Using my upcoming 125 gal aquarium as a room humidifier...

[bradleyheathhays]

I've got gas heat so in the winter my house is dry as a bone. So, I've had an idea... I'm about ready to set up my first aquarium at 125 gal and I thought...what if I just left the top completely open (mounting the lighting on the wall behind it) and let the water evaporate to help out my house's relative humidity?

Is this something that's feasible (assuming I stock with non-jumpers, looking at cichlids)? Once I establish a healthy bacteria balance would having to replace 10-20 gal of water a week be ok? An idea might be to direct a fan at the water so evaporation would be accelerated. Or is this idea just haywire? What kind of stress would be put on the tank by replacing that much water every week?

Thanks

 

[absolutangel04]

A tank without a lid is fine as long as you don't keep jumping fish and are not worried about cat paws or kid hands in it.
Depending on your stock, I recommend doing a larger pwc than just 10-20g. You want to be dutiful on gravel vacuuming and not just replace the evaporated water because that messes with the amount of total dissolved solids in the tank. There will be stuff in the tank that needs to come out, not just be thinned out. The tank should be fine with you doing regular pwc and just replacing more water than you are vacuuming out.
I am not really sure about the fan thing. Maybe somebody else will have a better idea about that.

 

[Mumma.of.two]

As long as you are doing your weekly water change as well to remove TDS and nitrate, not just relying on the evaporation, that's fine. Large frequent water changes will not hurt the bacteria or hider/stall a cycle. They are actually recommended.

 

[KaylNeko]

Hahaha....I was just having a discussion with a friend about how he could never have the number of aquariums I want up and running because of the humidity it would cause. Go for it. Lots more fun than using a humidifier, and prettier. ^_^

And before I got my BB colony established, on both my tanks, they got 50% changes as needed. Now get 50% changes weekly, regardless of whether nitrates are high or not to keep water fresh and buffers up. Mumma's right. ^_^