High Tide Aquatics

Evaporation Reduction

for about a week or so in the summer it gets balmy in Bernal. Otherwise stays pretty cool and the fish room doesn’t get any direct light. So 1/4”?
 
Exactly, depends on humidity, if you make the area above the tank super humid (due to a lid) evaporation is going to be greatly reduced.

That said, what's the reason for wanting to stop evaporation? Water damage (aka humidity) to the rest of the house? Tired of "wasting" RO/Di water for top off?
 
Coral reefer said:
Depends on humidity too but 96 right
Click to expand...


Assume same humidity.

Does a cool glass of water on a hot day evaporate faster or a warm glass on a cool day? Assuming you can keep the temp of the water the same at all times and the humidity of the environment stays the same.


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The colder it is the less water vapor it takes to raise the humidity. Cold air can't hold as much water as warm air.
 
Vhuang168 said:
Assume same humidity.

Does a cool glass of water on a hot day evaporate faster or a warm glass on a cool day? Assuming you can keep the temp of the water the same at all times and the humidity of the environment stays the same.


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Click to expand...
In this case (same relative humidity) I think warmer tank water than surrounding air would promote evaporation more quickly, but less total volume than cooler tank and warmer air.
The relative humidity will climb more quickly given the same amount of water vapor being added in the colder air than warmer air would so the rates of evaporation and total amount of additional water vapor the air could hold would fluctuate over time.
 
It’s the temperature of the water, not the temperature of the air, that drives evaporation. So if tank water is 78 deg in both scenarios, and humidity is the same, then evaporation is the same regardless of air temp. The only slight caveat is that much warmer air will heat the surface of the water a little bit which would increase evaporation a bit, and vice-versa for cold air. Assuming you have lots of flow, this is likely negligible.

The main reason most of us talk about wanting to encourage evaporation with open top and fans (both of which work by reducing the humidity immediately above the water) in the summer is because our room air is warmer and we don’t want the tank water to overheat. But if your room air is never higher, then closed top will reduce humidity in the room, reduce heater electricity use, and reduce RODI top-off use.
 
Me head hurts from thinking about this. And my neck hurts too. And my knees hurt. Ah heck, I’m too old for this crap!
Wait a minute, what was I talking about again...?
 
JVU said:
It’s the temperature of the water, not the temperature of the air, that drives evaporation. So if tank water is 78 deg in both scenarios, and humidity is the same, then evaporation is the same regardless of air temp. The only slight caveat is that much warmer air will heat the surface of the water a little bit which would increase evaporation a bit, and vice-versa for cold air. Assuming you have lots of flow, this is likely negligible.

The main reason most of us talk about wanting to encourage evaporation with open top and fans (both of which work by reducing the humidity immediately above the water) in the summer is because our room air is warmer and we don’t want the tank water to overheat. But if your room air is never higher, then closed top will reduce humidity in the room, reduce heater electricity use, and reduce RODI top-off use.
Click to expand...


Not what I see.

My ATO runs longer on average during the winter vs the summer (if my fan does not kick on, once it gets to the 90s outside, the fan starts to cool the tank and that drives evaporation up).

I also use more water in the winter than I do in the summer.

My tank is in an uninsulated garage so it is affected by the temperature fluctuations more than tanks in rooms with heaters and air conditioners.


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