Here it is with the ac running a bit. Lol you can even see the high and lows and everything today. Top outside bottom inside.
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Humidity from large Fish tanks ,heat savings- 600 gallon tank example
- Thread starter DIDYSIS
- Start date
What about having someone cut some thick glass for a lid? I tried the plexiglass thing for my 10 gallon QT, and even then it warped out quickly and I just used a piece of window glass instead. Finding some thicker glass, and then beveling the edge so it's safer would be an idea.
I wouldn't discount the benefit of insulating non-viewing panels, even if it is just one. You are right that the top is the most important and probably your largest concern in regards to heat escaping, but when I was researching this I found that insulating the back panel of my tank saved me about 100 watts of heat loss per hour.
Check out this calculator and play with the "aquarium sides" section to see how much you can save by insulating the sides, even if it's just one side. I think you'll be surprised.
http://www.hamzasreef.com/Contents/Calculators/HeaterChillerSizing.php
Cool I'll play with it. I would have gotten pics and what last night but I found a sweet deal on fish and got them and had to move allot of fish around. But I am so exited to head home look at all the fish and also take some pics and video. I'll work on this stuff this weekend. And heck I'll order a killiwatt and start testing more. I also have some 1/2inch foam here I might throw it on the back see what happens. This weekend will be busy With fish stuff.
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i used to have major humidity issues with all my tanks when they didnt hae lids. after i made some glass lids i dont have any issues and the window stays open
Ya I use to live in Everett and Snohomish. Around there adding more humidity to it already being humid would be bad. Here it's so hot or cold it is hard to open the windows. Even at 9 at night it can still be 90°. I don't want mold problems or anything else in the house or in the tank.
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I struggled with this exact issue a couple years ago and I came up with a pretty good solution.
Acrylic tanks are very insulated just with the acrylic, especially large tanks. My 360 tall has 1" thick acrylic! Tops are critical in keeping heat in and humidity control. Also an added bonus they help reduce noise. I use glass tops for all my acrylic tanks. I drilled a "feeding hole" in the tops of all my acrylic tanks because it was a huge PITA to open the glass lids. I added weather stripping along the edged of the glass tops, huge improvement but even harder to lift the lids making the feeding holes an awesome idea
Sumps: All my sumps are covered. Pic shows the glass cover and the small opening for the filter sock. I have a small glass piece right up next to the filter sock plumbing and a larger piece of glass covering the rest of the sump. It's easier to move the small piece of glass for sock change out.
Glass tanks: Same idea, I just added my own glass lids with the PVC handles. Small lids are for feeding, large lids almost never get used.
I have cats that constantly walk on the glass and so far no issues with breaking. Glass is 1/4" thick on all my tanks but one. My 450 has 3/8" thick glass. Hindsight the extra thickness is nice but not necessary for my application. If you anticipate lifting the lids often for feeding (no feeding hole) then go with the thicker glass. If you go with the feeding hole then 1/4" should be fine and its less than half the cost of the thicker glass.
Acrylic tanks are very insulated just with the acrylic, especially large tanks. My 360 tall has 1" thick acrylic! Tops are critical in keeping heat in and humidity control. Also an added bonus they help reduce noise. I use glass tops for all my acrylic tanks. I drilled a "feeding hole" in the tops of all my acrylic tanks because it was a huge PITA to open the glass lids. I added weather stripping along the edged of the glass tops, huge improvement but even harder to lift the lids making the feeding holes an awesome idea
Sumps: All my sumps are covered. Pic shows the glass cover and the small opening for the filter sock. I have a small glass piece right up next to the filter sock plumbing and a larger piece of glass covering the rest of the sump. It's easier to move the small piece of glass for sock change out.
Glass tanks: Same idea, I just added my own glass lids with the PVC handles. Small lids are for feeding, large lids almost never get used.
I have cats that constantly walk on the glass and so far no issues with breaking. Glass is 1/4" thick on all my tanks but one. My 450 has 3/8" thick glass. Hindsight the extra thickness is nice but not necessary for my application. If you anticipate lifting the lids often for feeding (no feeding hole) then go with the thicker glass. If you go with the feeding hole then 1/4" should be fine and its less than half the cost of the thicker glass.
Welcome to the party. I was wondering when you were going to show up and add in your wealth of information.
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Nice Egon!
In regards to mold, I was reading on Reefcentral that a guy with a huge tank basically ruined his entire house after setting up an enormous reef tank. He had a crazy mold outbreak from the humidity the tank created. He had to completely gut out all the sheetrock in his entire house...it cost him a fortune.
The guy got banned from the site and they deleted all of his threads otherwise I would provide the link. I think they should have left that thread up as a "lesson learned" for everyone else looking to setup monster tanks.
In regards to mold, I was reading on Reefcentral that a guy with a huge tank basically ruined his entire house after setting up an enormous reef tank. He had a crazy mold outbreak from the humidity the tank created. He had to completely gut out all the sheetrock in his entire house...it cost him a fortune.
The guy got banned from the site and they deleted all of his threads otherwise I would provide the link. I think they should have left that thread up as a "lesson learned" for everyone else looking to setup monster tanks.
