Worried about Evaporation in Basement

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wonword

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Feb 21, 2008
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St. Paul, MN
So I plan to upgrade from a 55g to a 220+g soon, but I am afraid that my 1st floor wont hold the couple thousand pounds it will weigh. SO first question is, how do you know how much weight a flor can hold?

The second option is the basement, but even without a tank or any open water, there is a ton of moisture down there. It has cement floors (half covered in carpet, the other in tile) and drywall. When I use a dehumidifer down there it fills up a ~3gallon container with water it pulls out of the air, in one day. If I leave a plastic bag on the ground on the tile, moisture will actually get trapped under it and when you lift it up, it will be dripping wet underneath. So of course, im worried about the evaporation from a large tank, if i put one down there. Im worried that the moisture wil cause the wooden frame of the house to rot. Do you think this will be a problem at all?
Thanks-John
 
Evaporation is always an issue. I have found that my place stays at about 55% humidity, not that bad. It's actually quite livable. Just make sure to keep your tanks clean and remove dead fish promptly, the humidity can carry smells.
 
I have about 1100 gallons of fish tanks in my house (I just bought another 270g for $200 today :)) and in the winter time I have icicles 2 inches thick hanging from one of my side doors that I don't use. I use a dehumidifier that removes about 3 gallons per day but I guess that is not enough.

I will be looking into a hrv unit (heat recovery ventilation) soon that should help with the humidity. The central air helps in the summer (as well as open windows when it isn't too hot). If you are really concerned, I think that a hrv is the way to go (less power consumption than a dehumidifier but more expensive).

As for weight, I can't help you there as my house is a converted store with concrete floors. The fish room is upstairs in the front of the house.
 
check out this article as far as aquarium weight and residential wood floors go:

http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/aquarium_weight.php

if you want to go as big as a 220 you will probably have to put it in the basement due to the extreme weight..to be safe.

I know with my future 150 I am putting in the basement due to weight issues.

I feel more comfortable having 'the world' beneath my tank :)
 
I never thought about this, makes me think twice about adding more tanks, I don't want to spend a thousand dollars on a HRV. Running dehumidifiers all winter long sounds expensive, since I would have tanks in 4 different locations. right now I am not to worried I only have about 150Gallons of total tank volume but when i start getting closer to 500 sounds dangerous.
 
quick question is the pint size on dehumidifiers just the size of the bucket? or is that all they can pull out in one day? could I get a smaller one and hook and overflow to the bucket and drain that away. This way they can pull more water per day and I won't have to empty them?
 
nfored;2026258; said:
quick question is the pint size on dehumidifiers just the size of the bucket? or is that all they can pull out in one day? could I get a smaller one and hook and overflow to the bucket and drain that away. This way they can pull more water per day and I won't have to empty them?
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thanks for the info guys, i was actually gonna ask this question also. instead of running a dehumidifier to the bucket attached, what about making a drip system out of it? the water shoud be chemical free being pulled from the air?

and anybody have personal experience with moisture in their basement causing rot or anything else?
 
I believe mold starts to grow at 60% - 65% humidity. As far as using the water recovered from a dehumidifier, it's been advised to not use it. The contaminents pulled from the air are present in it.

In the summer I run my dehumidifier 24/7 in the summer and I have no tanks in the basement. It just gets damp.
 
Yes, you can attach a drain hose to the dehumidifier. Mine is too far to run a hose so I just empty the bucket once or twice a day (I'm used to carrying buckets from all the water changes anyways).
 
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