Excess moisture in fish room

[jason604]

Originally Posted by reefwars

Can't you just cut a hole in the roof? That's what most people do

Lol!

[mark]

When I build mine put in a small bathroom fan over the sump. Was also going to put in a dehumidistat so would only run when required but never got to it (moisture not a problem).

[eli@fijireefrock.com]

my fish room is totally insulated from the rest of the house.Drilled 2 holes opposite sides of the wall going directly outside.One draws fresh air and the other draws out the humid air, both fans are running of a dehumidistat for that room.

[hillegom]

As far as bathroom fans go, the squirrel cage fans are very quiet

[daplatapus]

HRV (heat recovery ventilator). Sucks air out and preheats the fresh air coming in through a heat exchanger. No negative pressure situations which can be potentially dangerous in homes with gas fired appliances such as furnaces, hot water tank and fireplaces.
exhaust fans sucking air out of the room and pulling fresh air in is a similar setup, you just don't get the advantage of preheating that air, so in certain area's/circumstances, supplemental heating may be required.

[jason604]

Originally Posted by daplatapus

HRV (heat recovery ventilator). Sucks air out and preheats the fresh air coming in through a heat exchanger. No negative pressure situations which can be potentially dangerous in homes with gas fired appliances such as furnaces, hot water tank and fireplaces.
exhaust fans sucking air out of the room and pulling fresh air in is a similar setup, you just don't get the advantage of preheating that air, so in certain area's/circumstances, supplemental heating may be required.

Sounds expensive lol. I think ima go with a dehumidistat and a quiet bathroom fan

[christyf5]

I had a small dehumidifier in my previously small fish room. Its currently in my basement with the tank and I empty it daily. Worked great for a small room. It still fills up quickly but I honestly don't think we have a huge humidity problem (although the fact that it fills up probably says differently )

[daplatapus]

Originally Posted by jason604

Sounds expensive lol. I think ima go with a dehumidistat and a quiet bathroom fan

Potentially yes, if you bought new and had a professional install it.
I bought mine second hand for less than a new low sone bath fan at home depot and installed it myself. But being a journeyman sheet metal worker and having installed hundreds of them, it wasn't a big deal.
It is "generally" considered the best way to fix the problem you've described. Any other method described using bath fans are just trying to imitate what an HRV does, albeit for less initial money but without re-couperating any heat you've already paid to heat by some other means. And if no make up air is provided, creating negative pressure in a home which could be dangerous.
An average of 50 Canadians die every year from carbon monoxide poisoning, not to mention the hundreds who get sick from it and are permanently disabled.
Only reason I harp on this one thing, is I'm also retired firefighter/EMT and have seen and dealt with the effects of CO poisoning more than once. It is a definite risk when installing exhaust fans and not providing make up air in homes with gas fired appliances.
This post isn't specifically directed at you, Jason604, I know often times funds and manpower are often deciding factors of what we would like to do over what we CAN do. I've seen this question asked over and over here and on RC and the $60 bath fan wins out many times over. And that's totally fine as long as you can also provide some fresh air vent that allows the rooms air pressure to balance. But it appears generally people greatly underestimate the danger of CO poisoning. I can't tell you how many homes I've been to where people have plugged up their combustion air pails by the furnace and hot water tanks with towels because they always feel cold air coming in. It just makes me shake my head. Anyway... I've said my peace, I won't say anymore.

De-humidifiers do work, but at the cost of adding heat and a much greater use of electricity.

[BC564]

I have an HRV 6 inch vent from my sump area in the fish room. Newer houses have the HRV installed at build. Have you checked for this?