Fish Room Shutdown (and) New Custom Tank Plans!

[darkdep]

I have had an HVAC Engineer evaluate my home based on my humidity control issues in the house. 

Last winter, we suffered mold growth in almost every room of the house, and trying to deal with the condensation on the windows was almost ridiculous (you could sit and watch the water just constantly streaming off the living room and bedroom windows).  We've been replacing drywall regularly.  Not being willing to risk another winter of this and the health risks to my family, I asked around for some evaluations.  Have had a couple good connections, and then found out my neighbour across the street works for a commercial HVAC company and offered me an engineer from their company as a favour.

Bottom line:  Based on my house's age and configuration, it's various distribution systems, the source of the humidity (Fishtanks in an already humid basement), and the fact that we've already been battling mold issues, they don't believe any sort of HRV ventilation system will help much (he called it a "waste of money" for my needs).  The "proper" solution is a large, powerful dehumidifier which is incredibly expensive.  Otherwise I would have to deploy a residential-sized dehumidifier in every room in the house and run them constantly. 

What can I say...older house, older forced air system, probably lots of duct leaks, poor ventilation, poor airflow.  This house is just not capable of dealing with the humidity without a lot of money being thrown at it.

So, it is with great sadness that I am announcing the shutdown of my fish room and breeding operations.  Over the next month I'll be putting pretty much everything up for sale, including a lot of my livestock.

The only saving grace for me will be the establishment of a single large tank to replace the existing 15 operating tanks, and I'll have to mentally shift from "Breeder" mentality to "pet owner" mentality.

(cries)

[bitterman]

I'm so sad for you APW    

So what fish are you keeping? What are you selling?

Bruce

[beowulf]

Wow that really sucks.  I had never seen the room in person, but it looked very nice from the pictures I did see.

[Nerine]

Wow...I'm so sorry to hear that
Being a pet person is weird after being a breeder...I've been down that road before and am still there as a 2 tank person...it takes a LOT of getting used to.

[Fishnut]

Oh dear!

I'm curious to ask how much that giant dehumidifier costs.  What if you were to build an addition or a separate shed size building where you could do what you like without affecting your house.  I guess that would also cost a lot of money.

I'm trying to think of ways to address the humidity issue as well.  My house doesn't have an issue like that, but I don't want it to when I put in my fish room.  The fish room will be beside the downstairs bathroom and there is a ventilation fan in the wall that it shares.  I was thinking of installing a double sided fan (if that exists) to ventilate the fish room.  I have no idea if that will be enough though.  My old fish room had a massive humidity issue.  My grandfather made me covers for my tanks with a wood frame that slid over the top and a piece of thick plastic stretched over the frame.

Are most of your tanks open at the top or do you have covers on them all? 

[RoxyDog]

sorry to hear man.  yeah, my hubby had said soemthing about a large and extremely expensive dehumidifier. 

[darkdep]

It was quite functional.  I've managed to successfully breed 15 species of Cichlid in there, and have happily spread the offspring all over the city and beyond.  It will be sad to see that part end.

The new tank I set up will be dedicated to my large fish.  I will need to go do an inventory to see what's staying.  Gonna be hard.

[bitterman]

It was quite functional.  I've managed to successfully breed 15 species of Cichlid in there, and have happily spread the offspring all over the city and beyond.  It will be sad to see that part end.

The new tank I set up will be dedicated to my large fish.  I will need to go do an inventory to see what's staying.  Gonna be hard.

You can still breed stuff, just not at the same level or numbers.  My 65 would be lonely without the Afra's and litho's I got from you.

Bruce

[babblefish1960]

Terribly sorry to hear about the sudden shift Darkdep, it will be very hard to downsize and alter your thinking to match. Good luck with the decisions of course, and naturally, should you require any assistance in the actual demobbing of the basement, I am certain there are many of us that would be glad to help you in this time of upheaval.

Alternatively, you could always purchase another house more suited to your passion.

[darkdep]

The giant dehumidifier that was suggested was roughly in the $40,000 range.  Yes, I'm not kidding.  It's used for indoor pools   Otherwise I was looking at a whole bunch of smaller units.

Long term, I'd like to convert my garage into a fish room.  This would be far easier to manage with regards to humidity compared to the basement.  There's money there, but NOT $40,000, plus that's really where I always wanted to put the fish anyway.  Until then, this has to happen.

Roxy:  Somewhat glad to hear you say that.  I was planning to talk to your hubby this weekend about it as well, but the fact that he was thinking along the same lines helps solidify the decision. 

The tanks are currently almost completely covered.  I have glass tops on all tanks, only the two 75's have any real uncoverage (they're half covered, long story).  Covering them has not seemed to help much.  Since many of my tanks are "breeder" tanks, they have a large surface area relative to their size; the total amount of water surface area is probably the issue.  More Surface Area = More evaporation.  Covering helps, but you can't cover completely.

[darkdep]

Actually babble, don't laugh...If I can't engineer the garage into a fishroom I'm going to start house shopping next spring.

[beowulf]

Actually babble, don't laugh...If I can't engineer the garage into a fishroom I'm going to start house shopping next spring.

Muhahaha the fish fanatic lives!!!

[darkdep]

Oh yes.  This isn't the end.  It's a transition.  I still completely LOVE this hobby and won't give it up.  I'll just adapt down a bit for now and spend ALL WINTER planning my next expansion

[babblefish1960]

Actually, in a very serious way, my suggestion was very practical, I know it is tough to go through this, having done it myself a long time ago, but it is doable, and sometimes, it is the impetus to move along to greater things, your next fish room will be amazing, you know it is true.

[dan2x38]

Sorry to here about your current news.  Just as many said it is opening the door to bigger and better things... I do not know you face to face but willing to offer assistance if need be...

With all your's and everyone's knowledge here there is no DIY work around? There must be many ppl worldwide even that have come up against this issue without shutting down there op. Maybe a collaborative head scratching is needed?

[babblefish1960]

I would suggest that there is no problem too big that can't be fixed if you throw enough money at it. Having said that, there is a practical limit to this where one is just throwing good money after bad and wasting their life. So sometimes, it is better to just pull up stakes and move on in order to keep your health, funds and sanity.

[charlie]

WOW , man you spent so much time & money on that project, it must have been a difficult decision to make. but one that is best. I hope it`s possible to store the hardware ( tanks filters etc.), since you are planning to resurrect this again.
Regards

[darkdep]

Dealing with humidity in a house, from what I've learned, is partly unique to each structure.  There are collective head scratching ways to deal with humidity in general but each house is different.  There is no DIY solution that is going to guarantee a fix this time.

[darkdep]

Nope, no storage.  Everything's getting sold.  When I get a new space to redo this, I'll get new stuff then to fit the space.  Thinking next time I'm going with plywood tanks anyway.

[Laura]

Oh, I'm sorry.  That's got to be really disappointing, but it sounds like you're bouncing back with new plans!!