Hello fellow reefers i have a serious question

[octopus-keeper]

My question is who has ever had a problem with there aquariums causing mold in there house after 1 year of your aquarium being set up from evaporation? I would appreciate some good responses to this question. Thank you my fellow reefers

[lpsreefer]

a good dehumidifier works, or venting fans

few question to help your question out.
size of tank?
how much space is between the top of the tank and the ceiling?
is the tank open or close top?

[kien]

Yes. And I solved this problem by installing an HRV in my house. No more condensation, no more humidity, no more mold.

If you do a google or forum search for "HRV" you'll see that they are quite popular.

[Proteus]

You may find that a dehumidifier will pull water out tank. Good circulation is key

[mikeclarke]

I have a Costco.ca dehumidifier in my sump/furnace room that pumps the water out to a drain. It doesn't smell. I have an ATO on the salt mixing tank and for the make up water tank (a 5 gallon pail). So far it's been good but I've only had the 100+50 tank going since August. Before that I had a 20gal tank that had a covered canopy so I never had issues. My 100dt has no cover but I've noticed that I am getting more condensation on the windows as it has got colder outside.

[Delphinus]

The severity of the problem will depend on your total water volume, what kind of lighting you'll use (because it influences evaporation) but yes, this is a common problem and in Alberta the best solution is a HRV. Other options that will work but not as efficiently are installing a bathroom fan or other venting, or a dehumidifier. I found a dehumidifier to be noisy, inconvenient, costly to run and the dehumidification effect to be localized to whereever the unit was sitting whereas the rest of the house still suffered from excessive humidity.

A HRV ("heat recovery ventilator") trumps a bathroom fan in that it IS a bathroom fan basically but replaces the air being taken out of the house with fresh air from the outside, and uses heat exchangers to preheat the recovered air to something like 95% efficiency (rather important if it is -20 outside).

The whole house benefits too. Even if I quit my tanks I'll always have an HRV in my house, they are very useful overall.

[sphelps]

Ventilation/air circulation is key in mold control, humidity is only part of the problem. Any area of your home that does receive adequate air circulation is vulnerable to mold growth. If you have forced air heating you should examine your air flow and circulation throughout the home, more often than not homes lack air returns in all rooms or don't have proper gaps under doors. Ducting from the furnace is also often done poorly resulting in uneven air flow distribution. Furnaces and fans can be undersized and filters can be clogged all causing circulation issues. Furnace fans can also be programmed to run more often for better circulation and don't forget to check humidifiers you may have installed, many humidifiers are out dated and use float valves that constantly fail and require attention to prevent them from constantly adding water to the air.

HRVs can be added to exchange stale air from inside with fresh air from outside while recovering the majority of the heat. A good addition to any home and these days it's often a standard in new homes. However typical installs usually result in the HRV piggy backing on the existing ventilation system. Running extra ducting may be required to solve air circulation issues in addition to humidity.

[rhody605]

What is the suggested humidity percentage for a household.

On eBay I got a bunch of hygrometers off eBay for $4 each and spread them throughout the house. My humidity has plummeted to 22%


Mike

[Palmer]

Question

I do not have any visible mold that I am aware of in my basement where my tanks are. I had two high efficiency heaters installed a few years ago that bring in fresh air from the outside into the venitlation as part of their design. Would this act a bit like an HRV in this respect?

[Delphinus]

I would think no, but maybe your furnaces just simply provide enough volume turnover to prevent humidity buildup. Being that they are high efficiency, theoretically they cost less to operate than mid efficiency, and therefore you might get more air turnover per dollar spent on heating than, say, I do. In my case the HRV gives me air turnover without having a huge impact on my heating costs. There is a bump of course but much smaller than it would be without an HRV.