Fish Room HVAC ductwork covering

ihavecrabs · Aug 7, 2017

Anyone else had to cover HVAC duct work going through their Fish Room? Mine are exposed and above the future tank..

What did you use and how well did it work?

Sleepydoc · Aug 7, 2017

Are you just worried about aesthetics, or is there another reason you wanted to cover it?

ihavecrabs · Aug 7, 2017

Sleepydoc said:
Are you just worried about aesthetics, or is there another reason you wanted to cover it?

I don't want it to rust and I want to contain the humidity. Thinking of just framing it out and putting the water resistant drywall (for behind tile showers) over it and painting with a high gloss paint.

ihavecrabs · Aug 7, 2017

FYI it is in an unfinished portion of the basement.

Heliarc19 · Aug 7, 2017

Galvanized or flex duct? And is it the return or the supply?

ihavecrabs · Aug 7, 2017

Supply and galvanized

AlexG · Aug 8, 2017

I used 6mil plastic to cover my ceiling over my tanks and the fish room which included a section a HVAC ducting. I was concerned about the duct work but I was more concerned about the moisture being generated by the tanks being absorbed into the floor above. I also have a ventilation system installed to remove the moisture generated by the aquariums from the house.

Sleepydoc · Aug 8, 2017

I would not worry at all about galvanized ductwork rusting. My inlaws have a galvanized roof on their cabin. If it hasn't rusted in 10 years of being outside, I think your ductwork will be fine.

Likewise using green board/moisture resistant Sheetrock if you decide to enclose ceiling. It will work fine, but is unnecessary and a waste of money. Plain Sheetrock and paint will do fine.

If you think about it, many parts of the country (take Louisiana for example) deal with equally high, if not higher levels of humidity and don't have issues with Sheetrock crumbling or ductwork rusting out.

ihavecrabs · Aug 8, 2017

Sleepydoc said:
I would not worry at all about galvanized ductwork rusting. My inlaws have a galvanized roof on their cabin. If it hasn't rusted in 10 years of being outside, I think your ductwork will be fine.

Likewise using green board/moisture resistant Sheetrock if you decide to enclose ceiling. It will work fine, but is unnecessary and a waste of money. Plain Sheetrock and paint will do fine.

If you think about it, many parts of the country (take Louisiana for example) deal with equally high, if not higher levels of humidity and don't have issues with Sheetrock crumbling or ductwork rusting out.

Thank you both.

I'm more concerned about humidity myself also. Rust was a secondary concern with a high level of salt and humidity. Ensuring I'm keeping the house in good condition is key.

I also plan on an input and output fan for the fish room to ensure good air exchange separate from the rest of the home. Don't want to screw up pressures and venting in the home [emoji16]

AlexG · Aug 8, 2017

I would not be very concerned about the humidity impacting the galvanized duct but if there is salt spray in the air it will begin to corode the metal

ihavecrabs said:
Thank you both.

I'm more concerned about humidity myself also. Rust was a secondary concern with a high level of salt and humidity. Ensuring I'm keeping the house in good condition is key.

I also plan on an input and output fan for the fish room to ensure good air exchange separate from the rest of the home. Don't want to screw up pressures and venting in the home [emoji16]

Here is a video I made on the humidity mitigation system for my build. Venting is not an issue as long as you are not creating a large negative pressure in the house. As most homes have a good natural airflow some ventilation is not a problem. For example most bathrooms have builtin exhaust fans. My ventilation system is only using a 110 CFM fan and has been running for well over a year without issue. Since the tanks are enclosed the ventilation helps to remove and hold excess humidity in the fish room. I would not go with any vent fans that have a high CFM as it could create a serious negative pressure in the home. If I decide more humidity mitigation is needed for my system I will be adding a dehumidifier to the space. At this time though I have been testing my heating system and monitoring the humidity levels in the fish room with the water at 77 degrees and so far it seems like my humidity mitigation plan is working as intended.

ihavecrabs · Aug 8, 2017

AlexG said:
I would not be very concerned about the humidity impacting the galvanized duct but if there is salt spray in the air it will begin to corode the metal

Here is a video I made on the humidity mitigation system for my build. Venting is not an issue as long as you are not creating a large negative pressure in the house. As most homes have a good natural airflow some ventilation is not a problem. For example most bathrooms have builtin exhaust fans. My ventilation system is only using a 110 CFM fan and has been running for well over a year without issue. Since the tanks are enclosed the ventilation helps to remove and hold excess humidity in the fish room. I would not go with any vent fans that have a high CFM as it could create a serious negative pressure in the home. If I decide more humidity mitigation is needed for my system I will be adding a dehumidifier to the space. At this time though I have been testing my heating system and monitoring the humidity levels in the fish room with the water at 77 degrees and so far it seems like my humidity mitigation plan is working as intended.

I'll take a look at this video once I have a few minutes to spare at work today. What do you aim to keep your humidity to in your fish room?

AlexG · Aug 8, 2017

ihavecrabs said:
I'll take a look at this video once I have a few minutes to spare at work today. What do you aim to keep your humidity to in your fish room?

I have not decided on an exact target for humidity yet but I am considering over 70% a serious problem at this time. From my research mold and mildew thrive when the humidity is at or above 80%. I just started measuring humidity levels last week when I got the heating system turned on for the tanks. I purchased two air temperature/humidity sensors one for the main basement area and one for the fish room. This way I can see if I have a difference between the two spaces in temperature & humidity. The expected result is that the fish room will have a higher temperature and humidity level then the rest of the basement at all times. So far I have not seen this to be the case at all times but I only have about a week of data which is random sample of measurements taken during different times of the day. I do not have my data in front of me right now but the humidity fluctuates between 50-60% most of the time in the fish room and the basement. I have noticed when the HVAC is not running the humidity tends to climb to its highest levels. Once I have more data I will report some results. I am interested to know how humidity trends over the next few weeks because I want to ensure it does not start to slowly increase overtime in the main basement or fish room as it might be a sign that more humidity mitigation is needed.

ihavecrabs · Aug 8, 2017

AlexG said:
I have not decided on an exact target for humidity yet but I am considering over 70% a serious problem at this time. From my research mold and mildew thrive when the humidity is at or above 80%. I just started measuring humidity levels last week when I got the heating system turned on for the tanks. I purchased two air temperature/humidity sensors one for the main basement area and one for the fish room. This way I can see if I have a difference between the two spaces in temperature & humidity. The expected result is that the fish room will have a higher temperature and humidity level then the rest of the basement at all times. So far I have not seen this to be the case at all times but I only have about a week of data which is random sample of measurements taken during different times of the day. I do not have my data in front of me right now but the humidity fluctuates between 50-60% most of the time in the fish room and the basement. I have noticed when the HVAC is not running the humidity tends to climb to its highest levels. Once I have more data I will report some results. I am interested to know how humidity trends over the next few weeks because I want to ensure it does not start to slowly increase overtime in the main basement or fish room as it might be a sign that more humidity mitigation is needed.

Very interesting. I have high humidity in my basement as is due to the water table being at or slightly higher than my basement. Sump runs often and my humidity is around 60-70. This is WITHOUT an aquarium haha.

I have only been in the house for 2 months so far with a high amount of rainfall lately so time will tell.

Can you provide some details on the temp/humidity sensors? Expensive?

This is very helpful.

AlexG · Aug 8, 2017

ihavecrabs said:
Very interesting. I have high humidity in my basement as is due to the water table being at or slightly higher than my basement. Sump runs often and my humidity is around 60-70. This is WITHOUT an aquarium haha.

I have only been in the house for 2 months so far with a high amount of rainfall lately so time will tell.

Can you provide some details on the temp/humidity sensors? Expensive?

This is very helpful.

The temperature/humidity sensors are very reasonable. The one I went with is an AcuRite: AcuRite 00613 Indoor Humidity Monitor. I got a 2 pack from Amazon for $20 with shipping. I understand the humidity with the rainfall. I am in the western suburbs of Chicago and when it rains a lot my sump pump is working overtime. This summer the rain has been light for the most part in my area but further to the north they have been blasted by rain this summer.

The one thing to remember with humidity is that it will impact the evaporation rate of liquid water. With higher levels of humidity in the air the aquarium water will not be able to evaporate as quickly as aquarium water in the low humidity environment. The temperature of the air will also impact the amount of water vapor that can be held in the air which impacts the humidity measurement. It is a complex topic and there is a lot of debate on what are the proper actions to take for humidity mitigation.

ihavecrabs · Aug 8, 2017

AlexG said:
The temperature/humidity sensors are very reasonable. The one I went with is an AcuRite: AcuRite 00613 Indoor Humidity Monitor. I got a 2 pack from Amazon for $20 with shipping. I understand the humidity with the rainfall. I am in the western suburbs of Chicago and when it rains a lot my sump pump is working overtime. This summer the rain has been light for the most part in my area but further to the north they have been blasted by rain this summer.

The one thing to remember with humidity is that it will impact the evaporation rate of liquid water. With higher levels of humidity in the air the aquarium water will not be able to evaporate as quickly as aquarium water in the low humidity environment. The temperature of the air will also impact the amount of water vapor that can be held in the air which impacts the humidity measurement. It is a complex topic and there is a lot of debate on what are the proper actions to take for humidity mitigation.

I'm also in the Western Burbs of Chicago. Naperville to be exact. Where abouts are you?

Thanks for the details on the humidity monitors.