Humidity indoors

[Burton]

I am interested to hear from people with indoor systems.

 

My parental figures who think I will always be their "baby" were worried about my AP project because some far off acquaintance of the family destroyed their house with something "similar." My first though was, I am not a pot head so I am not that stupid, as this individual most likely was in my book.

Anyway they claimed they had to redo all the drywall because of mold and replace the ducting ...

 

Now I already thought about getting a dehumidifier anyway but really wanted to hear from others with indoor systems to see just how big of a problem it is for you and what you are doing to combat it.

 

My system will use a 300gal tank with LED lights and the HID's will only be on 4 hours a day (should be a huge factor in having less humidity via evaporation)

 

Thoughts?

[TCLynx]

don't drain the dehumidifier into a food system without first sterilizing the water.  See it isn't like you can keep the coils on the dehumidifier perfectly clean and the dust/dirt they pick up can contaminate the water and it is best to simply drain that water away.  Legionnaire's disease is often linked to the condensate from AC or dehumidifier units so just don't go there.  About the most useful thing I've done with such water was in our apartment we had mounted the Dehumidifier unit on a shelf over the toilet tank and we let the water drain into the toilet tank to fill it.  Then again we humanure compost so the toilet rarely gets flushed.

[Burton]

LOL ... what a name for a disease ... ok Dehumidifier goes out the window then ... or I can use it in my 3 thinking machines like you suggested :)

Found some really easy to assemble suggestions on some other forums about the easiest way to make a custom sized tent ... looks like 2x2's are in my future along with some poly :D

[TCLynx]

Wood or if you have a plumbing supply place that will give you an account you can get pvc pipe and fittings pretty cheap.  Depends on if you are more comfortable with wood and screws or PVC pipe and fittings.

 

On another note.  You might think of using the mylar emergency blankets like from the camping section of the department store.  They won't give you full blackout for your tent but they will give you a nice reflective surface for a fraction of the cost of the fancy mylar from the hydroponics store.  It isn't that sturdy so if it needs to support more than its self you will need a backing but I used it as a curtain to keep the light from my hydroponics from driving us from our living room when we were apartment dwellers.

[Burton]

I like both wood and pvc ... have done a lot of "side construction" for my father growing up :D pretty much know enough now to build everything in a house but the roof. The wood would be nice because it has a flat surface to attach the films to easier than the piping. And its dirt cheap for 2x2, like a buck each. While PVC is nice because you could do wild things like "expanding tents" by placing a 3/4" inside a 1" for instance then using it as a rail to attach two 1" together knowing you will pull them apart later.

 

As far as using the Eblanket from what I have gathered they are really really flimsy, hard to get flush, will create "hot spots," are dirt cheap, might already have holes in them, reflect 70% visible light and 90% IR light.
White paint can reflect 90% of all light, as can the panda poly :D

 

I have thought of using it still despite this in a sandwich between black canvas and panda poly to get more IR reflection. But I might just try to find some cheap insulation foam sheets and place them on the frame and place the panda poly inside the frame then cover it with more panda poly or another material to hide how ugly it is going to look

 

I had another thought too, and I haven't exactly worked on the fine details, but it would be really interesting to have dual climate zones in the tent. One from the GB down being cooler than the one from the BG up as plants like it this way .... It would add more levels of difficulty to the project but it would be interesting.

 

A simple way of doing this would be to get a "cooler" for the FT and keep the rest of the room at temperature this way the GB / FT will be about the same temperature ... I have never used a cooler before though so this might be overkill. Another Idea would be to some how vent the AC to cool the FT or just lower part of the tent. While this would work in the summer it would require tweeking. Ultimately a "valve" to adjust flow from both the heat and AC lines coming into the tent for both zones would be needed >./p>

You could also physically separate the two layers with poly then simply use a separate vent for each with thermostat. This would require possibly removing to work with the system ... but if the walls are made so they roll up for instance on each side then removing it would not be required most of the time. This option would be the easiest I think.

[TCLynx]

I don't think you will have to work that hard to have the area around the grow beds and fish tank cooler and the upper levels warmer, heat rises and the water is a natural thermal mass.  If you simply have some sort of material that will reduce the air mixing between the area above the grow beds and the area below them, it will naturally be much cooler for the fish.  I expect the bigger challenge will be keeping the area up around the plants from getting too hot when the lights are on.

[Burton]

Ah that wont be a challenge at all .. the 400w lights are only on 4 hours out of the day, the rest of the day the remaining LED lights only use about 80w :)

And I have two AC ducts near the grow space I can tap if I need to burst in some cool air :)

From my research I have found I might have to actually BOOST the temperature above the GB area not worry about reduce it based on the documentation I have reviewed >.br/>
Might have to set a webcam up for my fishes so I can enjoy them more if they are going to be in a tent all day :D

[TCLynx]

Just make yourself a little flap so you can stick your head in to watch the fish and to feed them.

 

what kind of fish are you planning?

 

[Burton]

I think I am going to go with 6 to 8 shubunkin and 6 to 8 sarasa comets :)

I am not worried about not being able to see them while feeding them lol The GB's are going to be higher than the FT anyway so the flap will be higher as well ... Will need to use a sump though, I can't place a split IBC on top of a 26" stock tank and expect to reach it without a step ladder >.br/>
Someone is going to ask "what are you doing", "watching my fish," "oh you have a fish tank in your computer room?" "Nah its down stairs" LOL

[TCLynx]

Just curious why you need such a big fish tank in this case?  Especially if you are going to have a sump?

 

If you wind up changing your layout to use a sump, you could probably do a smaller fish tank more appropriate to your fish stock.  Seeing as the system is indoors you don't really have to worry about extreme temperature fluctuations that usually cause people to go for the 300 gallon fish tank as the minimum.

[Burton]

The sarasa and shubunkin need 29 gallons per pair of adult fish ... while they dont require as much room as koi, they still require a bit of room. They do produce a ton of waste, as most in the gold fish family do, but this is not the reason for the size its so they can swim around :)

Originally I wanted to go with koi but I couldn't stock many koi in a 300 gallon without causing them to be stressed. Koi / Shubunkin/sarasa all require a bit of room to move about to be happy :D

[TCLynx]

Ok, I'll buy that.  And I suppose the stock tank is the best large tank for still getting through door ways.

[Burton]

lol yeah ... while I could find a 320gal to fit through the door the cost for the extra "20" gallons is not even close to worth it :) So the 300gal Rubbermaid will be awesome ... Seems most fish cant see above 600nm unless they are a predator, maybe I will throw some of my extra LED's down there so I can see them at night ... I should have ordered more LED's to make a fishlight for them since they like 10 hours of light a day and LED's wont increase the temperature of the water :D