90gl reef in basement?

mmarine1976 · 04/13/2008, 06:59 PM

I will be moving in a few weeks and am looking at putting my 90gl reef in the basement of the new house. The basement is completely finished with a office, kids room, and a family room. There is no extra room for a fish room, but I will be able to hide some things in a closet under my stairs. What problems may i encounter with placing the tank in the family room? Should I be concerned about humidity or lack of fresh air. We only have 3 windows in the entire basement and none are in the family room. Any advice would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Mike

roxy · 04/14/2008, 09:28 AM

Some might suggest that you need to vent the space but you could also just run a dehumidifier which many people do in their basements anyway.

I run a 65 gal on the first floor that leads to a 40 gal plus sump in the basement and simply have a dehumidifier going. I've not experienced any mold or rusting of tools.

kevin gu3 · 04/14/2008, 10:59 AM

Mine is in a walkout basement family room, works OK. The central air deals with the humidity.

I located my tank on a wall that backs to the utility/storage room, where my sump is located. I highly recommend this if you can do it.

mmarine1976 · 04/14/2008, 03:41 PM

Thanks for the information. Should I assume then that the lack of fresh air is not a concern or does not affect ph?

kevin gu3 · 04/15/2008, 05:29 AM

My storage room / utility room is not closed off from the rest of the house, air circulation is not a problem. I think you'll find utility rooms are not enclosed as they have to allow air draw for the furnace flue and hot water heater flue.

I wouldn't put the sump in a small closet, but even there it would have more circulation than most under-the-tank locations that I have seen.

The ability to put a sump somewhere other than in a cabinet is very nice. No room problems means you have all sorts of options that you wouldn't otherwise be able to take advantage of. Also no noise problems.

04/13/2008, 06:59 PM	#1
mmarine1976 Premium Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Delaware Posts: 35	90gl reef in basement? I will be moving in a few weeks and am looking at putting my 90gl reef in the basement of the new house. The basement is completely finished with a office, kids room, and a family room. There is no extra room for a fish room, but I will be able to hide some things in a closet under my stairs. What problems may i encounter with placing the tank in the family room? Should I be concerned about humidity or lack of fresh air. We only have 3 windows in the entire basement and none are in the family room. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks, Mike

04/14/2008, 10:59 AM	#3
kevin gu3 Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: Whitmore Lk, MI Posts: 732	Mine is in a walkout basement family room, works OK. The central air deals with the humidity. I located my tank on a wall that backs to the utility/storage room, where my sump is located. I highly recommend this if you can do it. __________________ Divert all money to life support. Your wallet will be assimilated. Resistance is futile. Current Tank Info: 90g reef, 29g anemone exile tank

04/15/2008, 05:29 AM	#5
kevin gu3 Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: Whitmore Lk, MI Posts: 732	My storage room / utility room is not closed off from the rest of the house, air circulation is not a problem. I think you'll find utility rooms are not enclosed as they have to allow air draw for the furnace flue and hot water heater flue. I wouldn't put the sump in a small closet, but even there it would have more circulation than most under-the-tank locations that I have seen. The ability to put a sump somewhere other than in a cabinet is very nice. No room problems means you have all sorts of options that you wouldn't otherwise be able to take advantage of. Also no noise problems. __________________ Divert all money to life support. Your wallet will be assimilated. Resistance is futile. Current Tank Info: 90g reef, 29g anemone exile tank

04/14/2008, 09:28 AM	#2
roxy Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2002 Posts: 52	Some might suggest that you need to vent the space but you could also just run a dehumidifier which many people do in their basements anyway. I run a 65 gal on the first floor that leads to a 40 gal plus sump in the basement and simply have a dehumidifier going. I've not experienced any mold or rusting of tools.

04/14/2008, 03:41 PM	#4
mmarine1976 Premium Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Delaware Posts: 35	Thanks for the information. Should I assume then that the lack of fresh air is not a concern or does not affect ph?