Mould from Aquariums compared to Grow-Ops

[limmer]

Has anyone thought about this?  Do we have a problem?
Could we have the same problem with multiple tanks as the Grow-Ops have with humidity?
There are a number of Grow-Ops surfacing and the problem with mould when the houses are resold.
Usually major work has to be done before they are habitable again.

[beowulf]

Dehumidifier?  This is in part the reason I am going with no more then 4 tanks.

[BigDaddy]

I had a friend growing up who had a tank with an open top... the dry wall behind the tank was black with mold.  Gross.

I keep a dehumidifier in the room that has the most tanks, and my central air system has an air exchanger that keeps the relative humidity in the house at a constant value.

Otherwise, no more worries than a bathroom ...

Clean up your spills quickly and keep your tanks covered, and there should be no worries.

[darkdep]

I have a hygrometer in my fish room (which currently houses 13 running tanks).  Most are covered completely, with only 2 10gallons uncovered at the moment.  My relative humidity is about 53-55% constantly.  Before they were covered, it was well into the 70's.

[BigDaddy]

The best ranges to keep most of the "nasties" at bay is between 45 and 60% relative humidity.  I keep my house around the 45% mark.. but some people find that a little too dry.  I'm pretty sure most office buildings try to maintain around 55%.

[darkdep]

I'd like to keep it dryer actually; I have old windows that condensate constantly (but before you all start the jokes, they did it long before I had the tanks in the house too).  If I run a dehumidifier for the day it drops the humidity house-wide now to about 51%.

[limmer]

If you run a dehumidifer, would it also not suck the water out of the tanks causing a faster evaporation.

[beowulf]

If you run a dehumidifer, would it also not suck the water out of the tanks causing a faster evaporation.

A little but if well covered should be very little.

[BigDaddy]

If you run a dehumidifer, would it also not suck the water out of the tanks causing a faster evaporation.

No exactly.  It won't "suck the water out of the tanks"... but it will make the ambient air dryer than the air above the tanks... so yes you will get more evaporation from the higher differential between the surface area of the water and the ambient air.

As beowulf says though, a covered tank solves this issue quite well, as the inch or so of water between the water line and the top can have much higher relative humidity than the ambient air in the room.