# Misting Schedule/Humidity Control



## MoFrogs (Nov 13, 2016)

I'm a recent convert from the reefing side of tank building, and this is my first vivarium/frog tank. It's a 29g, glass top. While it's seeding/cycling, I've been pouring through dendroboard trying to figure out a misting schedule. I'm set on the Mistking, but I'm wondering what everyone's schedules/settings look like. I realize this isn't a one-size-fits-all question, but I'd like some input. Any input on ventilation/stabilizing humidity is welcome too! 

Here's some info on the tank...

Temp is stable: Day Temps at 74.8F, Night Temps at 71.1F

Hygrometer (Zilla combo with probes) is consistently reading 99%. I have a waterfall and stream that ends in a pool. I have a diy fogger (not running it because of the 99%) I'd like to bring it down a bit to prevent rot/mold/fungus... thoughts?

Substrate is false bottom, ABG, sphagnum moss and leaf litter.

Lighting is interim (Reptisun LED UVB is ordered and on the way)

Crew is temperate and forest springtails, dwarf white, oniscus and armadillidium isos. 



















Thanks in advance!!

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## KommentBox (Aug 26, 2016)

I don't have advice, but would also love to hear everyone's thoughts. Currently I'm misting 20 seconds every 4 hours, but I just set the tank up and haven't seen progress or anything detrimental yet


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## tcmfish (Oct 22, 2016)

I would also like to know some misting guidelines. I have a build thread going, but don't know much about misting duration/frequency.


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## k5MOW (Jun 19, 2015)

I am asswe speak setting up a mistking 
and would be very much be interested in people's schedule for misting.


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## Encyclia (Aug 23, 2013)

There are a lot of factors in play when setting up a misting system and each person's system will be different. My system has roughly 30 nozzles on it and a mile of tubing, so my setting are not relevant to your setup, I am guessing. It also matters a lot how much ventilation you have. Another factor is that the conditions change outside the tank over the course of a year, so you may, as I do, set your system differently at different times a year. This is also important for shutting down or ramping up breeding for your animals. Most experienced folks have told me that I shouldn't have my frogs in breeding conditions year round. So, some times of the year, I back off on the frequency and duration of misting (and feeding...). Having said all of that, here is what I like to do with my misting system:

I run mine about 3-4 times a day for about 10 or 15 seconds. The first 4-5 seconds, no mist comes out because the lines are charging. If you get misting right away on your system, adjust accordingly. I have about 12 tanks on the system and no two are the same because they are all display tanks. I try to vent them similarly and balance the number of nozzles (singles vs. doubles) so that all of the tanks receive roughly the same amount of water (or at least the amount of water that keeps the plants and frogs happy (see below)). I gauge this by a) how my plants look (most important), especially those up close to the vent and b) how often I have to empty the catch bowls for the drainage hoses. If you don't have your tanks drilled (I recommend it!), then watch the water level in your drainage layer. The goal is more to keep the plants happy than it is to keep a consistent water level in your drainage layer. In spring, I will up the duration and frequency of misting to get the frogs in the mood for love again. Maybe I will go to 5-6 times a day for a little bit shorter duration, something like that. I may also cover up the vents a little more to keep humidities a little higher than during my winter dry season.

There are some things to pay attention to when setting up your misting regimen. First, hygrometers (humidity gauges) lie like a rug. I have never encountered one that I trust completely. Much better is to get used to watching your plants. Be smart about this. Don't gauge water need by thinking that your moss/Riccia up next to the vent is not doing well. It probably shouldn't be growing next to a vent, anyway. If you have an established Pothos or something else hearty that is shriveling up at the bottom of the tank away from your vents, maybe the tank isn't getting enough water. I have learned that my frogs behave how they want to behave unless the humidity is really low. Go by the plants for misting. If you have appropriate viv plants, they will be a better gauge. On the other end of the spectrum, if you have the 99 or 100% humidity that your gauge is telling you is in there, there will usually be condensation on the glass for the majority of the day, in my experience. If this is the case, you need more ventilation and can cut back on misting frequency/duration. With no misting, standing water in a false bottom usually keeps a tank around 60%, completely depending on the amount of ventilation. It's a factor, though.

Oh, and only put RO or distilled water through your misting system. The frogs and plants will be fine. The water picks up nutrients from the environment and the plants are rooted or interacting with their environment in other ways. This will mean that you don't have to unclog your nozzles with vinegar all the dang time. Also, keep your reservoir water clean. I have to fish dead/surfing flies out of my reservoir every day. It's worth it. You don't want to clog your nozzles with fly parts, either.

Veterans, let me know what I am forgetting or where I am flat out wrong. I am sure there are better ways to do things than how I do them.

Best of luck to all you new Mist Kings and Queens,

Mark


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## MoFrogs (Nov 13, 2016)

Thanks for the detailed reply, Mark! I completely understand that different setups will require different frequencies and durations. This does help set a baseline, at least. I hadn't given much thought to adjusting the frequency based on breeding, so thanks for that! 

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## Encyclia (Aug 23, 2013)

MoFrogs said:


> Thanks for the detailed reply, Mark! I completely understand that different setups will require different frequencies and durations. This does help set a baseline, at least. I hadn't given much thought to adjusting the frequency based on breeding, so thanks for that!
> 
> Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G891A using Tapatalk


You're welcome ;-) And I forgot to say welcome to the board!

Mark


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## k5MOW (Jun 19, 2015)

Thank you very much for this very detailed information. I am going to put your advice to work in my system. Again thank you very much. I almost have my Mistking set up. I am just waiting on the pump to arrive.


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## Encyclia (Aug 23, 2013)

Nice tank! Yes, the pump is a very important part of the system. You will like it a lot better when that arrives ;-)

Best of luck!

Makr


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## dentex (Apr 22, 2016)

Hello.
My experience with my first tank is that I always have 99% humidity. It's a closed paludarium with a deep water section, large as the whole bottom. I have a couple of PC fans that blows towards the front glass, but it can't be cleared unless I open the top a bit (then it's quite fast).

Always having the glass heavily condensed it's something that bothers me a lot. Also, when I had no moss on the hardscape and I was not misting, glasses were fogged and humidity 99% the same (unless having the lid slightly opened, as i said).


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## erikm (Oct 1, 2015)

Mark covered this topic really well above, but I'll add a quick comment.

In my opinion, a completely closed vivarium/paladarium is not ideal. Get yourself some ventilation in the top and you'll be able to reduce humidity to 75-80% and have a much fresher vivarium. Air exchange is good  How are you reading 99% humidity? Lots of folks use the analog hygrometers found in pet stores. Those tend to be completely off.

My misting/fan schedule:

8:30am - 20 seconds misting
10:30am - 30 minutes internal circulation fan
3:00pm - 15 seconds misting
10:00pm - 30 minutes internal circulation fan

My vivariums all have 3, 1.5" holes in the glass tops which are screened off for passive ventilation as well as a 50mm internal circulation fan. The circulation fans reduce humidity a bit and allow plants to dry off. I end up with humidity fluctuations throughout the day and this allows the frogs to utilize evaporative cooling as well.


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## dentex (Apr 22, 2016)

Hello erikm,
Thanks for your interest.

I knew that probably I would have needed some sort of air exchange in/out the tank. For the moment, on the emersed part I only have moss (2 days setup). So I'll keep everything as is now... When the moss will establish, I plan to add some epiphytes somewhere; then I will for sure implement the air exchange. 

To answer your question, I use a DHT22 (a digital temperature and humidity sensor; it's tied to a Raspberry Pi DIY system).

My misting schedule it's 10 seconds per hour, to keep everything wet, not just humid... but it was the same with no misting at all.

I have a triple 40mm RAM fan on the background basically always on, for internal air circulation, and the two 80mm previously mentioned (now always off).

If you're curious, this is the build thread:
http://www.dendroboard.com/forum/showthread.php?t=279602
It needs to be updated with what happened recently (water part planted, moss, completed top lid, etc).


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## erikm (Oct 1, 2015)

dentex said:


> Hello erikm,
> Thanks for your interest.
> 
> I knew that probably I would have needed some sort of air exchange in/out the tank. For the moment, on the emersed part I only have moss (2 days setup). So I'll keep everything as is now... When the moss will establish, I plan to add some epiphytes somewhere; then I will for sure implement the air exchange.
> ...


The DHT22 is accurate, as long as it does not get wet 

10 seconds per hour is definitely a lot of misting. If I did that my frogs would be swimming!


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## dentex (Apr 22, 2016)

erikm said:


> The DHT22 is accurate, as long as it does not get wet


 It's probably what's happening. Anyway, I tried a couple of times: if I point a hair dryer to it for 1 or 2 minutes, it starts reading values below 99,9%, so it seems it's working.



> 10 seconds per hour is definitely a lot of misting. If I did that my frogs would be swimming!


lol! Luckily (for them) I will never keep frogs in there: there's no land at all. 
Yes it's definitely a lot: it's for the "only moss" situation.

PS: sorry MoFrogs for the thread hijack (well actually it's the same topic). I hope you don't mind.


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## MoFrogs (Nov 13, 2016)

erikm said:


> Mark covered this topic really well above, but I'll add a quick comment.
> 
> In my opinion, a completely closed vivarium/paladarium is not ideal. Get yourself some ventilation in the top and you'll be able to reduce humidity to 75-80% and have a much fresher vivarium. Air exchange is good  How are you reading 99% humidity? Lots of folks use the analog hygrometers found in pet stores. Those tend to be completely off.
> 
> ...


Thanks for the input! I'm going to swap the front piece of the glass on the lid, and start drilling small hole patterns until I can get the humidity down to about 80. I'm using an exoterra hygrometer (digital), and it seems to be reading fairly accurate. When I pull it out of the tank, it reads the rooms humidity at about 45, which is probably right, given that the heating system in my apartment is radiators, and dries it up pretty quick.

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## Timbow (Aug 17, 2016)

I think part of the problem is the gauge you are relying on. All the ones I've tried seem to get stuck on "99%", which I think is due to misting water on the sensor. I just gave up on gauges and judge humidity based on visual clues. For what it's worth my schedule is as follows:

9:00am- 15 sec. mist
9:15am- fan on
3:00pm- 10 sec. mist
8:50pm- fan off
9:00pm- 15 sec. mist

I ran my fan all day except for when the misters are on, as the fan blows the mist around. I have a glass top with 2-3" of screen across the front portion.


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## k5MOW (Jun 19, 2015)

I think I am going to order one of these fans sold on this board that uses a magnet mount. Can these fans get sprayed by the Misting system without any problems.


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## MoFrogs (Nov 13, 2016)

k5MOW said:


> I think I am going to order one of these fans sold on this board that uses a magnet mount. Can these fans get sprayed by the Misting system without any problems.


I saw those the other day, and I think I'm going to do the same! I already ordered a different one, but such is life. Lol

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