We had mold. After that we had to add the dehumidifier. Seems to have helped. But in the winter.... the humidity is very obvious. Windows show it like no other.

Me too!

I had humidity issues with just a 55 gl tank, can see it on the windows especially in the winter.

If you are looking at a condo type residence, you need to make sure you look at bylaws as well. A residential Landlord renting their condo unit is bound by those bylaws and may not share them with you or even be aware. You are governed by them just as much as they are. You should also make sure that they are permitted to rent out their unit, some condos have certain restrictions or conditions.

Kills me how many people don't have insurance, rental, home, car etc.!!! Its so cheap for such a little bit of piece of mind if anything ever goes wrong.....If you caused damages as a result of a major tank leak, do you not think the Landlord would come after you for compensation? I know you are a student, but if you can afford this hobby, you can afford tenants insurance!!!

Yah I wasn't actually aware of tenant insurance till I did some searching today. And I will definitely get that when I move to the new home. But I am not sure whether the current landlord will allow that and let me stay.

Having spent many years as a tenant, always having tenant's insurance, and now being a landlord of 2 properties, I can see where he's coming from about the tank, but not the rent increase ...

He may not want the 70g if it's not on a ground/concrete floor, but that's just a thought as I don't know your situation

From a landlord's perspective, and humidity aside, I wouldn't want the headache of going through all the cleanup after a leak, regardless of tenant's insurance
For example, if the rental property needs to be vacated during repairs from water damage, the landlord will be out of pocket until the premises are again habitated
Plus, the insurance company will go over everything damaged that wasn't new, and pro-rate repair costs

We had an issue I won't go in to that cost us, out of pocket, $7,000, including 2 months of lost rental income

No matter what you decide to do, get tenant's insurance. It'll cover all your personal belongings in the event of fire and theft. Flood is stupid fine print, so ignore it

Good luck with whatever you decide to do bud :smile:

Thanks Boss :D

Well I asked him whether I can put it on the concrete floor in the basement but he won't allow it in any way. He told me told to teach him physics (huh?). Well I do understand his points and he should be worried about it but the way he put it was not right. I currently have two choices:
1. Get a new apartment which will let the tank in. I am really not looking forward to this as moving can be a bit messy and I will be wrapping up my thesis during that time too.
2. Turn back the 20 gallon, maybe sell the pump and skimmer and keep the tank and plumbing in storage so that in the future, when I can setup a bigger tank, I won't need to look for another one. Plus selling the tank will be a big hit to my pocket too so I don't wanna do that.

Really sucky situation either way. Moving and finding a new place can be stressful and packing really really really sucks. Downgrading also sucks but is easier to do in the short term. If you do downgrade I would definitely keep the tank and equipment so you have it for when you are able to upgrade again.

Yah I have decided to downgrade. Will be keeping the tank, stand and plumbing stored for the future when upgrade is possible. I will just sell rest of the stuffs. Will be hitting a big loss but oh well, life is not always about what you want. :)

Not sure what kind of insurance you had, but the loss of rental income should have been covered. I had a rental house that had a water pipe burst in one of the upstairs bathrooms while my tenants were both at work during the day. You can imagine the damage throughout the whole house with the water running all day...

In any case, I was very pleased with how my insurance company handled it, including covering the rental loss during the restoration. When they were done, I had a minor reno in the house, and it looked better than before. The only downside was having to pay higher premiums the next few years.

Did you ask him if it would be a problem with rental insurance? My old landlords didnt want the tanks I'm there either til I got rental insurance $200~ per year.

I am pretty sure he won't agree to that. It took over a year to get a new dryer since the old one was not working properly; can't expect anything tenant-friendly. Still I will take a shot.

it sucks to move but i think you should shop around and see if there are better places first, if not then go back to your landlord and negotiate the tank size :-)

I really dont want to move during that time since I will be wrapping up my thesis. Will already be in too much pressure, let alone be moving and getting used to new room mates :(

I'm on the landlords side, on regards to the tank. Landlord has 100s of thousands invested in any one property, and it's his property. If he doesn't want the risk of a largish tank, he has the right to not allow you to have one, even with insurance. It's nice of him to allow you to have a small one. I'm a home remodeler and I've seen a 30gallon tank do close to 100k in damage to a house. This was on a second floor and the tank broke and only the surface water was cleaned up. A few years later it was found that black mold had spread through the walls (A very bad thing). I've also read about tanks doing close to half a million in damages in apartment buildings because of a brake. In apartments the broken tanks water damage can affect multiple units bellow the said apartment. I'm a reef tank lover and a landlord. I would never allow a tenant to have anything larger thank a 10 gallon in my condos, even with insurance. Just because you have insurance doesn't mean the insurance company will pay. In most cases they will find a way to not pay. I own a 120 gallon reef myself, but its my property, I'm willing to take the risk, but I'm not willing to take a risk on my tenants. Murphy's law will bit a landlord if he take risks like that. I work way too hard for my money to allow a tenant to take it from me. I'm sure your landlord is a nice guy he just realizes the risks involved. Landlord have rights to.

Thank you for your helpful insight :) Yah he is a very very nice guy but unfortunately he won't allow me to keep small tank too. Alongside, nature permits me to be on my own side (it can be quite a long time before I can be on landlord's side) so I am moving out to find a even nicer guy who will let me keep it. And I believe there's many out there :)

When I rented with Boardwalk, they had no issues with my 20g. No special agreements or anything. They loved it.

Good luck. ****tÿ deal.

Fill the toilet with skimmate when you leave to show how crappy this is