Moisture.....Mold

[SMS76]

How do you keep the moisture out or low in your house. I think having fishtank adds lots of evaporation and moisture in the house. My previous tank used to evaporate couple gallons everyday. How do you guys keep mold out due to this moisture. Any suggetions will be very helpful.

[dgrammer]

I have over 2000 gallons in my garage and have asked this question many times. You can try de-humidifiers, but that is basically just an air conditioner without the benefits of cold air. Expensive to operate.

From what I read mold does not grow until relative humidity reaches 55% and higher. I do not think a few gallons a day will produce that much humidity especially if you run AC in your house. If so there are other things like Air exchangers, but they will only drop the humidity to the lvel it is outside. In our case Alabama has more humidity outside than in so that would not do any good.

[8BALL_99]

I'm building an Equipment room for this very reason.. The room has water proof walls and floor and its on separate AC.. All the moisture and heat from the tanks will be in this room insted of the house.. I think with larger setups this really is the way to go.. Mold and mildew can be very big problems in homes.. Even without tanks.. My wife works for Terminix as an Inspector thats one of the things she looks for...Alot of people have it and dont know it. If moisture from the kitchen and bathrooms is enough to cause homes problems you know large tanks only add to it....

[yoda]

When I had my in-wall tank in Knoxville, I started seeing mold on the ceiling in the laundry room behind the tank. The large sump was in that room, and there was very little air-flow in there (it was an older home.) I killed the mold, then painted over it. I then installed a small bathroom fan and wired it to run all the time. It ran this way for a year or so, and then I moved out. I never had anymore mold issues.

From what I understand, moist stagnant air creates conditions ideal for mold. If you get the air moving, it helps alot with mold, even if its humid air.

Just my personal experience...
Jason

[SMS76]

Good responses. Thanks guys.