Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey everybody- I appreciate the advice on these boards, but I couldn't seem to find the answer to this question anywhere...
How do you all keep condensation down in your tanks? My glass top really doesn't have enough room in the back to mount a cpu fan, I guess I could probably fit about 1/2 of a fan over an opening, but wanted to check first before cutting an irrepareable hole in the back of my top. I fog every 6 hours, but my humidity seems to be too close to 100% to keep the condensation down. Any thoughts?
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Jeff wanta68gt@aol.com

If you can swing it, I recommend a 40mm fan ran at 3 volts. If the tank is small you won't need a large hole. A crack might even be better because it won't dry your tank out
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Matt

I run these same fans on 3 tanks, and they work great. I have plants to make a duct type system, but have yet to try it. It would use 1 80mm fan a full power ,and then pvc to each tank with a valve on each tank so it can be regulated. I have no idea if this will work, but I want to try it.
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Kyle
www.kylesphotos.com
Dart Links - still a work in progress
1.2.0 D. leucomelas
1.1.0 D. azureus
1.0.1 D. imitators

Are you guys using these to push outside air in or to pull inside air out?

I am very close to building a tight hood over the top of my vent tank and mounting a fan to a cut-out in the back that pulls air out of the hood space, pulling air up from the holes in the top of the terrarium and hopefully creating enough air movement to eliminate fogging and stimulate orchid growth without lowering humidity.
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Homer W. Faucett III, esq.
Purveyor of Trivialities and Fine Nonsense

What I do is use it to push air in, but just a very little amount.

You can see here the little hole to let air in. There is mesh over that also. The other thing I did with this one is use a small piece of plastic under the fan so I can adjust it as needed. The fan is also running at 3 volts instead of 12. Another thing I have seen done is to put a small fan inside the tank and cover both sides with mesh. Just for internal air movement.

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Kyle
www.kylesphotos.com
Dart Links - still a work in progress
1.2.0 D. leucomelas
1.1.0 D. azureus
1.0.1 D. imitators

Homer, on my 40 gallon, the fan is pulling air out, and on my 15H it is blowing air in. I don't think it really matters. I do think that the amount of air you allow in/out does matter. On my 40, I have a hole the size of the fan and it keeps condensation down but doesn't dry the tank out. I know with my 15H it would ry the tank out, so I use small holes through acrylic...just like Kyle. That way, if you see that it is drying the tank too much, you can cvover/plug some of the holes. I run mine at 3 volts also by the way.
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Matt

That's a pretty darn good idea, Kyle. I don't see why it wouldn't work. If you ever do try it, be sure to post some pics for us!
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Randy

I will do that, just a matter of if it is cheaper than the fans and ac/dc converters. For one alone it costs about $15-20 for fan and converter. Now you can run more than one fan off a converter, but at least in my case my tanks are not all close together. I am however about out of room for display type tanks, unless I build some massive shelves. I also have a idea to make my own lid, but have not tried that yet either.
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Kyle
www.kylesphotos.com
Dart Links - still a work in progress
1.2.0 D. leucomelas
1.1.0 D. azureus
1.0.1 D. imitators
0.0.2 D. ventrimaculatus

I've been using a magnetic aquarium algae scraper in my azureus tank to just wipe away the condensation when I want to have a peek. Easy cheap solution, and you don't have to worry about overly drying out the tank.

Dave Prada