Humidity

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Supes13

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Jan 30, 2007
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i too am considering an indoor pond, what i want to build is an enclosure about 12' by 12' and from the basement floor to the ground level floor. this is a concept still in my head and im trying to figure out how to make it work.


my question is about water evaporation, as ive said i would like a waterfall going into the pond and i know that im going to have water loss and that it may cause damage to my house. if anybody has any ideas that would be greatly appreciated.
 

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Hi and :welcome: ,

Quite an undertaking...

Is this just going to be viewed from the top? In the main floor level? And the water there?

What kind of fish are you wanting to keep? With this kind of depth you may not see your fish very often :D .

Have you concidered making it 4ft deep from the main floor & building up from the basement to hold it up.

Keeping cold water natives will help with evaporation, but there is no stopping it.

Keep the waterfall from splashing excessively like a laminar flow (weir)).

Dehumidifiers can help, but you have to reach an equilibrium...A dehumidifier will draw water from the pond if your trying to keep the air too dry. Exhaust fan(s) can help if properly placed, but if your heating/cooling the room they can't be used to their fullest extent.

Do you own your home now?

What's your time frame?

Dr Joe

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i had it in mind to be viewed from the basement through 3-6 inch thick glass as well as from the top main floor for feeding. i was thinking of keeping a south american theme with arowanas, clown knifes, and some small cichlids such as convicts and firemouths. i do not own a home now and this is a future project for when i finally get a home and have the money to start to build. i was thinking about using fans but i wouldnt want anything too noisy. just thinking thoughts and trying to create my dream tank.

mike
 
Thats a way to dream!
I agree with Dr Joe that building it up could be helpfull,
because:
1. you will actually be able to see the fish from the ground floor
2. you will still be able to view your tank from the basement and save alot on glass
3. you can also have your filtration directly under the tank, taking up less room.
4. You will have alot less weight by not having the tank go to the floor.

Remember that At 12' deep your going to have to make sure your on concrete footer due to the weight. Unless you plan on having the home built to those specs that wont be an option. Im basing that off the measurements you gave of 12'x12' and assuming you would want it 4' front to back >>>your looking at well over 4,000gallons thats alot of weight, almost 35,000lbs. I know I would want that re-enforced.

But you have a great design, just take you time with it every step of the way. With the right planning a tank like that would be an envey to all of us.
 
not to derail the thread but is severe (potentialy home damaging) evaporation standard with all ponds or is he worried about it more because of the planned size for thr pond?because I have a 175 prformed from home depot that Im aout to setup in the living room and I figured I would treat it pretty much like a 175g tank,no?worrying about horrible evap. never crossed my mind.....
 
i agree with it being potentially damaging to the house thats why i wanted to research it before i decided to try to build this. i have looked at other members postings and noticed the one about the mega tank and i have to say that was amazing. i would love to have something like that but i have to be realistic and i thought that my original plan would work. enclosing it in its seperate greenhouse like room wouldnt be that bad of an idea and if i had to i guess i could.
 
rhinoman;725732; said:
Cover it with a greenhouse. Than you won't even have to worry about humidity.
Click to expand...



No matter what you do it will need to be covered. Actually the greenhouse idea is not that bad :naughty:. Without a cover all your heat will be lost and the evaporation will be tremendous, both of which are not good. I bought a pice of 1/4" lexan to cover my 300 rubbermaid and it loses less water than any of my tanks......and my heaters rarely run :D

Many years ago I built a huge 2500 gallon pond it my basement and it was a total failure due to heating and humidity issues. Do your homework and avoid many of the potential problems and you'll be alright...... But a pond indoors is never easy.



Good luck.




bob
 
from what i've seen...it's a question of surface area...the more you show to the room and air ...the more you'll loose heat and evaperation problems will be compounded...maybe treat the area around it like a bathroom and you'll be ok...vent fans ect.
 
Good luck.I never thought of that before hand... I have to dry off my walls everyday or else I get mold growing on them. I don't know how to prevent it. I've got a fountain and a waterfall, but even with them off, I still have water sitting on my walls. My ponds heated to, so it makes it worse...the best I can say is cover it up. The greenhouse Idea is lightly brilliant if you have the space.
 
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