Mould and tank

[Lithops]

Hi everybody,

The owner of the appartement building is saying that if I have mould in my bed room (south wall), it's because of my 65 gallons tank in my living room (north wall). I know aquarium add humidity, but to the point to get a 'healthy' wall with mould !?!??!?!

What is your tought and experience about that ?

Thanks
Lithops

[exv152]

Do you have a lot of condensation building on the walls in general? Is the south wall where the mold is growing, the inside of an exterior wall?

[Aquaticfinatic]

Doesn't make sense to me from a 65g. Is it on the inside of the wall so you can see it? Maybe shows lack of insulation behind the wall.

[bergenm]

Doesn't make sense to me - You would be doing a lot of top-ups... Buy a hygrometer ($10-$20) and check the humidity levels in the rooms...

[exv152]

Doesn't make sense to me either, and I bet the mold is growing through the drywall which mold tends to do, and probably means you have a water leak on the interior of that wall. Water could be leaking in from the outside or from a plumbing leak. I have five tanks running in my basement, with an overall volume of 265 gallons, and the humidity is a bit higher than the rest of the house. No mold though.

[lucius]

I saw this thread earlier and placed one of my hygrometers over top my 90 gallon.  It has been fluctuating from 49 to 51%.  The other two hygrometers in the house say the same thing.

[Nerine]

I know someone who has a few aquariums in a very small apartment (and I have done it myself too) and you will generally get mold from the bathroom but IN the bathroom due to poor ventilation of the fan, OR like everyone said, it's NOT a healthy wall!

[Charles]

Ventilate the room .open window use fan to create air movement .it should make a difference if it is caused by something inside . How about a picture .

[Lithops]

I don't have a hydrometer but I know that in summer time it's very humide. I know that I don't have to add any water to the tank even if I didn't do any water change for 3-4 weeks. In winter time I have to add water every 1 1/2 weeks.

Thanks I just wanted to make sure that I was right to say that tank don't add humidity to the point to make wall to mould.

[robt18]

I had several tanks running in my old apartment and definitely did end up with some mold, which I'm sure could be attributed to the tanks. My place was very warm and humid, and the mold grew near windows only on the ceiling. Not the same situation as you're looking at, but the more humid the environment, the higher the chance of having mold growth.

[Greatwhite]

Definitely go invest in a cheap hygrometer.. I got one at Canadian Tire for < $10 this summer.  My 90G is in my office (10x14 room) and I don't have any problems with mould.  A 65 should not cause much problem at all.

If you're handy, and can repair holes in walls and make the wall look untouched later - you should do a little exploration in your wall.  I bet there's no vapor barrier behind that drywall.  I've seen it MANY times in older apartment buildings.  There'll be a brick/cement exterior wall and little to no insulation and no vapor barrier to keep moisture out.

Failing all that - if humidity in your apartment is a problem, grab a dehumidifier.  You can get one on Kijiji pretty cheep.  There are some that are handy combo units for apartments with AC, dehumidifier + fan.  It'd definitely make summers more comfortable.

[fischkopp]

Make sure the tank is covered as much as possible. That solves a lot of humidity problems due to aquariums. In the winter time, that may not be enough near windows as water condensates in cold spot. I found that a little fan circulating the air around the window avoids that. No moisture, no mold.

[ma_clement]

No way ... No way just one aquarium produces enough humidity across the whole apartment to cause mold.

Just no way

I use to live in a basement apartment, with 5 aquariums, one of which was a 65 gallon. Never had a problem

Either that owner has no idea what he is talking about, or he is trying to find a cheap excuse not to do the repair

Again, just no way

[exv152]

Either that owner has no idea what he is talking about, or he is trying to find a cheap excuse not to do the repair

Both.

[Lithops]

It's not a cheap excuse to not do the repair, since they will do it. I think it's a cheap excuses to make me feel guilty of making them spend money. They tell me that I have aeration problem because it's not aerated enough and too much furniture against the wall. I told them that my bedroom window is always the first one to be open, even sometime in winter when it's not too cold. They say to not to that because I make the outside humidity enter in the appartement  They even told me that the neibourgh made his wall mold because he did put his 'wet' tire against the wall. The tire need to be wet for quite a few month to make a wall to mold! And how did they know the tire was wet in the first place. They accused friday my 6 gallon tank, all close, to be the problem of mold in my bedroom... I told them one of the problem could be because the building don't have any gutter, there answer was no way because it's on the south side of the building... Anyway, you get the picture. They will repairs this week the wall and they will give me a dehumidifier. I'm looking foward to it, because it's making me sick.

Thanks for all the info you gave me, it's helped me to try to make them understand it's take more then a aquarium or 2 to make a wall to mold!

On second though, it's funny to see that a 6 gallons get mold in my bedroom and a 65 gallons in the living room don't... 

[ma_clement]

What king of heating is there in that apartment?

If it's electrical heating, you would need the extra humidity, otherwise it would get too dry

If it's hot water, then it will get very humid in the winter, but wheter or not you have an aquarium won't change anything, especially in an old apartment

In a typical OLD apartment that has not been renovated, there is so much air getting in from the outside through cracks or badly (or not at all) isolated wall that it would be the equivalent, is a new house, to letting the front door wide open

the aquarium is not the issue

as we already said, your owner is either ignorant or dishonest, or both