# How long often to mist?



## shibbyplustax (Feb 28, 2011)

I have a 36x18x36 exoterra with 3 double nozzle mist king heads installed. right now i have it set to go on 7 different times a day for about a min each time some a min 30 n once for 2 mins. Do you think this is overdoing it on misting? I dont see any plants doing bad but then again its only been going for about 3 days. I included a pic so you get the idea of the set up.

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## Peekskillfrogger (Jul 10, 2011)

Do you have a drain set up for the bottom of the viv? If so you can mist pretty heavily but it sounds like you're going a little od. Check your humidity and as long as its above 80% you should be able to get away with like half of what youre doing currently (you can get a digital therm/hydro with a small discrete probe for like $10 at walmart). Im not sure if you mentioned how ventilated your viv is (if i missed it i apologize) but thats gonna be the main determining factor in how often you need to mist.

You want to avoid your substrate becoming completely saturated, and you need to keep a close eye on the plants to make sure they dont rot. Ive found that the more light you have on the tank the more moisture you can get away with. 

The other thing to consider is that an increase in humidity sparks breeding behavior in a lot if not all pdf's (People who hand mist might switch from once a day to twice to elicit breeding and completely cover all vents). The change seems to be what really sparks it, so if youre conditioning your frogs maybe cut back a little on the misting and then when you feel theyre ready to breed step up the misting and it should set them off.

Good luck! just keep an eye on the plants, if theyre ok then the humidity is probably ok.


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## Peekskillfrogger (Jul 10, 2011)

amazing looking viv btw!!!


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## shibbyplustax (Feb 28, 2011)

Peekskillfrogger said:


> Do you have a drain set up for the bottom of the viv? If so you can mist pretty heavily but it sounds like you're going a little od. Check your humidity and as long as its above 80% you should be able to get away with like half of what youre doing currently (you can get a digital therm/hydro with a small discrete probe for like $10 at walmart). Im not sure if you mentioned how ventilated your viv is (if i missed it i apologize) but thats gonna be the main determining factor in how often you need to mist.
> 
> You want to avoid your substrate becoming completely saturated, and you need to keep a close eye on the plants to make sure they dont rot. Ive found that the more light you have on the tank the more moisture you can get away with.
> 
> ...


I have a glass top with about a 3 inch gap along the length of the front screened off for ventilation. I also have a false bottom with a water feature so i dont have to worry about that besides if the water level gets too high. Ill attach a couple more pics so you get a better idea. I actually have a hydro/thermometwe but i cant find it. Pretty sure humidity is staying pretty high because there is always some condensation on the glass and the temp we in the mid to low eightys when i was monitoring it early on when i first built it. I feel as though the mister probably cut that down a few degrees though so the temp should be at a good place. I really need to find that hydrothermometer though. If i dont find it i will prolly just get a temperature gun since i heard those combo meters dont work too well and you can just judge humidity by condensation on the tank


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## Peekskillfrogger (Jul 10, 2011)

Since you have that water feature you really dont need to mist so much... 3 times a day is prolly more than enough.


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## shibbyplustax (Feb 28, 2011)

Oops jumped the gun on that reply. Heres the pics and also i forgot to add i have one dual strip 36" flourescent fixture and one single strip 20 gal fourescent fixture.

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## shibbyplustax (Feb 28, 2011)

How long should i mist each time?

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## shibbyplustax (Feb 28, 2011)

Oops jumped the gun on that reply. Heres the pics and also i forgot to add i have one dual strip 36" flourescent fixture and one single strip 20 gal fourescent fixture.

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## Enlightened Rogue (Mar 21, 2006)

I do every 8hrs. for 20 seconds. Plants get a good soaking and a time to dry out in between.


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## Enlightened Rogue (Mar 21, 2006)

shibbyplustax said:


> I have a 36x18x36 exoterra with 3 double nozzle mist king heads installed. right now i have it set to go on 7 different times a day for about a min each time some a min 30 n once for 2 mins. Do you think this is overdoing it on misting? I dont see any plants doing bad but then again its only been going for about 3 days. I included a pic so you get the idea of the set up.
> 
> Sent from my DROID2 GLOBAL using Tapatalk


So you have 3 double nozzles going on 7 different times a day for up to 2 minutes.
Thats a serious amount of misting,way to much in my opinion. Keep in mind your tanks don`t have to dripping wet 24/7. If you have air plants in there they might not like all that water.
Just my thoughts.

John


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## davidadelp (Sep 29, 2010)

shibbyplustax said:


> I have a 36x18x36 exoterra with 3 double nozzle mist king heads installed. right now i have it set to go on 7 different times a day for about a min each time some a min 30 n once for 2 mins. Do you think this is overdoing it on misting? I dont see any plants doing bad but then again its only been going for about 3 days. I included a pic so you get the idea of the set up.
> 
> Sent from my DROID2 GLOBAL using Tapatalk


yeah to me that sounds like alot of misting and alot of extra water build up. I would either do several less mistings with that long of a time period or potentially all of those mistings but ALOT less time the water is coming out.


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## shibbyplustax (Feb 28, 2011)

yea i figured i was over doing it. i wanted to make sure the moss didnt dry out and die though for the first few weeks so i was planning on toning it down after that. right now i changed it to go on 3 times for 2 mins a peice and once for a min, still think im over doing it? also should i be misting at night? right now i think my sched is 8 am for 2 mins, then 12 or 1 for 2 mins, then around 4 for 2 mins, then again at 830 pm for a min. i wasnt sure because i figured the water wouldnt dry up as quick at night since theres is less light/heat so i figured it may hurt the plants. on the other hand the frogs do need humidity at night tho. any thoughts?


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## Peekskillfrogger (Jul 10, 2011)

three times a day for 1 min should be more than enough


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## motydesign (Feb 27, 2011)

if your worried about moss, the moment water hits it the moss will be wet, anything over 20 sec isnt needed. i have 40gal breeders set up with 1 double head and they get a 40 sec in the morning to drench the plans and sub a 20sec at noon and a 5 sec in the afternoon just to bump the humdity up. i personally try not to water plants at night.


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## shibbyplustax (Feb 28, 2011)

motydesign said:


> if your worried about moss, the moment water hits it the moss will be wet, anything over 20 sec isnt needed. i have 40gal breeders set up with 1 double head and they get a 40 sec in the morning to drench the plans and sub a 20sec at noon and a 5 sec in the afternoon just to bump the humdity up. i personally try not to water plants at night.


good point, i re set everything so that it goes on at 8 am for 40 secs, 25 secs at 12, 30 secs at 4 and then 20 secs at 8 pm. think thats good enough?


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