Fan Placement on 55gal

[Epiphile]

Originally Posted by froggsong

Circulating the air that is IN the tank is, IMO, a better way to go.

I'd say that this is totally true- it gets the job done, and you don't have to worry about constantly humidifying.

I wouldn't integrate the fans permanently into the background, personally- I like to be able to fiddle around with them. And between that and the fact that most of them burn out after a short while, I like having them a bit remote from the hardscape. I've been using magnets to this end, and it really gives a lot of versatility as far as placement/replacement.

[MtuPup]

so, I'll have to fashion up a few brackets to hang them inside the tank - shouldn't be an issue. hopefully I can get my hands on some Adda waterproof ones locally and give this a shot.

[beckdg]

2 fans... placed in the back... aiming up... through your glass top or whatever... small gap in the front with screening or drilled or notched out holes... lighting hood tightly over it with tiny ventilation holes... this should recirculate your air, provide some heat and keep your front glass clean as well as cool your lamps theoretically making them last longer and use less electricity.

start off without ventilation holes in the canopy and see how you sit with temp and humidity first... ventilate from there.

cut the length of the tank in thirds for placement.

drs foster and smith has fan kits if you don't want to wire up pc fans.

also... rubber washers, nuts and bolts... should keep it a little quieter. better fans have better bearings that'll keep them quieter also.

plexiglass and piano hinges make for a decent glass lid that's workable with cutting and trimming for such applications.

[froggsong]

Originally Posted by Epiphile

I wouldn't integrate the fans permanently into the background, personally- I like to be able to fiddle around with them. And between that and the fact that most of them burn out after a short while, I like having them a bit remote from the hardscape. I've been using magnets to this end, and it really gives a lot of versatility as far as placement/replacement.

Well, if you wrapped the fan in wax paper or something similar before you sprayed the foam, you could pop it out once the foam was done, remove the paper, and then pop it back in, just using the foam as a place to hold it and dampen the sound. That's what I was going for before, but I forgot to add that part in, lol.

[Epiphile]

Originally Posted by froggsong

...if you wrapped the fan in wax paper or something similar before you sprayed the foam, you could pop it out once the foam was done, remove the paper, and then pop it back in, just using the foam as a place to hold it and dampen the sound.

That could work- still, though, you might have plants and stuff (or frogs, even) getting into the fans.

You might have a hard time getting a hold of those ADDA fans locally- I believe Mouser.com carries them, and shipping shouldn't be too much, I wouldn't think. Or perhaps a store can order them for you. And like I said, the one I'm using has withstood the passage of time thus far, but how it'll fare in the long run is anyone's guess.

[beckdg]

Originally Posted by Epiphile

That could work- still, though, you might have plants and stuff (or frogs, even) getting into the fans.

that's what fiberglass screening is for. if it's just being popped into g/s then you only have to fold over the sides and jam the whole thing in. this makes wear and tear on the screen a non issue because you don't even have to strip glue or disassemble to replace it.

[froggsong]

You can also put stockings around fans. I used one around the fan I used to keep in my frog/toad tank.

[MtuPup]

SO I had 2 fans dangling from suction cup hooks but in less than 2 weeks of operation they've died.

New plan of action:

1.) buy waterproof fans
2.) figure new mounting

Right now, I'm tempted to create a humidity box and then using some duct blow humid air into the viv. With the viv already built the ideas of incorporating the fans into the design are a bit after the fact. Me being concerned on aestitics too, I hated seeing the fans just dangling there. If i do decide to go with the fan directly in the tank, I'm thinking about making a mounting and GSing/ Coco fibering it just the way I would the back ground so looking headon it would appear to be tank furniture.

[Epiphile]

Mounting the fans from the top, pointing down will give them a lower profile. You may have had bad luck with the fans you got, too- I don't think I've ever had a fan short that quickly. Were they getting directly wet?

Some people have used those ultrasonic humidifiers externally and piped that in- something like this may do something to push the air around a bit as well, too. I'm not sure, having not tried it myself, though I was setting up to give it a shot.

[MtuPup]

The fans were definately getting wet from the humidity - when i run the external ultrasonic I'm getting up around 99%. The vapor coming in doesn't provide much air circulation and because of the high humidity, that's where I'm getting a majority of the water on the glass.

Other things I've done to get a little bit of air flow:
Used rubber "feet" and lifted the top up a little bit - didn't make much of a difference.

Leave one of the tops open - drops the humidity well below (60% range) desired. This worked great for getting ride of the condensate.

Just leave it be - if this tank wasn't meant as a showcase feature for my living room I wouldn't even care but it's in a very visible area and my little cousins tend to like gaulk at my little creatures so I want them to be able to see the darts when they're actually in the tank.