Condensation inside stand?

[looneytunes]

Hello, I get quite a bit if condensation in my stand. We used 1 coat of KILZ and 2 coats of an outdoor paint I can't remember which. Should I shut everything down for the day and remove the sump to do something else or what? Any help here would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you,
Christine

[bennr]

Christine,

this is normal because i assume your cabinet below wherethe sump is will nusually be closed and therefore does not see any air movement.....the warm water moving through and no air movement will create condensation and eventually a mold or similar build up....here is what i did.....i installed a small exhaust fan in my cabinet where the sump is as well as another fan to circulate air within the cabinet....it was night and day!!! No more condensation!!! doing this however will cause your water to evaporate quicker and will require your heaters to come on more often especially if they are located in the sump as mine are. hope this helps!!

[looneytunes]

Thank you, i thought of that but i only have one side as a viable option for a fan, unless one fan can be in the stand pushing the air towards the other side where i could put one drawing air out? IDK

[Ron Reefman]

Is your stand closed in the back? Most aren't and even though it's up against a wall, any air movement inside should do the trick.

[bennr]

yes do that.....atleast have one fan pulling air out of the stand....if possible mount another to circulate air within the stand......would suggest you put some sort of filter on fan pulling air out as i did for mine and i find i have to clean it every month....better than those particles going out into ur house tho

[looneytunes]

Thank you guys, my stand is closed in the back but I can drill a few 4"holes to let air out. What kind of fan are you using because the ones i have seen are those small computer type fans and i don't see how to put a filter on one of those?
Thanks again for all the help,
christine

[tkeracer619]

I wouldn't worry about a filter. Its just dust from inside the house anyways. I would just use a computer fan powered by a wall adapter. Will be a cheap fix.

[looneytunes]

thank you

[Ron Reefman]

I used a couple of 6" power supply fans from Radio Shack. They are cheap, move air well, run on 110v and dead quiet. I covered them up with removable car speaker grilles to keep fingers out of the blades. I had to dust them off about once a month. I used both to blow air into my canopy, but I was far from air tight. You might want 1 blowing in and 1 pulling air out in order to get a good flow.

[looneytunes]

thank you, do you think i will have problems if i drill holes in the back. The wood is not structural? thee tank is full of water so i'm not sure about the vibrations from the drill?

[fishgate]

I've drilled wood stands for holes while they are full before. No issues at all. Get a good sharp hole saw for the drill and make sure you know what is behind what you are drilling!

[bennr]

let us know how you make out looneytunes! i bought my fans from allied electronics....man does it pull air!!approx 300cfm!! noisier than a computer fan but does the job! noise is not an issue to me as you can tell from my other posts and how much i love mag drives over eheim pumps lol

[looneytunes]

Thanks everybody, I was going to try to pull out the sump to plasti dip the whole inside but i am going to abandon that plan. I've gotten as much water as possible out but it is still a beast to move.

[crankbait]

The owner of the system i bought it from had the same problem. It was mildewed really bad even causing rust on the cabinet door hinges. He had a computer fan on the closed back but it didnt help. The first thing i did was remove the back of the cabinet