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Aquariums and pianos...

Looking for information on the above title. Anyone have a tank and a piano in the same general area. I ask because on a piano forum, a technician blames rust on a pianos strings on a salt water tank.

Since my stand is coming out so well, my wife is giving me the ok to put the piano in the dinning room instead of my cramped office. The piano will still be a good 20 ft away (living room) from the tank. Ironically the piano has a humidification system on it to provide moister to it. The water is distilled or RO in it. The piano tech on the forum was blaming the salt, but we all know the salt does not evaporate with the water. So I don't see the problem.

So I'm checking here to see if anyone has any experience with this potential problem. I'd hate to do any damage to the piano.

Thanks....Mark...
 

mnat

Officer Emeritus
Staff member
Moderator
In my completely non professional opinion, I think with enough ventilation and distance it would be fine. I think if you had a closed room with the two of them in there together, than yeah you could have some problems.
 
I thought salt doesn't evaporate with the water which is why ato's work w/o changing salinity. I think if the house/room humidity is high due to the tank then yes, but salt water no. You can put a humidifier in the room, but I think you have a higher rate of evaporation.
 
Hey! My choir professor says that the humidifier can leak in an unseen place and do that too, or if youre filling it with too much water at a time.

You can have someone professional look at it!
 
Hey! My choir professor says that the humidifier can leak in an unseen place and do that too, or if youre filling it with too much water at a time.

You can have someone professional look at it!

No problems with the piano humidifier, its fool proof, and its under the piano. Its the fish tank issue Im concerned about.

Thanks for the replies. As much as I prefer the tank in the dinning room, I might play it safe in my office. But it would look awesome in the dinning room...
 

redfishbluefish

Officer Emeritus
Officer Emeritus
First off, regardless of what room you put your tank in, it will raise humidity in the entire house. The worst room for me is the furthest from the tank....upstairs north-side bedroom....the coldest room in the house.

I too have a piano in the room next to the tank. I'll look when our company leaves to see if the strings are rusted. It has NO humidity system in it....it's more than 100 years old.
 
As to overall house humidity, its not a problem. House runs dry. (gas heater, central air) The piano humidity system adds moisture through special pads. Dry conditions are bad for the wood and other materials...except strings. But too high it probably bad too. The piano will be a good 15-20 ft away from the tank. They sell string cover for piano too. That might be an option.
 
I have had a piano in the same room as my tank for 10+ years and have had no issues.

Sent from my SGH-M919 using Tapatalk
 

Lostinthedark

NJRC Member
I have a tank that evaporates 2 to 2 1/2 gallons a day in the room adjacent to the piano. No issues. I get it tuned once a year and the tech never mentions any issues. Not that I even thought to ask.
 

redfishbluefish

Officer Emeritus
Officer Emeritus
So you bought it new when you graduated from the one room schoolhouse?


Well no, it was bought after Bach and I colaborated on the Toccata and Fugue in the early 18 hundreds. Many think this toccata and fugue as an organ piece, but Bach and I first composed this as a paino piece. Bach worked on the fugue, while I focused on the toccata. HERE you can see me as a young musician with fantastic toccata, while still appreciating Bach's contribution with the fugue, building the theme of the piece. To this day, I still don't know how his name ended up on this piece and not mine. :grin:






Anyway, I looked at my old strings, and I see no rust whatsoever.




But I have a question, are they making stings different today then they did back in the day?


(And for those interested in one of the best organ versions of the Toccata and Fugue, HERE it is, by "what's his name.")
 
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