# fogging equipment



## Dye-Lohn (Aug 27, 2006)

i may be in the wrong forum, im not sure. if so im sorry. anyway...im almost complete with the set up of my 20H(already thinking of a new one lol) what woud be a suitable fogging system for the tank? possibly tanks?
-dylan


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## defaced (May 23, 2005)

The easiest setup for fogging is to use an ultrasonic humidifier (any superstore or drug store will have them, they're about 30 bucks) and plumb it into the tank. There's a dude on here who just installed one (Landon I'm looking at you), hopefully he'll have some pics to help you out. 

And you got the right forum


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## zBrinks (Jul 16, 2006)

There's an ultrasonic humidifier sold at walmart (in the pharmacy area) made by Reli-On that costs about $28. You can easily get one, then take a screwdriver and use it to pry off the nozzle/cover over where the fog comes out. Then, take a med/large fish gravel vacuum, insert the wide part (that goes in the gravel) into the hole you just opened up in the ultrasonic humidifier's top, and run a seal of silicone around it. Let it cure for a day or two, and then you are good to go! Best thing, the ultrasonic humidifier is adjustable, so you can play around with the amount of fog produced. I have mine set to run (on a 46g viv) for 15 minutes 3 times a day. Ill try to post pics if I can find my camera. If you ahve any questions, feel free to pm me.


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## boombotty (Oct 12, 2005)

I picked up the same one zBrinks is talking about and it works great. I use it on my 90g split into 2 sides and it works perfect. Also, it holds alot of water.


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## zBrinks (Jul 16, 2006)

Got the camera - here we go! Sorry for the blurry pics - this camera is on the way out.

Here's a pic of the front of the ultrasonic humidifier:









Here's the top of it, notice the silicone seal around the gravel vacuum:









The hose from the gravel vac going into the top of the viv. Make sure not to have any loops in the hose, as condensation will back up and stop the fog - cut it exactly the length you need. I used filter floss to ff proof the hole:









And some pics of the fog in my viv. Just can't help but show off  :


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## Guest (Sep 12, 2006)

defaced said:


> There's a dude on here who just installed one (Landon I'm looking at you), hopefully he'll have some pics to help you out.


thanks for calling me out on the one project i didnt take pics of recently :lol: i dont really like the way i pieced it together. i didnt have enough of any size hose to do it like i wanted, so i have a mixture of 5/8" and 3/4" hoses and fittings. i wont show pics if i dont have to :lol:

i got the idea for my set up from Zack. instead of an undergravel filter i used a 1 1/2" PVC coupler. it fit perfect without any silicone and i can easily remove it for refilling the humidifier. the opening in the humidifier is tapered so you just have to push it in until it wont go any further. dont try and jam it in as it may not come back out without breaking the humidifier tank.

to connect hose to the coupler i used a cool little adapter. the adapter was for reducing 1 1/2" pvc to 3/4 soft tubing. it slid directly into the coupler and had a screw in spot to add a barbed fitting. i added a 3/4" barbed fitting and was ready to add tubing. 

from the 3/4" tubing i added a 'T' to split it two ways. off of each 'T' i have an elbow to aim the flow of the fog down into the tank. the elbows are placed over the screen ventilation area in the front and pour the fog down the sides of the tank while it fills. i wanted to have it set up with bulkheads through the back, but opted out because of poor planning. this actually works pretty good though.

you can see in this pic how it fills in. 










and even though im not happy with my plumbing, im less happy with my explanation. ill get the tubing changed out and get some pics up tommorrow. i think i made it sound more complicated than it is. it took me all of 10 minutes to install everything and get it on.


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## DartMan (Nov 29, 2005)

I have a few questions for you FOG experts:


Do these units sit on the floor or at a "high point" above your viv(s)?
If on the floor, what is the maximum height the fog will "push" upwards to?

I know it was mentioned that someone was running two vivs off of one unit. What is the maximum number of vivs do you think you could do with one unit?
I have a rack that I wouldn't mind plumbing out a few vivs with a fogger unit described above. I have three different shelf levels on my rack that I would have to run piping/tubing to though.


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## Guest (Sep 12, 2006)

DartMan said:


> I have a few questions for you FOG experts:
> 
> 
> Do these units sit on the floor or at a "high point" above your viv(s)?
> ...


by no means do i consider myself an expert, but ill definatly share my experiences 

i have mine sitting on the floor. i didint think about raising it up over the tank. when the tank was sitting on my work table (about 36" tall) it didnt have any trouble pushing the fog up over the top of the tank (22"). now that tank sits on a lower shelf on my shelf unit, and is only about 32" off the ground to the top of the tank. i didnt notice any increase or decrease in amount of fog. im going to do some testing tonight to see if there is a noticable decline at say 8' (the ceiling height in my room).

as far as running multiple tanks i guess it would depend on how big the tanks are, how full you want them to be (visually), and how well insulated they are. i would *guess* it could easily fill (6) 10 gallons (with no ventilation) in less than 5 minutes. it would make noticable change in humidity in less time with even more tanks, just the 'fog' wouldnt be a thick.

a couple other factors, air movement makes the fog deminish quicker. moving water features cycle the air. i never knew how much air a water feature moved until i set up my first fogger (one of those exo terras that i could kick myself for buying).


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## DartMan (Nov 29, 2005)

Thanks, and you are the fog expert! :wink: 

Let me know about your test. My rack I believe is 74" high to the top, but I don't have any tanks at that height. I do easily have tanks at the 60"-66" level (above the floor) though.


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## Guest (Sep 13, 2006)

well let me know if you still think so after this post :lol:


ok so all the pics i took didnt come out, but this should give some ideas to what the Reli-on can do.

first the plumbing.

this is the contraption that fits into the holding tank.









a close up of how the three pieces fit together (i couldnt get them apart after running the thing)









and a shot of the part number of the piece that was hard to find. 









with hose attached









how it fits in









and a shot of how it looks from the front hooked up.










so after talking yesterday i was really curious about this things output especially after adding more tubing, outlets, and what not.

the test i tried was adding a bunch of reduced size hose. i tested with a length of 15' of 1/2" hose. i ran the hose up to the top of my shelf unit (72") acroos to the other side (48") and back down to the highest shelf i use for tanks (~24"). i through in a couple of loops to try and reduce the flow even more.

poor pic of loops hanging from the top of my shelf unit.









with all that hose this is what the fog output looks like.









going into a tank









the tank after 30 seconds or so (i was holdoing the hose over the screen insert by hand so disnt want to have to fill the tank).










also, i had mentioned to Zach in a previous thread about running multiple tanks. his advice to me was to make sure that i had no low spots in my soft tubing. this is a must, or you at least have to make it easily drainable. water will build up to the point of keeping the fog from exiting the tubing.

the way my shelf is arranged i couldnt avoid this wihtout adjusting the whole shelf unit. after one holding tank worth of fogging i have this much build up.









i have my misting res. right next to the fogger so it wont be a problem for me to drain the line into it when i refill the hoding tank. this is something to consider on single set ups, but i can see how water could get trapped on multi tank set ups with soft tubing conecting them.


oh OMT, for the people interested in how i have it plumbed into the tank pictured above. its just directed in through the vent screen on the top/front of the tank. heres a few pics to try and illustrate. there isnt much room between my shelf above and the top of the tank so its a little cramped for pics


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## defaced (May 23, 2005)

You've done me proud Landon  

I hadn't thought aobut using a coupler for the fitting that goes inside the humidifier. That's great idea. Super simple and super cheap. Check your PMs. 

*now where's the humidifier I've been meaning to turn into a fogger....* :?


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## Guest (Sep 13, 2006)

thanks Mike 

the coupler was definatly the key. it took me a while to find it, but its worth it for sure. ill as far as cheap, the whole thing cost me less than $40 (humidifier and all).

returned PM


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## DartMan (Nov 29, 2005)

THANKS Landon for the pics, experiment, and information!!!!

For those wishing to purchase these fittings this might help as well.

The parts Landon used were manufactured by "LASCO". A company called "Spears" also makes these parts.


The coupler fitting is known as a, "1 1/2" diameter, socket x female threaded coupler".

The next fitting is known as a, "1 1/2" x 3/4" Reducer Bushing with female x male threads".

The last piece is known as a "3/4" Hose Barb Fitting with male threads x push-on".

Just thought this might make someones shopping list and trip to Lowes or Home Depot a little easier. Excellent job Guys!!


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## Frogger 415 (May 28, 2006)

Man......just when i think i have my whole plan down you guys come up with another GREAT wrinkle . :lol:


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## ruthiesea (Jun 26, 2006)

I'm curious as to what the make and model is of the ultrasonic humidifier you used. Our Walmart carries Sunbeams and they do not look like the one in the pictures. I'm not very mechanical and would hate to have to figure out fitting sizes on a differend humidifier.

I see that one of the pictures shows a tank with the fogger and a misting system. Do you find that the fogger will do the job or do you still use the mister to maintain humidity?


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## zBrinks (Jul 16, 2006)

The fogger maintains the humidity pretty well, but you will still need to mist to rine frog poo off plant leaves, clean out brom axils, etc . . . I also mist heavily every week or so to make it "rain" i my tank - probly moreso for me then the frogs.


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## ruthiesea (Jun 26, 2006)

Thanks. That makes sense.


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## zBrinks (Jul 16, 2006)

np


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## MrBiggs (Oct 3, 2006)

I just picked up a 2g Sunbeam Ultrasonic Humidifier from Walgreen's for 19.99, might want to check that out if you are looking into getting one of these, seems like a pretty good deal.


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## Repti-racks (Oct 2, 2006)

*humidifyer*

are you using an cool or warm humidifyer? nice system set up by the way!


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## MrBiggs (Oct 3, 2006)

It's a cool mist humidifier, I have no problem with the temps being too low but sometimes they are almost too high. This way it cools it down a bit, looks cool, and helps with the humidity.


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## Afemoralis (Mar 17, 2005)

The ReliOn doesn't seem to be carried by WalMart anymore. Anyone have anyother reccomendations?

Cheers,

Afemoralis


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## zBrinks (Jul 16, 2006)

Walgreens, I think its called Sunbeam. WalMart does have a ultrasoni humidifier on sale right now, and its shaped like a frog.


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## Guest (Dec 7, 2006)

Most ultrasonic foggers work great, but some of them if the frogs go in the water while in use could kill the frogs. But for those type of foggers, you can put some soft mesh around the dish the fogger is in.


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## defaced (May 23, 2005)

We're talking about using an ultrasonic humidifier outside of the tank and plumbing it in. It's pretty well known that the in tank foggers are less than desirable.


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## Afemoralis (Mar 17, 2005)

I'll check out the Sunbeam, thanks for the tip. I guess what I was really asking for were other models that would be fairly easily modified to pipe the fog into vivaria. The reliOn and associated comments/hardware ID's in this thread would have made it very easy. Rats.

Cheers,

Afemoralis


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## DizzyD (Sep 19, 2006)

CONDESATION BUILDUP SOLUTION .... oh, as far as a low point in the humidifier tubing don't worry about it really; just prepare for it. I mean avoid it if you can, but if your current set-up doesn't allow you to avoid it..>>>. Set up the tubing as you need. Then cut the tubing at the lowest point. Install the proper sized "T" at that point. Then install a little valve or unscrewable plug into the bottom of the "T" to release/drain the excess condensation. So it would go tubing, then T fitting then tubing and a drain type setup at bottom of T fitting. If you're really good you'll send that drain w/ another tube directly into that humidifier reservoir.


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## q (Dec 16, 2006)

*FOG IDEA*

That's a really NICE fog setup. Great idea. I would be more partial (personally speking that is) to a smaller ligher fog that just barely hovers above the surface. I suppose this can be achieved by using a smaller standard air pump line siliconed to a larger one then inserted into the tank. Just make sure as previosly mentioned no loops are present by snuggly securing the line somehow to avoid condensation and subsequent fog blockage.


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## coolhand (Dec 12, 2006)

ok here is mine btw. i just set this tank up it is a 75 gal. No frogs yet still waiting on my broms... I am using the same unit as 2mnytnx set up in a similar way with the fitting... I have a pvc pipe that runs behind my GS to hide all of my wires and I just piped it down that so it comes out in the bottom of the tank on top of the water...


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## Afemoralis (Mar 17, 2005)

Oops. 

I was wrong: I just found the ReliOn in Stock in a Walmart in Vermont.

Afemoralis


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## Repti-racks (Oct 2, 2006)

*fooger*



zBrinks said:


> Got the camera - here we go! Sorry for the blurry pics - this camera is on the way out.
> 
> Here's a pic of the front of the ultrasonic humidifier:
> 
> ...


 hey zbrinks hows it going where did had a good time talking at cindys this weekend. Hey where did you find that fooger ultrasonic humidifyer


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## zBrinks (Jul 16, 2006)

I picked it up as WalMart about 4 months ago. I saw a whole endcap full fo them last weekend, or at least another model that looked very similar. Last weekend was great, I think Im going to host a meeting up here in Denton in January.


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## jimei126 (Nov 11, 2006)

What type of water should be used in these humidifiers, is it safe to just use good old tapwater?


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## Repti-racks (Oct 2, 2006)

*fogger*

We use tap Water and have no problems what so ever.


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## Repti-racks (Oct 2, 2006)

*fogger*

We use tap Water and have no problems what so ever. and we have an complete 8 viv system with only 1 fogger controlling all 8 viv's works great


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## defaced (May 23, 2005)

That's all I use for the humidifiers in my house. The process doesn't remove anything from the water, and the diaphragm stays under water, so there's no reason not to use tap water.


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