Mobile Bay Reef Keepers

Looks great..the tank is up and running and the old is out the door.Now the fun part..the small problem missions which never stop but do not have to be done right now...I know you are both excited to see the results of all the hard work...Enjoy.....Terry

whow...nice..looks great

Well that is not too unreal if you ask people that have large tanks they will say the sump room gets very humid and everything rust in the vicinity. The guy on Reefcentral Weatherson has already said that his 240's sump room gets really humid and wet and that is why he had to use bathboard around his tank. From what i remember Brandon had a dehumidifier for sale cheap. Halides will add to the evaporation and even make the situation worse if run for long periods. It's just part of having a reef tank and one of the things we deal with.

ShagMan wrote:... I have already witnessed that the
inside of the stand is VERY warm and muggy.... what can I do about
that? It's like I need to run a dehumidifier.

All you need is fresh intake air. I see you have a fan, but are you pumping fresh air in? This will increase evaporization and cool the tank some more.

By the way...looks great!

I guess that would help a lot; right now, there's just a fan moving
inside air around, no air being pulled inside or out... more research!

I also got a temp spike after putting the doors on, I had to bump
both my fans (canopy/stand) to their middle setting, that brought
the temp down to 81.5ish while the halides are on. I think I'm gonna
put the fans on a timer to come on with the MH's, don't really need them
when the MH's aren't on.

Just remember that the fans will just move the humidity around the house, most noticeable at your windows.

Dude, believe me, I already know it... I think that we may have
to invest in a dehumidifier... our A/C/heater core in the house
is already badly rusted from pulling out the amount of water it does...
it actually backed up this year (house is less than two years old),
because of funk blocking the drain line...the 100G evaporated about
a gallon a day, the 240G is evaporating more like 3-6 gallons per
day, and I know that's gotta be tough on a A/C unit. Where do you
go to buy a dehumidifier?? I'm totally stupid when it comes to
something like that.

Well first PM Brandon and see if he still has his. If not then try Sears they have sold them for years.

Just a thought.....what is the total cost of Fans, Dehumidifier, timers, ect. and how does it relate to just getting a chiller. I know there is some difference but how much...50% maybe..and remember the hot summer is overwith..what kind of spikes will you have withen it gets to be 90 outside?

Also keep in mind a chiller needs a place for the exit air, I had to keep mine in the laundry room.

Our chiller ran our powerbill about an extra $40 to 50 dollars a month. I was floored to see the difference when that was taken off. I also had forgotten how much 75 gallon added to the power bill. This past months power bill was the cheapest in 3 years and nearly$100 dollars less than the last month with the 75 running. Can not imagine what you power bill is going to run with that 240 Josh, and then the possibility of a chiller and/or a dehumidifier OUCH

Oh hell Josh is made of money, he is going to help fund my down payment on my next house. Right Josh

Tht's why I am experimenting on a new power source tht envolves 12 mice and a exercise wheel .......

The main thing is keeping the temp steady...temp swings do not help the livestock. I am sure the electric bill will go up I figure about 30per mo max. As for location I have mine outside the house. Had to take a brick out and just ran one of my return pumps out to the chiller and back to the tank. Even with a 1/3 hp chiller I had to get a small fan to go in the hood to keep the temp steady. I am running more lights 4 x400w but your not that much behind. I also know xster runs his with out a chiller but has a room he keeps cool behind the tank and fans...What makes this hobby so hard is there just is not a yes or no answer to most stuff..Everybody does it different and no body is wrong..glad I got to see it in person yesterday... Terry

Also keep in mind that a chiller has to have lower water flow. Max through a 1hp is probably 1200gph. Most people recommend a 1/2 or full horsepower for a tank as large as a 240 gallon so the chiller does not run for long periods of time. Of course this varies with every setup and amount of bulbs, house temperature.