HELP!! Too much moisture in my house!!

Kurtonius · #1 01-16-2011, 10:07 PM

I need some solid advice. I have a 120 gallon reef tank and its creating havoc on my house. Black mold is found on all our windows becaue of condensation building up.

I have a baby coming in less than two months. I have to sort this out or sell my setup.

What I've tried so far:
-turn the water temp down as much as the fish can tolerate
-put a glass on top of the tank (doesn't cover the whole top of the tank mind you)

I also notice that I have to crank the thermostat on the house to keep us warm. It seems to me that getting rid of this tank is a win-win.

However I'd rather keep it if I can. HELP!!!

noirsphynx · #2 01-16-2011, 10:12 PM

I don't have a very large tank but in the winter I found condensation a problem too and was seeing the black mold in the window sills. I now keep the house exhaust fan running 24/7 and have no problems with it anymore. I also found the temp. in my house stays more constant.

04scoobysti · #3 01-16-2011, 10:20 PM

Buy a dehumidifier, easy as that. You'll be emptying the bucket everyday. Made a huge difference for me running the same water volume.

spawn · #4 01-16-2011, 10:26 PM

+1 on the exhaust fan also if your furnace fan can be left running 24/7 it circulates the air better, these are both things I've had to do this year. First year with the tank & condensation was an issue until these were implemented, especially once it got cold.

kien · #5 01-16-2011, 11:05 PM

Look into possibly getting an HRV. You can google that or do a search on canreef. Our humidity was a struggle last year in the winter running at 60%. Now with the HRV I'm struggling to keep the house above 25%

Lampshade · #6 01-16-2011, 11:15 PM

I bought a large portable AC on craigslist for cheaper than a de-humidifer. Make sure it has a dehumidifier function or else it's just pumping the humdity into the hot out hose. If it has a dehumidifer function you can run it with the hoses off for winter, and hoses out the window in the summer for AC. Works great... except that tank takes 12 amps, AC takes 11.... 23A is more than my 15A breaker

haha. HRV is the uber way to do it, if you have room and funds, go for that. Mine was the cheap fix that's going to hopefully keep my fish room cold this summer aswell.

RezReef · #7 01-16-2011, 11:49 PM

there is a bag that u can buy @ home hardware that attracts moisture from the air...u put it in a bowl and it takes some of the humidity out the air...i forget the name of it

RezReef · #8 01-17-2011, 12:15 AM

Damp Rid??? google it...i think this is the one...or something simular...

rayjay · #9 01-17-2011, 12:26 AM

For significant amounts, the HRV is the most economical way to go, especially for newer, tighter, heavier insulated homes.
Desiccant bags will only handle very mild humidity problems IME.
With using a dehumidifier, I found that it helped, but not enough, even though it was the biggest dehumidifier I could buy.

AquaticFinatic · #10 01-17-2011, 12:59 AM

I had this problem this year and was looking at the hrv route but decided that it's only for a few months that this is a problem. Pick yourself up a dehumidifier from crappy tire they are always on sale right now and put it next to the tank and it will solve most of your problems. When I first started I was emptying every day but after about three weeks it's every other day. Cheapest fix for what you need. Hope this helps.