# Misting system



## traderumors (Apr 8, 2012)

I'm thinking of putting in a misting system in my new, yet to be delivered 18x18x24. What are the best options and is it necessary or is hand misting going to be "as effective"?


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## Buddysfrogs (Mar 29, 2012)

A monsoon works well and I am selling a brand new one $90 shipped if you are interested. 
Buddy

Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Tapatalk 2


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## bristles (Jan 19, 2011)

Hand misting is as effective but a MistKing on a timer makes life easier as you don't need to think about it (like having your lights on a 12 hr timer) & if you take a vacation it's very handy


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## Froggyplush (Oct 28, 2011)

hand mist for one tank. or one huge tank put a misting system on it its up to you my first tank i wouldnt until you have mutiple tanks, buts its up to you


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## volsgirl (Mar 29, 2012)

I just ordered a mistking system for my one vivarium. I have been hand misting and it is effective. I could easily do without a system, but I can be a little lazy sometimes, and anything that means less work for me.... I'm all for it!
I chose the mistking after several weeks of research, based on price, quality, and reviews.


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## Pumilo (Sep 4, 2010)

I love my MistKing. The quality and options available surpass anything else out there.


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## Dizzle21 (Aug 11, 2009)

Misting systems are great, you can set them multiple times a day. Great for getting your frogs "in the mood".


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## parkanz2 (Sep 25, 2008)

I only have one habitat that needs daily misting and I wish I had a misting system. If you ever go away for a night or two with any regularity you'll wish you had it!


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## traderumors (Apr 8, 2012)

There seem to be a few mist king options. For my size viv do I just need the more basic one and if so are there "must have" add-ons? I'll actually have 2 vivs, one is in progress and is a 20 gallon hex, but the vivs aren't close enough where I can hook them up to the same system. They are in my home office as I spend a lot of time in there.


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## Dizzle21 (Aug 11, 2009)

traderumors said:


> There seem to be a few mist king options. For my size viv do I just need the more basic one and if so are there "must have" add-ons? I'll actually have 2 vivs, one is in progress and is a 20 gallon hex, but the vivs aren't close enough where I can hook them up to the same system. They are in my home office as I spend a lot of time in there.



The basic system is great. The only add ons you need are more nozzles when you get more tanks


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## SNAKEMANVET (Dec 14, 2011)

I would recommend the mistking system,so far my best investment in keeping a viv.


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## ibytencode (Mar 25, 2012)

Honestly, Mistking is probably the best. I bought my Mistking basic system and added a second nozzle. I wouldn't think you would need more than 1 or 2 nozzles in that tank. The basic system will support up to 10 nozzles I think.

To give you an idea, the two nozzles completely cover 90% of my 55 gallon tank at the moment. I'm getting two more just to run my system for less time and to cover the very opposite corners from my nozzles.


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## J Teezy (Jan 25, 2012)

mistking for sure. Having to not worry about being home to mist is great. Once you figure out how often and how long you need to run the system you are set and don't have to worry about it


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## kitcolebay (Apr 7, 2012)

I'm still working on my first build and hopefully getting the plumbing done over the course of the next week. I have bought most all of my materials already. I'm going to try something a little different. I'll post to let you know how it goes. Here's what I'm HOPING will work...I bought misting nozzles for an irrigation system(6 of them @ 2GPH). They go directly into black 1/4" flexible waterline tubing. I'm going to cover the lines with silicone and peat moss and intertwine them across the tank to look like vines. They will be plumbed in to a submersible pump sitting in a 5 gal bucket of RO water. That pump will also pump to my "rain" head that will be in the center of the tank to rain over the pond. Each will have their own valve to turn on/off or control flow. 

Whatcha think? New guy innovation or new guy mistakes? Once again, I'm looking for all the help and guidance I can receive. My so-called build log started on Vivarium Forums and then I started to post on here under "Parts and Construction".

I'll head out to the garage and snap a couple pics of the materials I'm talking about.


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## goof901 (Jan 9, 2012)

i'd say mistake unless the pumps have 30 or more psi if you got the misting heads from Home Depot. if they're mistking mist heads, you need like 100psi. if your pump is a waterfall pump, it only has like not even 1 psi. i tried that and learned that lesson the hard way.


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## kitcolebay (Apr 7, 2012)

The pump I'm using a traditional sump pump(1/6 HP I believe). I was a little worried it might be too strong. When I tested it in the bathtub(don't laugh), it hit the ceiling(ok, now laugh). I also hooked it up to a 50 ft. garden hose and it still has a real solid flow. That is another reason why I will have it tied into another line that will be my "rain" over the "pond". Hopefully this will allow me to apply full pressure or partial pressure accordingly to the misters. Anything visible in the tank(lines and sprinkler head) will be covered with silicone and peat.

Here is a pic of some of the parts...









Still a bad idea or may work? I figure in the next week or so I'll be either kicking myself in the ass or patting myself in the back. Wish me luck!


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## goof901 (Jan 9, 2012)

might work now if you use that shower head looking thing. not sure about the small misters tho. good luck!


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## Blue_Pumilio (Feb 22, 2009)

I have seen these things go out pretty easily and they'll let a stray current into your water supply. Plus, you won't be running enough tanks for a good flow rate, it'll likely overheat. You need a high pressure diaphragm pump...a much better option. 
It would be cheaper (in the not to distant future, based on pump breakage) and easier to get a pump designed for this. Plus, the mist nozzles generally used are much finer and use much less water. You'll appreciate that. 



kitcolebay said:


> The pump I'm using a traditional sump pump(1/6 HP I believe). I was a little worried it might be too strong. When I tested it in the bathtub(don't laugh), it hit the ceiling(ok, now laugh). I also hooked it up to a 50 ft. garden hose and it still has a real solid flow. That is another reason why I will have it tied into another line that will be my "rain" over the "pond". Hopefully this will allow me to apply full pressure or partial pressure accordingly to the misters. Anything visible in the tank(lines and sprinkler head) will be covered with silicone and peat.
> 
> Here is a pic of some of the parts...
> 
> ...


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## parkanz2 (Sep 25, 2008)

The other thing I think about with a sump pump is that to my understanding, sump pumps aren't meant for potable (drinkable) water. So I'm not sure if they're designed with any plastics that might have BPA, or metals which may leach into the water, etc.


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## kitcolebay (Apr 7, 2012)

Thanks...good point. I'll have to do some checking before using it. When I bought that tank, the previous owner had it with it. I assume he probably just used it for draining the tank when doing water changes. So, since I had it and it was free, I thought I'd put it to good use. Looks like I may have committed myself to buying a new one if this one isn't appropriate.


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## Pumilo (Sep 4, 2010)

It will be very hard to come anywhere near the performance of a MistKing, for anywhere near the low price of his starter system.


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## kitcolebay (Apr 7, 2012)

Good news. I did call the manufacturer of the pump and they gave me the thumbs up for being perfectly safe. They said the only danger is if the pump ran dry, overheated, busted a seal, and leaked oil into the water. Considering I'm only planning on running it a few minutes a day out of a 5 gallon bucket of RO water, then I think I have a chance of it working. Considering it was a bonus with my Craigslist bargain, then I may luck into my misting system only costing $10-20. I will test it this weekend through the misting nozzles to see if they perform properly before plumbing it into the tank.

If this does fail to work properly, then MistKing definitely seems the way to go. I've read nothing but good things about them.

Oh, and to clarify, it is not a SUMP pump, but an all purpose submersible pump. My apologies for mistyping that in a previous post.


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## SNAKEMANVET (Dec 14, 2011)

One other option I would consider is haveing a ato on the 5 gallon bucket,to prevent the pump from running dry.


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## kitcolebay (Apr 7, 2012)

Depending on the final resting spot for my setup, then that might be something I do. I plumbed in my own ATO on my 120 gallon saltwater and love it. My 55 gallon saltwater is in a bad location for me to run a waterline to and I'm having to top it off a couple times a week.


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## Pumilo (Sep 4, 2010)

kitcolebay said:


> Good news. I did call the manufacturer of the pump and they gave me the thumbs up for being perfectly safe. They said the only danger is if the pump ran dry, overheated, busted a seal, and leaked oil into the water. Considering I'm only planning on running it a few minutes a day out of a 5 gallon bucket of RO water, then I think I have a chance of it working. Considering it was a bonus with my Craigslist bargain, then I may luck into my misting system only costing $10-20. I will test it this weekend through the misting nozzles to see if they perform properly before plumbing it into the tank.
> 
> If this does fail to work properly, then MistKing definitely seems the way to go. I've read nothing but good things about them.
> 
> Oh, and to clarify, it is not a SUMP pump, but an all purpose submersible pump. My apologies for mistyping that in a previous post.


Every seal ever made will eventually fail. When it does, you will be misting with oil.


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## goof901 (Jan 9, 2012)

doesn't that mean you could be misting oil with mistking too?


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## Pumilo (Sep 4, 2010)

goof901 said:


> doesn't that mean you could be misting oil with mistking too?


No, A sump pump is a direct drive pump. When the seal fails, the oil WILL enter the water flow. MistKing uses a diaphragm pump. There are NO oils of any kind in the pumping head. Every pump can and will fail eventually. But when a MistKing fails, all it will do is cease pumping. It will not and can not pump oil throughout your viv. Here is a site discussing diaphragm pumps in general. http://www.vacuumlab.com/Articles/How to Choose a Diaphragm Pump.pdf


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## goof901 (Jan 9, 2012)

i thought so, but thanks for clearing that up.


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## radiata (Jul 24, 2010)

traderumors said:


> I'm thinking of putting in a misting system in my new, yet to be delivered 18x18x24. What are the best options and is it necessary or is hand misting going to be "as effective"?


traderumors,

Hand misting is "as effective" as long as you can do it every day or two. I mist every second day before I feed my frogs. As a result, the frogs have been "trained" to come out and look for food whenever I mist.

A real misting system is more "set it and forget it" than a manual misting, and will allow you can take (short) vacations. You need to determine how many mist nozzles you'll (eventually!) need, before you buy one. (I just bought a 20 nozzle capable Mist King.) You can get away more cheaply if you only need 6 or 8 nozzles. 

Happy Frogging...
Bob


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## davidadelp (Sep 29, 2010)

Buddysfrogs said:


> A monsoon works well and I am selling a brand new one $90 shipped if you are interested.
> Buddy
> 
> Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Tapatalk 2


id not buy another monsoon if you give me the 100$ to buy it with, The system ran great for maybe a month or 2 then the damn thing forgot how long 30seconds was and would go until you realized it and turned it off. I use it still but I manually turn it on and off as I please. 

When I buy a house and have room to expand and do what I have plans for one day, MISTKING will be the only way I go.

Hand misting works well if only for a few tanks, I do my whole room by hand misting except for the one tank. I like using the pesticide sprayer bought at walmart or lowes. Pump it up a few times and you have enough pressure to do several tanks.


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## sampson1269 (May 4, 2010)

I have an Ecologic technologies system i've had for years. it came with a run dry pump, so, if it does run out of water the pump doesn't burn up. I had a ton of nozzles hooked up to it (12 PLUS TANKS) and it never lost pressure. The company has been around for over 10 years and i've had this setup at least 10 years with no problems. I wouldn't go with anything else.


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## ShelbyFFS (Apr 30, 2012)

I have a Reptifogger. The first one leaked after 3 months and the auto shutoff failed so the ultrasonic disk burned out. I called the company, they sent me a new one even though the warranty was over as mine had multiple issues. This one has been going about 2 weeks. Hopefully it stays working.


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