How do You Deal With Evaporation?

[robbyg]

If someone can test it, and show it under 5, I would buy a dehumidifier today Nd have it drain directly into my ATO reservoir........

I am not sure but somehow that sounds like a bad idea. I suspect that the water from the dehumidifier also contains a bunch of other chemicals that are in the air in your house, not to mention its in contact with a lot of metals like Aluminium and maybe copper.
I am not sure what the pH would be, but I suspect very low. There is also a lot of bacteria that builds up in those things over a period of time and that will be going into your tank also. As I said I am not sure but I would seek advice from some one like @Randy Holmes-Farley to see what he thinks.

 

[Bryan68]

What's the TDS on water pulled from a dehumidifier?

Never measured the TDS, I just dump it

 

[Gareth elliott]

Step one tear up floor.
Step two file down the floor joists in a circular pattern so that the center of the room is lower than the edges.
Step 3 cut the subfloor into quarter circle boards. Decreasing in size towards the inside of the circle.
step 4 install drain into the center of floor, have drain connect to sub pump refilling the aquarium.
Step 5 a foot from the ceiling add a sheet of very fine mesh.

as water evaporates it will now form clouds raining back on to the floor.

 

[clm65]

As stated above, your low house temperature is causing a lot of evaporation. A dehumidifier will certainly reduce the humidity, but it will also increase your evaporation rate, as the drier air will have greater capacity to absorb moisture. Certainly that is the lesser of two evils, but just be aware that you will need to provide more makeup water if you go that route.

I think a cover is a good solution in your case, as it will also reduce the need for heating the water. And you can take the cover off in the summer if the water gets too warm.

Another option is to install a heater in the room. Just as the cold air is causing a lot of evaporation which is leading to high humidity, warm air will reduce the evaporation. Also, do not run any fans on the water surface if you want to reduce evaporation, as surface airflow will actually increase evaporation, which will increase humidity.

 

[motortrendz]

No, not the attic...... Just like a small fan exhausting improperly into the attic and not outside that ruins all your plywood roofing from condensation in the winter, only worse with a tank 24/7.

As long as the attic is vented properly with ridge and sofet vents there should be no condensate on the interior plywood

 

[salty joe]

+1 for glass lids

A lid sounds like the best solution for this situation to me too. Acrylic can also be used if it's arched. That's what I used on my 4' x 8' tank and 4' x 4' sump/fuge. I put my system together with an eye on using as little energy (money) as possible. The lid helped two ways-less energy to heat the tank and less energy dealing with excess humidity.

As long as the attic is vented properly with ridge and sofet vents there should be no condensate on the interior plywood

That's not true at all. I've seen vented attics, more than one, damaged from warm moist air from bathroom fans, which would be nothing compared to the evaporation from a large tank. The vented air would need to exit through the roof from its own dedicated vent. I saw one that was even done 'by the book', at least for that time, that was a mold factory and caused swollen plywood where the plywood joints were apparent from the ground. The BR vent exited the attic through the soffit. Then, the warm moist air re-entered the attic through the little holes in the soffit and headed to the ridge vent, hugging the underside of the plywood, losing it's moisture on the way. If you could take that house and give a 90 or 180 degree turn, it probably would not have been a problem.

A couple people mentioned greater evaporation rate due to cool air. I wonder how much difference that makes. After all, warm air holds more water than cool air....IDK.

 

[NanoDJS]

Wow this thread is classic. Think of your house as the tank. you need to keep your temp ( dewpoint up) so that the air can actually hold the water in the system( your house air)and not evaporate so fast, then you need to exchange that air for new dry air ( ventilation ) your 80 humidity would be like 40 at 72 degrees , an AC is just a big de-humidifier which is trying to keep the air temp = to around 50% humidity. and humidifier just adds water to keep it 50% +- 10% at whatever dew point you have. This is why just adding a dehumidifier would jut make things work . You got all the right answers here , great work guys ., I am also curious , do you have forced air gas furnace >? where is the return pulling from , is your filter clean if you do have this type system. do you have a humidifier installed , if so is it malfunctioning.

 

[motortrendz]

A lid sounds like the best solution for this situation to me too. Acrylic can also be used if it's arched. That's what I used on my 4' x 8' tank and 4' x 4' sump/fuge. I put my system together with an eye on using as little energy (money) as possible. The lid helped two ways-less energy to heat the tank and less energy dealing with excess humidity.


That's not true at all. I've seen vented attics, more than one, damaged from warm moist air from bathroom fans, which would be nothing compared to the evaporation from a large tank. The vented air would need to exit through the roof from its own dedicated vent. I saw one that was even done 'by the book', at least for that time, that was a mold factory and caused swollen plywood where the plywood joints were apparent from the ground. The BR vent exited the attic through the soffit. Then, the warm moist air re-entered the attic through the little holes in the soffit and headed to the ridge vent, hugging the underside of the plywood, losing it's moisture on the way. If you could take that house and give a 90 or 180 degree turn, it probably would not have been a problem.

A couple people mentioned greater evaporation rate due to cool air. I wonder how much difference that makes. After all, warm air holds more water than cool air....IDK.

I stand corrected.

 

[Gabriel Guirola]

Thanks for all the input! I think I have an idea on what I am going to do. I am going to start with the lids and ser what happens. If that is not enough, I will invest in a dehumidifier.

 

[sde1500]

If someone can test it, and show it under 5, I would buy a dehumidifier today Nd have it drain directly into my ATO reservoir........

I wouldn't do that. The water coming from a dehumidifier always has a bit of an oily residue to it, due to it running through the pumps/motor inside. Def not something I'd put in my fish tank.