank fills up.

Other info about the room: I have switched over to heating the room with a small space heater and have somewhat sealed off the gaps around the door with insulation. There is just a few small cracks around the door now. Additionally, I have a vent from the house's central system, but keep it closed. I do this because it's too much of a variable in controlling the environmnet. The tanks are for the most part covered with glass or drop ceiling lighting plastic.

Unfortunately, the room is drywalled in on two walls and the ceiling and I have not sealed it. The other two walls are exterior concrete foundation walls. The room sort of went up before I knew all about the imporatance of things like drylock and poly. Plus there were already cabinets and a workbench installed on one wall when I moved in, so sealing behind them would invlove tearing them out.
So, I am thinking of two solutions - either an air exchanger or a simple vent fan on a humidistat.

Pros and cons of each:

Air Exchanger:
-Conserves more heat in the room (pro)
-Truly reduces humidity/keeps the room more of an independent system. Neutral pressure. (pro)
-Slow to affect humidity (from what I hear) (con)
-Pricey - $500+ for the smallest of units (con)

Vent fan on huniditstat:
-Will pull heat/cool out of the room/house (dep. on season) (con)
-Negative pressure environment when fan is on. (con)
-Quick to reduce hunidity (clears out room in a matter of minutes) (pro)
-More economical ($150-$200) (pro)

Not sure if these pros and cons make sense... they sort of overlap a bit. Not sure if I'm thinking clearly on about neutral/negative pressure element and if it matters.

Anyway, what thinks you, CCA? I was searching around for info on air exchangers and they seemed expensive/overkill for my little room. Then I came across Charlie's thread from January and it got me thinking that the simpler solution may be the better one.

I'm leaning towards the fan, but want to hear if it'll do the trick.

 

[Avatar]

Birth of xeriphytic fishkeeping?

The pressure issue is a nonesuch - you don't have enough 'cabin' integrity or airflow for it to remotely be an issue - forget it.

Fan with a humidistat seems right. With the periodicity and the volume of air you need to move before it kicks off it seems the heat/cooling loss will be negligible. More glass tops would help - I saw your plastic and not sure it really qualifies as much in the way of a 'vapor barrier'.

 

[Leffler817]

My school makes me run a dehumidifer all day everyday. I have to drain it too and its loud. I brought in a 3' hose and ran it to my sink. It sits on my counter but doesn't take up too much space. Would that work for you?

 

[Charlutz]

Tony -

It's a dehumidistat you want. I ordered humidistat first. Learn from my mistake! You can get them at Lowe's online and they'll ship to your local Lowes for free. I opted for a very quiet fan, but compromised in terms of CFMs, only getting about 140 per minute. If you can take a little louder noise you can get a bigger fan. Make sure you look at the venting options. Mine is ported for a 6" circular duct with an option for a 4" duct, which is what I am using, but you get full rated airflow with 6" duct and as short a duct run as possible. Something to consider when you pick your fan. Also, check to make sure you get a ceiling mount fan or wall mount fan as appropriate to your installation. Good luck! I'm around if you have any questions.

 

[Buckcich]

Thanks for the info. Like Tony, I'm also debating how to control the humidity in my fishroom. I think I'm going with the wall mounted unit but going out of the basement window. Charlutz do you see a problem with my choice?

 

[Tony]

The pressure issue is a nonesuch - you don't have enough 'cabin' integrity or airflow for it to remotely be an issue - forget it.

Fan with a humidistat seems right. With the periodicity and the volume of air you need to move before it kicks off it seems the heat/cooling loss will be negligible. More glass tops would help - I saw your plastic and not sure it really qualifies as much in the way of a 'vapor barrier'.

10-4 on the pressure.

Why you gotta hate on my plastic lids?

My school makes me run a dehumidifer all day everyday. I have to drain it too and its loud. I brought in a 3' hose and ran it to my sink. It sits on my counter but doesn't take up too much space. Would that work for you?

I was thinking about it, but it's just more water I have to drain... to a drain not in the room.

Tony -

It's a dehumidistat you want. I ordered humidistat first. Learn from my mistake! You can get them at Lowe's online and they'll ship to your local Lowes for free. I opted for a very quiet fan, but compromised in terms of CFMs, only getting about 140 per minute. If you can take a little louder noise you can get a bigger fan. Make sure you look at the venting options. Mine is ported for a 6" circular duct with an option for a 4" duct, which is what I am using, but you get full rated airflow with 6" duct and as short a duct run as possible. Something to consider when you pick your fan. Also, check to make sure you get a ceiling mount fan or wall mount fan as appropriate to your installation. Good luck! I'm around if you have any questions.

DEhumidistat. Definitely crucial info. Thanks Charlie.

I probably won't have to run all that long an outflow... I'm going to check what sort of space I have down there and probably get back on this thread to ask more questions.

Thanks guys. :happy0180:

 

[Avatar]

Why you gotta hate on my plastic lids?

Maybe 'cause they ugly?

 

[Charlutz]

Thanks for the info. Like Tony, I'm also debating how to control the humidity in my fishroom. I think I'm going with the wall mounted unit but going out of the basement window. Charlutz do you see a problem with my choice?

Not sure I can envision what you mean. The fan has a grill/intake which is flush to the wall or ceiling and then the fan unit itself sits behind the drywall. They can be pretty large. You then just need a duct to wherever your exit is. If it's a window, just remember you'll have it running through the winter, so you'll want to make sure you aren't letting in cold air, or insects and rodents in the summer I suppose.

 

[chris_todd]

Tony, why not collect the water from the dehumidifier in, say, a 55 gallon rain barrel? It is essentially distilled water, right? Why drain it? Why not use it for water changes. Recycling your tank water, really, since it all came from your tanks in the first place.

Posted via mobile.capitalcichlids.org

 

[Avatar]

He's right. It's basically pure as rainwater unless your condenser is corroding.

Somebody give this man a prize.

 

[mrkillie]

Tony, why not collect the water from the dehumidifier in, say, a 55 gallon rain barrel? It is essentially distilled water, right? Why drain it? Why not use it for water changes. Recycling your tank water, really, since it all came from your tanks in the first place.

Posted via mobile.capitalcichlids.org

The water is NOT distilled at all. There are high levels (relatively speaking) of either copper or aluminum in the water-depending on what material your condensing coils are made of. If copper-plants and inverts will die. If aluminum, you will eventually build up an aluminum oxide kind of slime that can clog fish gills. You can see it if you let the water sit a couple weeks in a barrel. If you are going to use the dehumidifier water, you must prefilter or treat it to remove the metal ions.

 

[mscichlid]

Tight fitting glass tops with the plastic strip will take care of a lot of your humidity problem.

 

[Avatar]

New prize-winner.

Would have thought they'd make the coils out of something inert but I suppose aluminum and copper are used because: they have high conductivity? They're cheap?

 

[maddog10]

I use a tiny dehumidifier with a 1.5 gallon holding tank. I need to empty it once every few days (sometimes only needs to be emptied once every few weeks). All my tanks have glass tops. It does not run very often. I think if you cover the tanks better, most of your problem will go away. That will be the cheapest solution, as you really need to do this with any option you choose. Try it and see what happens, if it is still to high for your liking you can add a dehumidistat with fan.

I never use the water from the dehumidifier for anything fish related. To afraid that it may have high levels of copper or aluminum (seems to smell a little funny).

Lots of venting needed if you use an air exchanger, probably not a good option.

 

[Tony]

I'll adjust the lids and see if that does the trick. Most of my tanks are well covered; still have a few with some decent gaps though. Have a bunch of older tanks/odd configurations that are tough to cover completely... either no center braces or aquaclears hung on the end/front. I'll tool around a bit and see what I can do.

Thansk again, guys.

 

[chris_todd]

Obviously, I didn't know there was an issue with the water collected by the dehumidifier, or I would not have suggested that. Sorry. You learn something new every day...

 

[mscichlid]

Scrounge around for glass you can cut to fit. The construction business will occasionally lend itself to goldmines of materials demolished and thrown away. I'll keep an eye out for glass.

 

[verbal]

Scrounge around for glass you can cut to fit. The construction business will occasionally lend itself to goldmines of materials demolished and thrown away. I'll keep an eye out for glass.

I have a 40 breeder with one broken end, I could bring to the meeting if it would be useful.

 

[STATMATT]

What about putting a small bulkhead on the dehumidifier bucket and running the line to a drain. That would prevent having to empty it so often.

 

[Charlutz]

A little late as the issue has already been decided, but as Tony keeps mostly africans, I don't think he'd want to use distilled water. Our fish like all the trace elements and stuff from the tap.