Water dripping off the walls.

ps... your dehu might not be picking anything up because the air where it is is warm enough therefore the relative humidity is low enough that it doesn't trigger it to come on. in that case i'd assume you're losing quite a bit of water from your tanks too but that's irrelevant.
 
Another option would be to install a snug canopy but instead of a vent install a thick plastic liner on the inside top of the canopy just under the top lid with staples and silicone sealant. Then have a suspended wight in the middle on top of the plastic like a small stone the size of a golf ball so that all the water that collects on the top plastic will be drained toward the center and fall into a cup sitting on top the glass cover panels or back into the tank.

As far as ventilation use an airstone inside the tank and place a 2" hole in the top of the canopy with a course sponge inside which will allow air passage but condense and water back inside.
 
gunner... 80 degrees at 50% gives you a dewpoint of 59 degrees... cold walls will still sweat. and you just cannot condense everything coming out of the tank unless you lower the temp of the tanks to that of the wall.

EDIT: and what about gas exchange?
 
Based on what I've read of this post, dehumidifiers and fans are only stop gap measures. This house should be fitted with a proper air exchange system. The aquariums are only exacerbating an underlying flaw in house construction.

Gunner, I see your from Arizona. In cold climates, warm moist air vented into the attic crawl space instantly condenses on the rafters. People have had roofs collapse due to the weight of ice formed from condensation in setups similar to your suggestion.
 
Wow, I have been dealing with a similar problem. One corner of my room has water stains down the wall (from water dripping). My mom told me it was because of the poor venting in our attic on this side of the house (our attic is cut in two with a wall). I have always had a problem with condensation on my windows (and with it mold), and else where in the house too. This is because we have a water heater that runs along the perimeter of the house. That is also where the windows are. The windows are drafty as hell, and the hot air coming up makes it worse.

Just recently I have started having the water problem in another corner of my room. I have always had those other problems before I got fish tanks, and this is a new one. Mold has started growing on the ceiling in the other corner, but not the original corner. I have 2 open top tanks in my room (which would be the problem and I'm moving the bigger one soon). The other thing is that my bed in also in the corner with the mold, and it was pushed right up against the wall so that no heat could come up in that corner. It's wet with condensation below the mattress, closer to the heater.

So basically, I've been busy and haven't fixed my problems yet by cleaning it up, but I have moved my bed away from the wall so heat and air can come up. BTW, my house is an older house and it has these problems. My room usually has a closed door to keep the warmth in (the house is super cold and I absolutely hate cold). So I have no choice but to keep it closed in the winter. Maybe I should take care of that mold soon...
 
Canuck said:
Based on what I've read of this post, dehumidifiers and fans are only stop gap measures. This house should be fitted with a proper air exchange system. The aquariums are only exacerbating an underlying flaw in house construction.

Gunner, I see your from Arizona. In cold climates, warm moist air vented into the attic crawl space instantly condenses on the rafters. People have had roofs collapse due to the weight of ice formed from condensation in setups similar to your suggestion.
Click to expand...

no... the air exchange should be your secondary measure. a stable temperature between the room and the wall is your primary issue. the fans and dehu are temporary measures so that things don't go too far awry until your primary and (if necessary thereafter) your secondary. you see insulating and sealing any drafts is a one shot bill. running fans sufficient to take care of such an issue every winter will create a nice electric bill and wear the fans out quickly creating a necessity for almost perpetual renovations.

also my first worry for the condensing liquids would not be weight it would be lift. wood is considered a warm material. nails, capping, trim, gutters, etc. would be my primary concern on that front. this is where the water will condense and freeze first. this will cause lift and separation. lift and separation will not only cause things to be unsured in the house but it will cause gaps that cause the airflow that leads to freezing tons of water to the underside of the roof. prior to that happening though things will be bent, twisted, pipes freezing and bursting most likely and harder materials like concrete, brick and cinder to shatter and crack like a thin sheet of ice.

i am a certified fire and water restoration technician who worked as a job foreman, technician and job coordinator with several crews simultaneously. so, that is where my experience and opinion come from. take it for what it's worth. :thumbsup:
 
may i make a suggestion for insulation here? if i were the op and could get ahold of a contractor with the right equipment i would go with 2 part roof foam insulation for commercial buildings. this stuff is serious business. i worked with a guy who had a setup as a teen. we put cardboard over a 10' by 20' hole in a roof and walked across it 10 minutes after spraying. and it's waterproof. it's not cheap by any means though.

i just wish i could remember exactly what it was called.
 
oops... it's early. :hitting: hey, no fair... i see no mention of an apt. by the op... you're withholding information on me huh? :banhim:

happy new year to you too.
 
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Used to do mold remediation work, along with lots of other stuff, and your mold will not go away until you get your R/H down. There are air exchangers with heat reclamation devices available from a variety of vendors, Honeywell makes quite a few.

The danger with attic moisture is that most homes have fiberglass, rockwool or cellulose over the ceilings, and none of these respond well to getting wet. When excess moisture builds up you get the same type of event that you're experiencing on your walls because of the temperature differential and the dew point. This is why vapor barriers are such a critical part of the construction process in New England for example. If the dew point happens to be in the middle of your attic insulation then your insulation gets wet, compacts, looses its micro air layers and compacts...further exacerbating the problem. Then you've also got the mold issue. Mold needs food, any organic matter, and moisture. Take one away and it can't survive. Typically below 40% R/H will do the trick.

Duns warnings regarding the super saturation of the air is very real. I use a wood stove in an adjoining room, rigid foam insulation over all of the windows in the fish room, and circulating fans with cross ventilation pulling air through the room and into the rest of the house. I'm just lucky that it's all in a precarious state of equilibrium, but if my dehumidifier pump drain clogs the condensation event occurs very rapidly.

My only choice at this point is to add another dehumidifier to keep up, but I've got about 2,000 gallons of aquariums to contend with too.

I paid about $200 for a dehumidifier with a built in drain pump and digital R/H and temp guage that would work great IMO. Adding heat is going to be a necessity as well however. Get the moisture down and the temp up.
 
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