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I've been trying for some time now to get a 55 gal. tank, but my mom and brother always boil it down to (after many other excuses) "It will make the room too humid." I keep telling them that the tank doesn't have to be warm it could be at room temperature. Although I would like it to be warm, because I could have different and more healthy fish in it. But it's hard arguing with my brother because he is incredibly smart and can prove me wrong on most things, but I think he's wrong on this. If the tank is warm or cold how will it effect the humidity of the room its in. If it does significantly effect it, is there something I can buy to help?

I haven't noticed any increase in humidity in the room our 60 gallon tank is in. It is an acrylic tank, so the light fixture fits snugly over the main opening, and in an open room that is ventilated by more of the house, but - as long as your tank is properly covered, I don't think you'll have any problems with increased humidity with a 55 gallon tank, unless it's in a closed room that's pretty much only furnished with other aquaria.

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Its a room with an opening width of two doors (that can swing shut) and it has three windows. We also use it as our computer room, this is why I want one in here, because we will see it very often unlike the ones in my room.

Well, in my room with 3 tanks, and 2 of them are open topped, the humidity is the exact same as the rest of the house. In fact, its more humid in my washroom then in the room with the tanks. Tell your brother to read this, and im sure hell listen if he is wise.......

Good luck, and i hope you will be able to get one!

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With a tight fighting glass top, there should be little to no increase in humidity in the room. I have a 75g and a 10g and a 5g all in my living room, and there has been no increase in humidity, and there are all tanks heated to 80F.


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Tell your smart brother to calculate the amount of water that evaporates per day from a closed 55G tank (of course, he will have to take the temperature difference between the room and the tank into equation) as well as the surface area which is not covered by the glass top (usually, two inch wide if using the ALL GlASS covers). When he has that calculated he will have to calculate the increase in humidity of the room (height-depth-width have to be determined) per m3. For simplicity's sake he is allowed to assume that doors and windows in this room are not opened ...

When he finally has that I suggest he consult with a health professional regarding the significance of such increase on human well being and with a computer specialist regarding computers (but not the 'specialists' that are found hanging around at 'Best Buy' or similar stores).

Regarding the possible impliction on health of humans I might as well answer myself: the air in the majority of rooms is very dry and a slight increase would be very beneficial to the respiratory system, it will also have positive effects on the skin, mucosal membranes and eyes, etc. However, unfortunately, a 55 G aquarium with a cover will not provide a significant increase in humidity.

Hope you will have your tank soon!

150g, 55g, 40g, and 20g tall inmy small apartment and i have never had a problem with them making my place humid. all of my tops are basicly seal, or i should say, no large gaps for water to evaporate threw



Fish tanks are an expensive addiction

i have a 20g 15g and 5g in my room and i have not noticed a difference in humidity before i had this many tanks in my room. my parents think that my room is more humid because of the tanks. the 20g does not even have a heater.
i do open my door to the balcony on good days to let some air in. your brother and mother don't know what humid is. tell them to go to singapore. that is as humid as it gets.

edit: wow catdancer realy is a mad scientist

edit(again) i just noticed everyone posted on the 25th of dec. maybe they posted on the 24th of december and live on the other side of the world to me. hmm 10 minutes of christmas left. hmmm stop typing to myself

hi
woot woot woot woot woot woot

Has anybody actually tested the room for humidity? My brother still thinks the room will be more humid, and wants to know if you all actually test the room or just "think" its not anymore humid?

People with reef tanks have their tanks not covered, think about the 'tremendous' increase in the overall humidity of the room. What on earth are your 'smart' brother's concerns? Let me guess: your brother and mom are avid collectors of century old parchments and the room is decorated with invaluable Old Masters in oil. Is that it? Negligible increases in humidity would be detrimental, of course. On the other hand, a lot of windows and wide doors will not be very becoming to the antiques!

More serious, is he afraid that breathing will be a little bit easier and the usual dry heat generated by conventional heating will be less efficiently drying the skin? Nevermind people who purchase humidifiers for their homes for exactly the reasons that I told you. Their are stores which specialize in this type of equipment.
Why don't you ask him to do the calculation that I suggested... if he is not the avid collector that I suspect him to be by now. Or is it that you have 'decorated' the house with numerous fish tanks already and the humidity is a hoax to keep at least one room tankless?

He is worried about the 10,000 dollars worth of computers in the room.

Catdancer is right, my lungs improved after getting into reptile and fishkeeping, and often the place my lungs are worse are in air conditioned offices.

1000 gallons in one room, cold old blighty, hot end tropical tanks, and not even a misty window, and no mould, with no aircon. Drip tray is the answer.

I am with the others in that I don't think that humidity from a fishtank will be a major issue espescially if there is adequate ventilation in the room - windows and doors usually provide this .

I think that splashing and drips during routine tank maintenance would be more of a risk to the computer equipment than any increase in humidity (if in fact there is a noticeable increase), so the physical location of the tank in relation to the equipment will be important.

If it comes down to having to pacify the rest of the family so you can get your big tank then you may want to look into electronic room dehumidifiers. (I just did a web search for "dehumidifiers" and came up with dozens of options).

Good Luck

G_T

Never be afraid to try something new. Remember that a lone amateur built the Ark. A large group of professionals built the Titanic.

What is this drip tray? However, it almost defines itself...

Its just the cheapest piece of transparent corrugated plastic imaginable . You just put it between the water and the hood.

If the tank is covered it's not going to make it any worse for a computer than taking a laptop outside in the summer.

Does he never ever open the windows and doors, and wear a rebreather while working on the computer? Stick a glass plate infront of his nose and ask him to exhale, just breathing creates humidity ( I know cause I get it all over the back of my camera when I'm working for a long time on one shot).

As has been said, a lid that covers most all or all of the top of the tank will prevent much evaporation. If there's even a few windows and doors that open from time to time humidity will not be a problem. Worst case you could offer to get a dehumidifier, but those are noisy, waste even more electricity, and will likely just suck the tank dry, by keeping the air overdry.

In the end, theres not much you can do to convince the fam otherwise, if they've got their head stuck in a zip drive then they've got their heads stuck in a zip drive an no reasonable argument will get them to pull it out. (Please note that I used the zip drive as a way of describing how old fashioned they are, and not because zip drives are new and modern)

^_^

if you keep proper low heat lighting and you keep your tank covered you wont have much humidty added... my room is humid though because i have 2 uncovered tanks and one semi covered tank and two large covered tanks... theat much evaporation would make a difference (plus i have incandescent lghts wich burn really hot!) so keep the lighting down and keep it covered and you will have no problems at all!

\\\\\\\"an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of the cure\\\\\\\"

"Please note that I used the zip drive as a way of describing how old fashioned they are, and not because zip drives are new and modern)"

They aren't

And here I thought you were avoiding an anatomy lesson.

Frank


-->>> The Confidence of Amateurs, is the Envy of Professionals <<<--

I have my 55 gallon pretty much next to my two computers (about 6 inches away) and up until recently a ten gallon as well. No problems and that was with the 55 gallon open topped. But it sounds to me like they are dead set against it mainly because of the location. How about a compromise? Is there another room with decent use that it could go in?

mts.gif" border="0"> I vote do you?
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