Fish Room

[Trobe]

Hi.. I'm in the process of building a house for me and the misses... I've got a room that i'm dedicating to my fish tanks.

The idea is to run a dehumidifier in there as much as possible, and a ceiling fan hooked into a dehumidistat. I think that should be enough to remove the humidity in the room but i'm not sure...

I'm also going to use bathroom drywall all around with mildew resistant paint. now the question is weather or not to vapor barrier the room off from the rest of the house..

the rest of the stuff is just making stands and such but that comes later

[blainep]

How humid of a climate are you in ?

If your climate is as dry as Calgary, you'll be happy to have the humidity.

Even with the fishroom, I have to run a humidifier in the bedroom all winter.

Another option would be to install a bathroom type fan on a humidistat, vent it outside like a dryer vent.

[Trobe]

i'm already going to have a bathroom fan on a dehumidistat venting it outside. then also a dehumidifier... I'm in the west kootenays in BC. i wouldn't say its very humid but not very dry either..

[BC_Kron]

Vapour barrier is meant to control the moisture left behind from condensation. (Warm air inside meets cooler air outside) and is used in conjunction with insulation. If you are going to be insulating the common walls of the fish room,(walls that divide fish room from the interior of the house), and keeping the room warmer than the rest of the house, then yes, use vapour barrier. tuck tape the seams, and be sure to install a fresh air intake to the room to help with the cycle of air.

[Trobe]

so if i'm not insulating the interior walls then the vapor barrier doesn't do anything?

[BC_Kron]

It will act as an air barrier, but nothing more. It will not help with moisture buildup.

If you are planning on heating the room with the rest of the house, you should not use poly on the interior walls. It will only impede your furnaces ability to properly circulate warm air throughout the entire house, thus causing a "hotspot" in the fish room, which will only add to the moisture issues. (moisture in warm air of fish room condensates on poly when hits cooler air temp of house on other side = moisture in wall)

Best solution....

Tight fitting lids on all tanks to minimize evaporation, and keep air moving in the room.

I keep a dehumidifier in the hallway between our two fish rooms, and a small recirculating fan in each room, and I've never had issues.

[Trobe]

well the fish room is going to be on its own heat source. only because i didn't want the fishy smelling air getting distributed around the house through the furnace ducts. so i guess that means if i put vapor barrier up on the interior walls then i will be causing condensation to build up because the temp. will be different from one room to the next...

alright then no vapor barrier. just a dehumidifier and a bathroom fan on a humidistat.

[PPulcher]

Another option is an air exchanger, although they can be pricey. They work on a heat exchange principle in order to pre-heat the fresh air pumped in from the outside, while expelling the stale, moisture laden air outside. Newer homes that are very energy efficient need these in order to keep air quality reasonable inside the house.

[Trobe]

yes i've been looking at those... i want one for my furnace but i don't know if they make them so that they hook up to a bathroom fan