Stand Odor

Wild1 · Sep 25, 2015

When I started my reef tank I made many mistakes (who doesn't!), not the least of which is that I built my stand into a existing built in wall mounted book case. This left me with minimal space behind my tank 2/3 inches, & a stand that is completely enclosed, except for the doors. My stand houses my refugium with all the moisture & humidity that goes with it. I do my best at keeping the stand dry & clean under the circumstances. I am fighting a mostly losing battle, & my GF complains about the odor. getting rid of her is not an option...lol, but I would appreciate any help in solving this problem. Thanx in advance! Chop

kschweer · Sep 25, 2015

I have not done it personally done this but I have seen some people use DampRid in their stands. It's normally used to pull moisture from basements. May help you out some.

Waters · Sep 26, 2015

I don't know of a way to do it other than throwing in some exhaust fans to pull the moisture out....but that would involve seeing fans on the sides of the bookcase (unless the moisture could be pulled backwards into whatever room is behind that wall?)

TheEngineer · Sep 26, 2015

Damp rid works pretty well. But if you have an odor, you've got mold/mildew growing. Unless you kill the mold you'll still have the smell until you dry it out enough for it to die.

Maybe a lysol cloth on the end of a stick so you can rub the back of the tank and the wall?

143MPCo · Sep 26, 2015

The problem I see is that the stand looks like it's pretty airtight you're going to have to pull air in as well as allow the exhaust air out, fans will help but you're limited with the amount of space you have so you're going to have to look at something like either attached fans to the doors or to that side panel next to the sofa that you have, once you start the air circulating in there it'll stink for a little while but once it keeps going it'll dry out whatever mold you have and the air-quality will be a lot better... it's going to take some time but it will work.

NanaReefer · Sep 26, 2015

I use carbon filter pads from DFS for oder control, they last forever and work wonders! For excess moisture I use a 10" mesh bag filled with rice [emoji106][emoji2]

Harold Green · Sep 27, 2015

You might want to consider redoing the doors. Perhaps adding a louvered panel in each door to increase air flow. The other option would be to cut two vents in the end of the stand mounting a fan on one blowing in so the air will circulate before exhausting out.

Windy · Sep 27, 2015

NanaReefer said:
I use carbon filter pads from DFS for oder control, they last forever and work wonders! For excess moisture I use a 10" mesh bag filled with rice [emoji106][emoji2]

How much moisture can a bag of rice absorb before it starts to rot? I can see something like that in a closed container to control moisture, but not in an area of heavy and constant humidity. So, how often do you have to change it out? That should tell you how much moisture it is absorbing.

NanaReefer · Sep 27, 2015

I change the rice bag out once every 4-6wks.

Windy · Sep 28, 2015

So you are absorbing about a gallon of water every 4-6 wks. Is that worth it?

NanaReefer · Sep 28, 2015

It's keeping the humidity down that's all I care about. So yeah to me it's worth it. It's no where near a gallon either-lol.

Thomas36 · Sep 28, 2015

Its probably mold or something of the sort if I were you I would consider (and I know it'll be a challenge) sealing the wood I would recommend flex seal I used it on my stand and it works wonders. I did it before I put my filters under my stand for you it will be a bit more challenging but I think that would solve your problems.