Humidity issues

yakfishin · 11/21/2006, 03:06 PM

I have an aquarium stand that I made that is completely enclosed
with the exception of two 2X4" cut outs behind the aquarium at the top of the stand. I built the stand against a wall, and it basically is built to tie in with a wetbar. So there is no open back or sides, just the two small openings in the back for power cords. Everytime I open the doors to my stand I feel like I'm entering a sauna from all the heated water I have in my sump and refugium. I don't really think the humidity will harm the stand itself, as it is mostly pressure treated wood and any wood that is not treated has been well waterproofed with acyrlic. My concern is that the humidity level will allow the growth of mold at some point in the future. I guess I have two questions. First is if other people using sumps and refugiums within their stands have the same high humidity levels, and if so have you ever had mold or other problems associated with it? The other is that I would like to add perhaps some kind of ventilation fan to my stand. I guess using the same sort of muffin fans that are used for aquarium lighting ventilation. My stand is longer at one end, so I'm thinking I can cut a hole at that end to install the fans and perhaps add a wooden louvered covering to match the wood of my stand. Anyone ever used these fans for venting an aquarium stand? If so, how much did it help?

11/21/2006, 03:06 PM	#1
yakfishin Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2006 Posts: 696	Humidity issues I have an aquarium stand that I made that is completely enclosed with the exception of two 2X4" cut outs behind the aquarium at the top of the stand. I built the stand against a wall, and it basically is built to tie in with a wetbar. So there is no open back or sides, just the two small openings in the back for power cords. Everytime I open the doors to my stand I feel like I'm entering a sauna from all the heated water I have in my sump and refugium. I don't really think the humidity will harm the stand itself, as it is mostly pressure treated wood and any wood that is not treated has been well waterproofed with acyrlic. My concern is that the humidity level will allow the growth of mold at some point in the future. I guess I have two questions. First is if other people using sumps and refugiums within their stands have the same high humidity levels, and if so have you ever had mold or other problems associated with it? The other is that I would like to add perhaps some kind of ventilation fan to my stand. I guess using the same sort of muffin fans that are used for aquarium lighting ventilation. My stand is longer at one end, so I'm thinking I can cut a hole at that end to install the fans and perhaps add a wooden louvered covering to match the wood of my stand. Anyone ever used these fans for venting an aquarium stand? If so, how much did it help?