Finally bought a house, planning fish room, need advice...

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David R

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Apr 26, 2005
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Here's a basic overview of what I'm planning;
The room is about a 7x4M sleep-out sectioned off from our garage. Its insulated and lined with plasterboard, and has a concrete floor. The goal is to have three large tanks, (~180g for my clown loaches, 220g for aro, bichirs, dats etc, and something around 6-8x3x2' (3' wide of course) South American tank). I'm not going to set up one of these horrible cramped little fish rooms where the walls are lined with polystyrene and there's a million little tanks and you only go out there to feed and clean because its standing room only. The three tanks will be across the back wall with a couple of couches facing them and a well-stocked bar fridge so I can spend a few hours a week just chilling and watching the fish. Initially there may be a few smaller grow-out tanks, but the long-term plan is just for the three big ones. I'm going to pull the carpet up before putting the tanks in and just leave it bare as I like being able to make a mess when water changing.

My first real question and concern is with the humidity. with 700g+ of warm water in a fairly confined space I'm guessing the hunidity will get pretty bad, and I'm concerned about any possible long-term effects to the structure (timber frame) of the garage. Am I being paranoid? Do those of you running big/multiple tanks in smallish spaces do anything to control humidity?

I've got more long-term questions about continuious drip systems, centralised filtration, other heating options etc, but for now I'm more after general advice/suggestions regarding the set up.

Cheers.
 
you could either run a dehumidifier or just put in a bathroom exhaust..
putting up some greenback (high humidity) drywall might also be a good idea...
fans are also good to have just to keep the air moving around...

just my 2 bits
 
If it was me I would pick up a small dehumidifier and install a bathroom fan on a thermostat. this way the dehumidifier does its job and if it starts slacking the thermostat trips and kicks the fan on...i like idiot proofing stuff, easier that way...:ROFL::ROFL:
 
put in a bathroom exhaust. though that fan above me looks good. oh and put in a nice large pond.
 
Thanks for the advice, I'll start looking for a small dehumidifier, although its another thing contributing to the power bill that my other half can complain about...

Does the bathroom fan just help to keep the air circulating? Our climate is fairly mild (rarely drops below 2C at night during winter and 30C is about the max in summer). Would you run the fan and/or the dehumidifier constantly or just for a few hours a day?
 
David R;2965047; said:
Thanks for the advice, I'll start looking for a small dehumidifier, although its another thing contributing to the power bill that my other half can complain about...

Does the bathroom fan just help to keep the air circulating? Our climate is fairly mild (rarely drops below 2C at night during winter and 30C is about the max in summer). Would you run the fan and/or the dehumidifier constantly or just for a few hours a day?

put the bathroom fan on a thermostat so you dont have to worry about it..if it gets too humid it will kick on and off by itself....kinda like an attic fan
 
stingraybob;2968580; said:
put the bathroom fan on a thermostat so you dont have to worry about it..if it gets too humid it will kick on and off by itself....kinda like an attic fan

Put it on a thermostat or a humidostat?
 
Knowdafish;2968590; said:
Put it on a thermostat or a humidostat?

i would do the thermostat, youll have heat before humidity, pull out the heat and nothing gets wet
 
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