Fish Room Preparation questions

NoviReefGuy

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Hello, this is my second post! I am building my dream tank (1500 gallon); tank will be in fish room with one viewable side into media area. I know the size is ambitious, but its my dream tan after all. The fish room will be @ 275 sq feet. with 10 ft Ceiling. I have an HRV installed for my home. My Furnace is in this room so I will walling off that area making it its own space for Corrosion protection. Planning on drywalling the ceiling and walls and using some Drylock paint ( mildew/moisture resistance paint)

Question:
The Fish room is next an exterior door to my backyard. Really want to make sure I control Humidity, etc.. Another HRV for that room? Small A/C unit just for that room? Commercial bathroom vent fan?

Will Air exchange be enough or will dehumidification be necessary? ( i live in Michigan) like the idea of exchange for pH /CO2 removal..

Can I connect to a dryer vent for air exhaust? ( HRV or Fan)

Tank should be done by September... so wanted to prep room as much as possible be fore then..





IMG_6286.jpeg





IMG_6284.jpeg
Fish Room high View.jpg
 

Daniel@R2R

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Not sure on humidity control, but this is going to be awesome! I'll tag @ReefSquad for help on the HVAC question.
 

RichtheReefer21

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Not a pro on humidity management either, but man, that is some beautiful layout and design! Best of luck moving forward, should see some conversation popping up in here soon.

Welcome to r2r!
 

Ron Reefman

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How about a simple solution?

Just put a simple room dehumidifier in the room and run a line from the collection container to an interior drain or outside through the exterior wall? Although I'd add protection to the outlet on the outside of the wall so it doesn't freeze up in the winter. Or add a pump with a switch so it pumps the holding tub almost dry and then shuts off, rather than letting it drip, drip, drip with gravity flow which would be far more likely to freeze up in winter.

BTW, I was born in Michigan, lived outside the Detroit area and didn't leave until I got transferred to Ohio when I was in my mid 30's.

Good luck, this project looks awesome!
 

nereefpat

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Wow. Everyone is looking forward to watching this one, I'm sure.

That's bigger than most of us have worked with. Just doing some quick scaling-up math, you may be dealing with 20+ gallons of evaporation daily.

It's a good plan that you are sealing the room off. I would actually recommend a suspending ceiling in there, instead of drywall. It looks like there is some stuff in there that you might want to access, as well as any additions for HVAC (moisture) and electrical.

Ron's suggestion for a dehumidifier is good one, and not overthinking it. I would assume the furnace room has a floor drain for the furnace, ac, water softener, etc?...So a dehumidifier with a hose running through the wall to the floor drain would be really easy and work well.

You could also add a bathroom-type vent fan that is turned on by a hygrometer, kicking on if humidity gets to a certain percentage.

Good luck.
 

OrionN

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With the amount of power going through the room, I put a separate cooling system, it is a stand alone slit system air-conditioned, which was fairly inexpensive and a dehumidifier (less than 1000 installed) and problem free since about 2013. These system often use in Europe and in other country but not so much in the US. The are not whole house air conditioner, no duck work. Just refrigerant line to the out side, and evaporator unit outside, which is easy to install. Working great to keep my fish room cool and dry. Really a must for longevity of equipment.
 
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NoviReefGuy

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Wow. Everyone is looking forward to watching this one, I'm sure.

That's bigger than most of us have worked with. Just doing some quick scaling-up math, you may be dealing with 20+ gallons of evaporation daily.

It's a good plan that you are sealing the room off. I would actually recommend a suspending ceiling in there, instead of drywall. It looks like there is some stuff in there that you might want to access, as well as any additions for HVAC (moisture) and electrical.

Ron's suggestion for a dehumidifier is good one, and not overthinking it. I would assume the furnace room has a floor drain for the furnace, ac, water softener, etc?...So a dehumidifier with a hose running through the wall to the floor drain would be really easy and work well.

You could also add a bathroom-type vent fan that is turned on by a hygrometer, kicking on if humidity gets to a certain percentage.

Good luck.

I may suspend part of the ceiling, where I may need to acmes things, Im going to try an relocate most of that stuff inside the furnace room..

I was considering a dehumidifier, but was concerned about the constant electric draw ( very little bit helps) .

I was planning a Co2, humidity and temp sensor in the room. Tank is supposed to be done @ September (ish) so thought he winter will be interesting to monitor.
 
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NoviReefGuy

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With the amount of power going through the room, I put a separate cooling system, it is a stand alone slit system air-conditioned, which was fairly inexpensive and a dehumidifier (less than 1000 installed) and problem free since about 2013. These system often use in Europe and in other country but not so much in the US. The are not whole house air conditioner, no duck work. Just refrigerant line to the out side, and evaporator unit outside, which is easy to install. Working great to keep my fish room cool and dry. Really a must for longevity of equipment.


That is really what Im leaning towards as well.. Looking at a Gree Vireo..; What do you have?
 
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NoviReefGuy

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pull skimmer air from the outside to be sure for good ph, low CO2.
Is that enough for 1500 gal tank?

I currently have a whole house HRV; it currently serves this space. However once seal up the room, then I will not. The in/out (8") ducting is coming through the room.( you can actually see the it and the HRV in photo above) . I was wondering if I did a small HRV just for this room; I could use the outside air input ( Y it off) and exchange out through a dryer vent pipe or same. Im not sure if this is correct and if it will work. Dont's really what to get into more holes in my exterior walls.

Also not sure it will remove all the humidity... hence the mini split idea... Decisions and $$. I think I might be overthinking this too... But want to be sure to protect my home from all the moisture.
 

OrionN

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I currently have a whole house HRV; it currently serves this space. However once seal up the room, then I will not. The in/out (8") ducting is coming through the room.( you can actually see the it and the HRV in photo above) . I was wondering if I did a small HRV just for this room; I could use the outside air input ( Y it off) and exchange out through a dryer vent pipe or same. Im not sure if this is correct and if it will work. Dont's really what to get into more holes in my exterior walls.

Also not sure it will remove all the humidity... hence the mini split idea... Decisions and $$. I think I might be overthinking this too... But want to be sure to protect my home from all the moisture.
This was the problem for me. The tank elaborated a lot of water. I first have the fish room cooling tied to the whole house but this added a lot of moisture to the house, like a 10+ gallon load per day. Too much for the central air unit to handle.
After this running for 6 months, I decided to seal up the ducks and the air intake to the fish room and added a Mini-split unit there, and add a stand alone dehumidifier to the room. This arrangement take care of the problem, both keep the fish room/tank temp stable with no chiller. Only a heater on a temperature control unit for the tank to keep temperature stable exactly where I set it, and no humidity problem for the house. My fish room house a 320 gal DT, 100 gal sump, and a 40 gal breeder with about 30 gal sump QT system, and a 30 gal QT system.

Now that you have my experience, and my expense, in mind, you won't have to make the same mistake.
 
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NoviReefGuy

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This was the problem for me. The tank elaborated a lot of water. I first have the fish room cooling tied to the whole house but this added a lot of moisture to the house, like a 10+ gallon load per day. Too much for the central air unit to handle.
After this running for 6 months, I decided to seal up the ducks and the air intake to the fish room and added a Mini-split unit there, and add a stand alone dehumidifier to the room. This arrangement take care of the problem, both keep the fish room/tank temp stable with no chiller. Only a heater on a temperature control unit for the tank to keep temperature stable exactly where I set it, and no humidity problem for the house. My fish room house a 320 gal DT, 100 gal sump, and a 40 gal breeder with about 30 gal sump QT system, and a 30 gal QT system.

Now that you have my experience, and my expense, in mind, you won't have to make the same mistake.

THANK YOU! R2R is already saving me a lot of time and expense...
 

Reefpuck

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I have a Goodman mini-split air-conditioner unit. It works really well for me.

Do you have a link to the exact unit you bought? Tagging along here as I'm going to be building a fish room soon. Also any photos of your setup? I browsed through your build thread but didn't see any. Lots of awesome fish though!
 

jda

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Here are my fish room must-haves: freezer for food, dishwasher and sink.

To exchange air, just a sliding glass door (or windows) with a screen and a box fan are pretty effective.
 

RichtheReefer21

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Here are my fish room must-haves: freezer for food, dishwasher and sink.

To exchange air, just a sliding glass door (or windows) with a screen and a box fan are pretty effective.
Pretty sure hes building this in a basement... my buddy has six 40b frags tanks and an 80g in his basement fish room, with two 12" x 24" windows open 24/7, even in winter. Still cant deal with the evap humidity without mechanical assistance. (Big dehumidifier)
 

jda

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You gotta put some fans in those windows. 1200-1800 CFM from even a $20 box fan can exchange my whole fish room in a few minutes... keeps the pH up too (not that I care).
 

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