considering CW tank.

[AdrianBryce]

I read that if you don't have very thick glass or acrylic the tank will sweat all the time, however, i see many tanks here that are standard 5.5 gallons - 40 gallons. what gives? do you have to keep a towel under your tank? are you wiping your tank down right before FTS photos?

 

Seems like the info is conflicting with the evidence. just want to clear this up before get started.

 

Thanks

[moto826]

mine sweated on hot days

[AquaticEngineer]

It all depends on the how cold you wanna go, the temperatures your house will be at, and how high the humidity gets. I would also look into what animals you want to keep first, check what the temperature ranges are in their native habitat and then go from there.

 

My 2 lobster tanks run from 58 - 60F, they have dual paned glass and have never sweated once. Not even on the hottest day in the summer.

[Jamie]

Lookup data for typical dew points in your area. If the dew point is below the temperature of your tank - no sweating. Also, if you have AC, it will lower the dew point in your house and likely keep your tank from sweating.

[Zo0k365]

Lookup data for typical dew points in your area. If the dew point is below the temperature of your tank - no sweating. Also, if you have AC, it will lower the dew point in your house and likely keep your tank from sweating.

 

Oh sh1t Jamie, I more post to 2000.

[Jamie]

yeah, I forgot to make it a special one. Oh well, guess I'll have to wait till 3000.

[alaskan84]

i'm looking for a lobster tank similar to what aquatic engineer is running....but they are hard to come by up here in alaska.

[AquaticEngineer]

i'm looking for a lobster tank similar to what aquatic engineer is running....but they are hard to come by up here in alaska.

 

If you wanna pay for shipping I'm sure I can find one for you

 

yeah, I forgot to make it a special one. Oh well, guess I'll have to wait till 3000.

 

What are talking about, your 2000th post was in my tank thread

[alaskan84]

If you wanna pay for shipping I'm sure I can find one for you

 

 

well im on an island in alaska...If i could just truck freight it all the way to my house I would consider sourcing one from the "lower 48". Trying to find one around the Anchorage, Alaska area is about my only option, then I could take my truck up to anchorage on the ferry and bring her home over a weekend.

[AquaticEngineer]

This must be you then:

WTB/Looking for Marineland or similar Lobster tank/aquarium w/ chiller (Anchorage Area)

I'll keep an eye out for you as well

[alaskan84]

This must be you then:

WTB/Looking for Marineland or similar Lobster tank/aquarium w/ chiller (Anchorage Area)

I'll keep an eye out for you as well

 

 

You found me! yeah I just reposted that recently...probably not alot of those just floating around the area, but hey you never know. Thanks!

[C-Rad]

I read that if you don't have very thick glass or acrylic the tank will sweat all the time

Very thick glass won't help much, but thick acrylic will. "Sweating" happens when warm humid air is cooled by contact with the cold surface of your tank. Cooler air can't hold as much water vapor as warm air, and the water that can no longer be held by the air after it cools, sticks to the outside of your tank. The two factors are how humid the air is, and the temp difference is between the room air, and the surface of the outside of your tank. If you want to keep animals local to Kodiac, where the average surface water temperature is 38-45 F, seven months of the year, and 45-54 F the other five months, you'll probably want to mimic that, or just keep a constant 46, either way, you're tank would be really cold, and would sweat a lot unless the air were very dry, which it's not up there. With about a 25 - 30 degree difference between your tank and room temp, and 75-82% average humidity, I wonder if even 1" thick acrylic would prevent sweating. I think you'll need to go with double panes of either glass or acrylic, with a 1/4" to 1/2" air-space between them. Buying a lobster tank would certainly get the job done, but if you are good at Do-It-Yourself type projects, I think you should consider adding spacers and a second pane to an existing tank. (lobster tanks are usually noisy, and might look out of place in your living room). I did that with my tank, on two sides, and used Styrofoam insulation board on the other sides, and bottom. It's not that hard if you know a few tricks. Let me know if you are interested and I'll give you some tips.

[C-Rad]

You found me! yeah I just reposted that recently...probably not alot of those just floating around the area, but hey you never know. Thanks!

Aquatic Engineer seems to have no problem finding those things, and I'm guessing he sells them for about $300. My brother lives on Prince of Whales Island, in Alaska, and he often pays to have large things shipped up from Seattle on "the slow boat" for not much money ($150 - $250 ??). How much do you think it would cost you to ship a lobster tank from Oregon, all the way to Kodiac? $400? (WAG) For $700, including chiller, that might well be the cheapest and easiest way to go.

 

Here's a wild idea:

Looking at the average temps on Kodiac, it looks you could save some electricity ($) by just running water through coils of plastic tubing kept in the shade outside. At least six months per year, the average outside temp is below 46 degrees. I've always wondered if it would be worth it, in cold areas, to use the cold outside (and some thrmostatic switches) to keep my tank cool.

[Jamie]

With about a 25 - 30 degree difference between your tank and room temp, and 75-82% average humidity, I wonder if even 1" thick acrylic would prevent sweating.

 

Dew point is a much better indicator than humidity of what temperature water will condense at. Notice here that despite high humidities, the dewpoint is in the 30's, so you wouldn't have sweating. Also a consideration - dewpoint is always less than or equal to air temperature. (in the 'equal to' case, water condenses in the air and forms fog). Because temperatures in your area are typically pretty low, you really aren't going to even have the possibility of a dew point above your tank temperature for most of the year.

[alaskan84]

Dew point is a much better indicator than humidity of what temperature water will condense at. Notice here that despite high humidities, the dewpoint is in the 30's, so you wouldn't have sweating. Also a consideration - dewpoint is always less than or equal to air temperature. (in the 'equal to' case, water condenses in the air and forms fog). Because temperatures in your area are typically pretty low, you really aren't going to even have the possibility of a dew point above your tank temperature for most of the year.

 

Thanks for all the advice guys, I must say that I apologize. I wasnt trying to derail or steal attention from the OP at all. I've seen a couple guys here in town who have had coldwater tanks in the past, really ugly, used for hatching baby salmon eggs, but they didnt seem to sweat that much. I didnt really think of slow boating one up from washington, but thats totally a possibility as well.Unfortunatly I'm not too handy at the DIY, so I will probably stay away from trying to create a CW setup myself. I have a huge garage/entryway and I would plan on this being in the garage and more of a play around tank so the thought of an ugly tank in the livingroom wouldnt be a problem besides thats where i keep my warm tanks Lots of great ideas...with it in the garage I could plumb some tubing/coils outside for cooling as well...

[AquaticEngineer]

The average dewpoint for Portland Oregon is 42.8°F

 

Highest dewpoint is 53.6°F in August

 

Lowest dewpoint is 32°F in January

 

I run my tank at 57F on average.

 

Dual paned glass on the two lobster tanks, and there will be 1.25" acrylic on the inside display tank.