Less evaporation

[Harold Edwards]

what are some things I can do to make my tank not evaporate so much water? I have a 46g tank with a 15g sump. In 24 hours it will evaporate 1-1.5 gallons of water. is that normal for a tank that size. I don't mind it so much in the summer but in the winter my windows are getting to wet and it cant be good for the house. right?

[badgerlaw]

Get some kind of auto top system and a dehumidifier. The 1-1.5 gallons is about normal.

[Harold Edwards]

my tank is on a auto top system.
dehumidifiers are very expensive right?

[tgreene]

Evaporation is healthy and necessary for proper gas exchange.

Also, dehumidifiers generally range from $100 to $300, depending upon size and features..

http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=productList&N=0&Ntk=i_products&Ntt=dehumidifier

[kfowler]

Dehumidifiers aren't that expensive. A small space heater will dry a lot of air. Remember, evaporation is good. Cools your system and promotes oxygen diffusion.

[brian3]

Actually a heater will probably cause more evaporation. A dehumidifier is needed or crack the window to let cold dry air in during the winter months. Unfortunately a dehumidifier costs in the way of electricity as well. My windows were too wet in the winter for my liking - I ended up getting rid of the second reef tank (120 gallon) and this helped a bit but did not eliminate the problem. I am trying to avoid the cost of a dehumidiifer but I don't want my windows ruined either.

[Harold Edwards]

I know evaporation is healthy for a tank, but mold is not healthy, for the family!

[tgreene]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8888927#post8888927 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Harold Edwards
I know evaporation is healthy for a tank, but mold is not healthy, for the family!

Have you considered trading the family in for a larger tank..? :D

[Harold Edwards]

good idea!

[drstupid]

where is your tank in your house?

[benray4fun]

Do you have the glass canopies on?... That would reduce evaporation a pretty good amount, but still allow gas exchange. Just leave the back
strip off..."that's how I run it and it works great."

[Harold Edwards]

My tank is in my living room.
no I do not have glass tops for my tank.

[benray4fun]

I used to run open tops myself and it was evaporating two gallons a day at its peak. Before that I was running it completely closed with glass canopies and plastic strips to keep it from evaporating, but then I had no gas exchange. Diseases break out when you don't have a good
gas exchange, but excessive evaporation isn't good for the house.
So out of my own personal experience I found a happy median. My advise is to get the glass canopies for about $20.

[drstupid]

dehumidifiers are loud, you probably don't want one in your living room. a window unit a/c for the summer would probably be better, you can run most on dehumidify if your summers aren't that hot.

do you have a closed canopy or a pendant light? if it's a canopy, you could try to just vent that, which would probably keep most of the evaporation out of the room. run a vent line from that and the fan could be in your basement or someplace you wouldn't hear it.

[tgreene]

My tank is an open top 125g, maintained at 79*, with the living room kept at 72* year round, and I've never once had a condensation issue, because I keep my ceiling fan running 24/7, and in addition to lowering my tank temp by 2 degrees and helping to maintain it, it keeps the humidity way down...

I found the trick was to reverse the direction of the rotation from what it should be for the season, so that it draws the warm humid air up and out from behind the cabinet and disperses it, rather than pushing fresh air down on top, which just compresses the air and makes matters worse.

[blureef1]

Putting a top on the tank will help considerably. I run mine open in the summer, but put a top on in the winter for heating issues.

[Harold Edwards]

Thanks for all the help.