# Humidity control with an aquarium in the basement?



## VisualPoetry (May 16, 2006)

Hello all,

I recently installed a 200 gallon tank in my basement which is starting to come together. The one challenge I'm having is that it's very, very humid down there.

My basement is finished, and thus, the additional humidity has caused issues with air quality - and it's very wet.

My solution to date is keep the air conditioning running (which, as you can imagine, costs an arm and a leg).

So, the question is, what do you do to keep your basement from turning into a swamp?

I'm considering installing a bathroom fan by the aquarium that vents to the outside: http://www.homedepot.com/p/Delta-Si...y-Sensing-Exhaust-Bath-Fan-VFB25AEH/203314719 - but the fans are typically rated for rooms that are 100 sqft or less, and mine is 1400 sqft.

Your thoughts and experience are much appreciated.

Cheers


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## Y2KGT (Jul 20, 2009)

Energy Star qualified DE-humidifier.
http://www.homedepot.ca/product/dehumidifier-70-pint/861202
--
Paul


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## Bayinaung (Feb 24, 2012)

VisualPoetry said:


> recently installed a 200 gallon tank


me so jelly!


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## flagtail (Jun 2, 2011)

Does the aquarium have lids?


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## Y2KGT (Jul 20, 2009)

flagtail said:


> Does the aquarium have lids?


Most people don't use a lid on a saltwater tank. 
--
Paul


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## kies1 (Oct 8, 2009)

De humidifier


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## Nighttrooper (Apr 19, 2011)

dehumidifier 
or/and ( i do both)
you can install a grill and link it to the return vent. running the fan will circulate the air through out the house


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## rickcasa (Dec 7, 2011)

I'm in a similar predicament and currently using all 3 solutions that's been mentioned. Ceiling fan, Soleus 13,000 BTU dehumidifier, and putting a lid on the tanks. This last one is very helpful, even partial coverage on all the tanks goes a long way. My 6ft DT has a 2ft clear sheet of glass in the middle that allows adequate air exchange but also prevents 1/3 of evaporation. The humidifier is controlled by a simple digital timer programmed on for 1hr every 6hrs. I'm afraid that if I increased the duration, I'd be just sucking water from the tanks. Hygrometer reading dropped from high 70's to a comfy 58-63%.

Of course, if you could wall up your fish room from the rest of your basement you'd have better control.


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## Crayon (Apr 13, 2014)

Y2KGT said:


> Most people don't use a lid on a saltwater tank.


We do. Had to, no choice. Our 5' reef looses so much heat in the winter that without the glass lid we could not keep the temperature stable. We had 5 heaters (over 1500 watts) that ran constantly and still had temperature fluctuations. When we added the lid, the temperature actually stabilized and the heaters would turn off once in a while. We had no issues with anything in the tank, fish or corals, but we do run a very good skimmer.
Our sump is fully lidded as well, and so is our small 30 gallon tank on the same system.
For the summer we have done mesh, only cause it's easier to move, doesn't have to be cleaned as often and doesn't cut out as much light.

But for humidity issues in a closed room, if you get a hygrometer and can watch the humidity, summer time levels are generally between 50% and 60%, which is the norm and trying to reduce humidity below the outside humidity levels is useless, cause you're not going to suck up all the humidity in Toronto.
What will really help is moving the air around, so put the fan on your furnace to on for the summer.
What will be less effective is doing an air exchange from the outside (so try to avoid adding an exterior ducted exhaust fan) because when you create negative pressure in your basement fish room, that air has to be replaced with air from somewhere else, and once you have drawn all the air you can from the rest of the house, eventually you will start to draw un conditioned air from outside. Which has high humidity and needs to be cooled. So then your air conditioner works more and your humidity levels don't drop as much.
Your air conditioner is an excellent de humidifier, but I agree running it more is going to cool down the whole house. However, check and see how efficient your A/C is compared with the small portable de humidifier you are using. If your house is air tight and not too big, it might not be so bad. However every house is different and there are too many variations in A/C units to know how it will perform. You noted that running the A/C is costing an arm and a leg, so I guess you've tried that option already.


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## RR37 (Nov 6, 2012)

Contact your prefered HVAC contractor and inquire about an ERV. Its the only cost effective way I was able to keep 200+ gallons of water in the basment at 45% humidity. Avoid HRV solutions as they are costly to run in the summer.

I ended up wirinig it into an ecobee thermostat that has a humidstat in it.


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## Reef_Aquatica (Apr 3, 2009)

RR37 said:


> Contact your prefered HVAC contractor and inquire about an ERV. Its the only cost effective way I was able to keep 200+ gallons of water in the basment at 45% humidity. Avoid HRV solutions as they are costly to run in the summer.


HRV is for colder weather areas, that is Canada. ERV is typically for hotter area (southern US).

HRV is perfect for typical Canadian weather, but shut if off during Summer months because as RR37 said, it is useless. For summer you should rely on dehumidifier or Air conditioning to remove humidity.


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## RR37 (Nov 6, 2012)

Reef_Aquatica said:


> HRV is for colder weather areas, that is Canada. ERV is typically for hotter area (southern US).
> 
> HRV is perfect for typical Canadian weather, but shut if off during Summer months because as RR37 said, it is useless. For summer you should rely on dehumidifier or Air conditioning to remove humidity.


I run our ERV year round, the HRV's are only effective during heating season into the early spring from fall. ERVs are capable of running year round, perhaps not all ERVs some struggle as the outside humidity risies (90-95%) but still didnt see the humidity in my home north of 45%.

I should mention my tanks run cool at 72-73 otherwise I end up heating my house with the fish tanks. R2000 House.


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## vaporize (Apr 10, 2006)

RR37 said:


> I should mention my tanks run cool at 72-73 otherwise I end up heating my house with the fish tanks. R2000 House.


Running tanks at 72-73F would really save alot of evaporation and heater money (and risk), I think my basement runs at 69F in winter and around 72F in summer. Unfortunately my fish looks wierd at those temperature especially the new additions.


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## Y2KGT (Jul 20, 2009)

Canadian Tire will have the Garrison 50 Pint Dehumidifier on sale Friday, Saturday and Sunday for $179.99.
--
Paul

http://www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/h...-pint-dehumidifier-0436119p.html#.U-y1ZpWsHqQ


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## vaporize (Apr 10, 2006)

Y2KGT said:


> Canadian Tire will have the Garrison 50 Pint Dehumidifier on sale Friday, Saturday and Sunday for $179.99.
> --
> Paul
> 
> http://www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/h...-pint-dehumidifier-0436119p.html#.U-y1ZpWsHqQ


Thanks Paul, that's good price. Garrison might be okay, Canadian Tire have 2 lines of Whirlpool, the gold line is good, the other one even with Whirpool brand name sucks (made by another Chinese manufactuer - died shortly over a year).

These dehumidifier does use alot of electricity ~500W


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## VisualPoetry (May 16, 2006)

wow, thanks for the replies, guys.

Yesterday, I had booked a contractor to come in on Monday to install an exhaust - but now am afraid that it will create too much negative pressure. I do have a washroom in the basement (5 ft away from the aquarium) in which I can turn on the fan once in a while. I suppose I can just get a sensor that will turn the fan on.

I just tried turning the central air's fan on now to circulate the air and see if that makes a difference. Need to do some calculations on costs of doing so all the time. Perhaps a timer may be sufficient.

From what I gather, there's no point in getting a dehumidifier since my house's central AC is the same thing. I just need to find a balance between just turning on the fan and turning on the AC.

Will update on how this works after a few days of testing.

I'm almost finished the tank - will send photos shortly


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## Y2KGT (Jul 20, 2009)

A dehumidifier is not the same as your a/c unit. 

The a/c will cool your house to a set temperature and at the same time remove some of the humidity from the entire house however a dehumidifier will remove the excess humidity from the basement and will continue to do so until the target humidity level has been reached. 

As a bonus it'll also circulate the air in your basement which will help as well.
--
Paul


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## VisualPoetry (May 16, 2006)

Thanks for the suggestion! I bought it today and already brought humidity down 10 points in an hour. I suspect I won't be able to bring it down past mid 60s today, but certainly beats the 80+ earlier.



Y2KGT said:


> Canadian Tire will have the Garrison 50 Pint Dehumidifier on sale Friday, Saturday and Sunday for $179.99.
> --
> Paul
> 
> http://www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/h...-pint-dehumidifier-0436119p.html#.U-y1ZpWsHqQ


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