Dehumidifier

[cracker]

Ive got a 8 x 2 x 2 tank and a 6 x 2 x 2 tank and have recently noticed mold growing in the corners of the two rooms the tanks are situated in. I have decided to purchase a dehumidifier to hopefully solve this problem even though the tanks are covered but how do the humidifiers work?

Do they suck the water out the air first or are they going to be drawing water from my tank so im constantly having to top them up yet the moisture still stays in the air which then renders the point of having them in the first place useless?

Wondering if anyone else had similar problems like this and how they solved it.

thanks for looking.

 

[sketchy]

a de-humidifyer will simply draw water from the air - it cant get water from the tank until it has already evaporated! and it will normally collect the water in a resivoir in the bottom so if you really want to, you could put it straight back into the thank, although i'm not sure if it would also collect other vapours such as spray deoderants etc - i imagine it would though...

 

[dthoffsett]

a de-humidifyer will simply draw water from the air - it cant get water from the tank until it has already evaporated! and it will normally collect the water in a resivoir in the bottom so if you really want to, you could put it straight back into the thank, although i'm not sure if it would also collect other vapours such as spray deoderants etc - i imagine it would though...

You don't want to put the dehumidifier water back in the tank as it will collect impurities as well as the water in the air. Most dehumidifiers even state the water collected is not safe for human consumption, and therefore not safe for your fish.

 

[smmetz]

I dehumidier is really exactly the same as an air conditioner with one difference.

It works by compessing the coolant, which heats it up. It cools off this coolant with a radiator. In an AC, these "hot coils" are on the outside, and a seperate fan blows outside air through it, cooling the coolant. In a dehumidifier, the "hot coils" are right behind the "cold coils", with 1 fan pushing the air through both of them them. In an AC, a seperate fan circulates inside air through the cold coils, cooling and dehumidifying it. You will notice that window ACs are rated for pints per hour or something like that - in addition to BTUs. The cold coils are made cold by allowing the coolant to expand in them. This makes the coolant cold. Air passing over cold coils cools the air. Cold air cannot hold as much water, so excess water condensates on the coils. It then drips down.

In a window AC unit, the unit is tilted towards the outside a bit, and the water drips down. In a dehumidifier, the water is collected in a bucket or something.

Since the system is not 100% effecient, a dehumidifier ends up putting off quite a bit of heat. It will warm up the room it is in.

 

[dwarfgourami]

We quite often run the dehumidifier in the room that houses our main tank. No problems with evaporation.