Fans vs. Dehumidifier

[55%]

Hello,

Let me say "Thank you" in advance for any assistance.

I'm trying to determine which is the best direction to go to lower the humidity in the basement: fans and venting or dehumidifier or both. The goal is to find the most economical way to prevent mold growth.

Here are the details:
Walkout basement, unfinished, storage only, about 1400 square feet.
Untreated, the humidity runs 65-80% depending on the season.
The basement houses a room (15'x15') full of aquarium equipment that supports several aquariums on the main floor, lots of exposed splashing saltwater maintained at 80 degrees. (lowering the temperature of the room results in chilling the water and turns on the electrical water heaters = $$).
The fishroom has been sealed off with clear plastic painters drop cloth (not air tight at all). This was an attempt to isolate the humidity and then had a bathroom fan installed to vent it out of the house. The fan (110 cfm) exits the basement 50 feet away. It has only dropped the humidity about 5%, but only in the fishroom.

A high efficiency heater and central air was just installed but is not vented to the basement.

Previously used a 65 pint dehumidifier that just died. It was running almost 24hrs a day and my electrical bills are killing me.

So....now what?

Thanks!

[teddy bear]

Exhausting basement air sucks in outside air to replace the air being exhausted. As the outside air passed through the basement, the basement moisture raises the moisture content of the basement air being exhausted. If you have dessert outside, increasing air flow will dry the space. If you have green grass outside, the basement will be wet during the wet weather. All home need a small amount of fresh air to change the air in the home every 5-6 hours. A 1,400 sqft. basement plus 1,400 sqft. home is 25,000 ft^3 needing 70 ft^3 per min of fresh air ventilation to purge the indoor pollutants and renew oxygen. In green grass climates, add 3 lbs./hour of moisture wet weather plus the moisture from the fish and occupants. You could need 6 lbs. of dehumidification per hour to maintain 50%RH during the warm times of the year. The new high efficiency dehumidifiers like the Santa Fe Advance or Max dry cost more but use less electricity than most residential dehus. They are also more durable like their commercial dehumidifier brothers that we sell.
http://www.thermastor.com/Santa-Fe-Max-Dry/MaxDry_sell.pdf
http://www.santa-fe-products.com/r410a/SF_Advance_Sell.pdf
You can also use this dehu to introduce fresh air into the home to purge indoor pollutants.
Regards TB

[Stamas]

But what is the life of the equipment expected to be and will this type of use, 9saltwater tanks), void any warranty?