# Keeping glass from fogging



## erae16 (May 2, 2020)

I'm putting my vivarium in my living room as a display and therefore I want people to be able to see inside. I have an auto mister and the glass keeps fogging up making it very hard to see in. Is there a product people use on the glass to keep it from fogging?

When people make frog room tours their glass is always spotless and you can see right through, what is the secret?


----------



## Organics (Jan 17, 2020)

Ventilation/ fans are your best options. Also you may just be misting too much, what’s misting schedule. Keeping your room the same temperature as the vivarium will also work but it’s not the most practical. 


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


----------



## fishingguy12345 (Apr 7, 2019)

What is your setup like? Misting schedule, ventilation (both passive and active)?


----------



## Xue (Mar 2, 2020)

Fogging is a good sign that your setup is humid, which is good. Open the top and it'll clear. I wouldn't put anything on the glass if it's not organic, and even then, it may do some harm. I don't know. Never look into it for viv's.

There are anti-fog wipes for glasses and there're also sprays for snorkeling/diving masks. I have both but never tried it on the viv. 

One thing you can do is close the top at night to keep the humidity and open it during the day for display, or for when you want to showcase it. The lighting will dry out the inside and clear it up. The anti-fog stuff will likely not work if there is constant humidity anyways.


----------



## Louis (Apr 23, 2014)

There is a very simple and fairly cheap product that solves this problem called a 'solar raptor heat strip'. They're quite popular in Europe, especially Germany, but don't seem to be readily available in America. 
I use them and can confirm that they work exactly as described however they will only work well on glass enclosures with a bottom vent. 
It's a very low wattage discrete heat strip that adheres to the glass just beneath the vent and increases the flow of slightly warmer air up over the front glass. It passively increases air flow through the enclosure and clears the front glass, but not nexessarily the sides, of condensation. 
You can either leave it on all the time or have it on a timer. 
Can't recommend them highly enough for this issue but you may have to slightly adjust your environmental controls as the increased airflow can cause tanks to dry out faster although this is by no means always a bad thing.
https://www.reptilienkosmos.de/en/solarraptor-heatstrip-windscreen-heater/a-1419/
I'm always surprised more people aren't aware of this solution given how often this question comes up.


----------



## erae16 (May 2, 2020)

Organics said:


> Ventilation/ fans are your best options. Also you may just be misting too much, what’s misting schedule. Keeping your room the same temperature as the vivarium will also work but it’s not the most practical.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


My schedule is every 8 hours for 12 seconds, is that maybe too much? How often do people usually mist, once a day for shorter periods of time?


----------



## erae16 (May 2, 2020)

fishingguy12345 said:


> What is your setup like? Misting schedule, ventilation (both passive and active)?


Misting every 8 hours for 12 seconds each time. I've got an 18x18x24 exo terra so there is that vent under the door and I've made a custom top with an inch of window screen at the top right about the doors.


----------



## Broseph (Dec 5, 2011)

erae16 said:


> Misting every 8 hours for 12 seconds each time. I've got an 18x18x24 exo terra so there is that vent under the door and I've made a custom top with an inch of window screen at the top right about the doors.


Misting times are different for everyone, and can even vary throughout the year. I only do 15 seconds once a day. 

Our air conditioner is down and it's been hot and humid here, so today I actually shut the misting system off. My cheap digital thermometer/hydrometer is showing the basement frog room as 72°F with 74% humidity.


----------



## Pumilo (Sep 4, 2010)

erae16 said:


> My schedule is every 8 hours for 12 seconds, is that maybe too much? How often do people usually mist, once a day for shorter periods of time?


If you mist every 8 hours, that means you are either misting once during, or right before lights out. Standing water on leaves for a prolonged period of time is not a good thing. It can promote leaf rot. Your last misting cycle for the day should be at least a couple hours before lights out. You want your lights to dry up any moisture on leaves before nightfall.

Comparing misting cycles with another person's misting cycle is pretty close to completely useless. Variables. 
Bob's tank is well ventilated. Tom's is a sealed glass box. Do they require the same amount of mist? No.
Bob's 20 gallon vivarium has three misting nozzles. Tom's has one. Same question. Same answer.
Bob lives in Arizona. Tom lives in Washington. You know the Q and A.
Bob has a very well drained, turface substrate on top of an eggcrate false bottom. Tom went with LECA instead of a false bottom, and he read the wrong website. Somebody who hasn't bothered to do any research, or change their website in the last 15 years, told him to put a layer of nasty, waterlogged, sphagnum moss completely covering his poorly made, poorly drained, homemade substrate.

These are just a few variables. It just keeps going, like the Energizer bunny. What about cork walls? Don't they hold a lot of moisture and reduce the need to mist? How much cork was used? Even the amount of plants in your vivarium will affect your humidity and the need to mist.
Bob's tank is fruit fly proofed. Tom has escapees. If Tom's flies are escaping, so is his humidity.
Now, how do all those variables interact with each other? 
Does Bob, with his well drained vivarium, mist the same amount as Tom's sodden, sealed, glass box? Before you answer, remember that Tom's tank has 3 nozzles and applies 3 times the amount of water in the same amount of time.
Oh yeah, Bob loves orchids and epiphytes, while Tom is really into his mosses.

There are simply so many variables that comparing cycles does little to nothing. The only reason I include "little", is because you can still learn something valuable in the discussions, like the fact that misting right before, or during, lights out, is not necessary, and can actually be harmful.

By the way, if your name is Tom, check your terribilis. Your sodden sphagnum moss is rotting your frogs flesh off his bones.


----------



## erae16 (May 2, 2020)

Pumilo said:


> If you mist every 8 hours, that means you are either misting once during, or right before lights out. Standing water on leaves for a prolonged period of time is not a good thing. It can promote leaf rot. Your last misting cycle for the day should be at least a couple hours before lights out. You want your lights to dry up any moisture on leaves before nightfall.
> 
> Comparing misting cycles with another person's misting cycle is pretty close to completely useless. Variables.
> Bob's tank is well ventilated. Tom's is a sealed glass box. Do they require the same amount of mist? No.
> ...


Thank you! That makes a lot of sense and I had absolutely no idea you shouldn't before night. I do have some leaves that are withering away on one of my begonias which maybe is leaf rot.


----------



## Pumilo (Sep 4, 2010)

erae16 said:


> Thank you! That makes a lot of sense and I had absolutely no idea you shouldn't before night. I do have some leaves that are withering away on one of my begonias which maybe is leaf rot.


Yes, begonias are very sensitive to standing water on their leaves, and also very sensitive of wet feet. She should be in a very well drained location. JimO used to have a lot of success with begonias in moist vivs by always planting them on a slight mound, for a bit better drainage. Kind of like you would hill a cucumber, melon, or squash.


----------



## TheRainforestExhibit (Dec 3, 2018)

erae16 said:


> I'm putting my vivarium in my living room as a display and therefore I want people to be able to see inside. I have an auto mister and the glass keeps fogging up making it very hard to see in. Is there a product people use on the glass to keep it from fogging?
> 
> When people make frog room tours their glass is always spotless and you can see right through, what is the secret?


Our exhibit is about 750 gallons by volume. We have waterfalls, streams and a shoreline with about 45 gallons of water in the exhibit and about 60 gallons in the Sump System. We have a MistKing Advance Misting System and an Ultrasonic Fogger. On occasion I turn off our 2 small fans for an hour and the glass fogs over where you cannot see inside.

The exhibit is 4 feet deep 5 feet tall and 5 feet across. We have 2 fans installed on two 3 inch holes cut in the glass before they were tempered. One fan 12 inches from the bottom on the right side, and another one on the left side. The left side fan has a 45 degree elbow outlet that points to the front glass. The fans have low-mid-high settings and they are never on high, the left side is on low, the right w/o the 45 degree elbow is always set on mid level. The top of the exhibit has glass covers, with only small slits on some of the glass. This is enough to vent the entire exhibit circulating air within 4 to 5 minutes. Every picture I have taken, is with the doors open or closed, however, I have never had to squeegee the glass, since it never fogs, unless I want it to.

The ONLY issue with fans is where they are getting their outside air.
If I did not have a heater (radiator) outside on the right side, for my crickets and fruit fly cultures, the left fan would reduce the temp range below 68 degrees. With the radiator heater, the temp is 71 to 73 degrees from the surface of the shoreline to about 2 feet high. From there to the top of the exhibit it ranges from 73 to 75 degrees.

We have 2+ Mourning geckos, that I only see once in awhile. We have one Red-Eyed Tree Frog (we are going to get one or two more). We have 5 Golden Poison Frogs (Orange Morph). They are all characters in their own way. The smallest likes to "travel", from the shoreline to the top of the enclosure. He does this over a week's time. 2 frogs like to stay near the shoreline and go near the waterfalls. One actually swam a couple times (yes, they swim). But these seem to like the floor. The other two are always going up and down, and constantly like to hunt for flies. 

My only advice is to be very careful with ventilation. Get the temp to a comfortable 73 degrees and try to stay within that range (68 at night, and 73 to 75 during the day. 75 to me is a bit too high, if you do not have variable temps in the enclosure, meaning a way top get to cooler temps.

These are just my thoughts and what works for me. There are people on here who have been breeding for years, I would use their advice, especially if they have been doing this for awhile and have healthy livestock.

Anyway, have FUN!!!


----------



## DPfarr (Nov 24, 2017)

erae16 said:


> I've made a custom top with an inch of window screen at the top right about the doors.


Afford me some suggestions. The top of an exo terra frame is 0.75”. (18-2(0.75))^2=272.25 sq in. If you’re using 20% ventilation, gives 217.8 sq in of glass. That’s 13.2” x 16.5” glass top, 3.3” x 16.5” screen. 

If your quoted message had a typo of “ an inch of window screen at the top right *above* the doors” the reversal might benefit your circumstance. IE, the screen was opposite the door edge. 

Lastly, if you’re using an exo terra mister, maybe get a cheap $10 amazon digital timer to give it better programming instead of regularly timed intervals, avoiding the night misting.


----------



## erae16 (May 2, 2020)

TheRainforestExhibit said:


> Our exhibit is about 750 gallons by volume. We have waterfalls, streams and a shoreline with about 45 gallons of water in the exhibit and about 60 gallons in the Sump System. We have a MistKing Advance Misting System and an Ultrasonic Fogger. On occasion I turn off our 2 small fans for an hour and the glass fogs over where you cannot see inside.
> 
> The exhibit is 4 feet deep 5 feet tall and 5 feet across. We have 2 fans installed on two 3 inch holes cut in the glass before they were tempered. One fan 12 inches from the bottom on the right side, and another one on the left side. The left side fan has a 45 degree elbow outlet that points to the front glass. The fans have low-mid-high settings and they are never on high, the left side is on low, the right w/o the 45 degree elbow is always set on mid level. The top of the exhibit has glass covers, with only small slits on some of the glass. This is enough to vent the entire exhibit circulating air within 4 to 5 minutes. Every picture I have taken, is with the doors open or closed, however, I have never had to squeegee the glass, since it never fogs, unless I want it to.
> 
> ...


WOW! Is there a post on this viv? I would love to see it as it sounds incredible! Thank you for the advice!


----------



## erae16 (May 2, 2020)

DPfarr said:


> Afford me some suggestions. The top of an exo terra frame is 0.75”. (18-2(0.75))^2=272.25 sq in. If you’re using 20% ventilation, gives 217.8 sq in of glass. That’s 13.2” x 16.5” glass top, 3.3” x 16.5” screen.
> 
> If your quoted message had a typo of “ an inch of window screen at the top right *above* the doors” the reversal might benefit your circumstance. IE, the screen was opposite the door edge.
> 
> Lastly, if you’re using an exo terra mister, maybe get a cheap $10 amazon digital timer to give it better programming instead of regularly timed intervals, avoiding the night misting.


Yup meant above the door...I set it to go off every 24 hours so that it's only once a day and then if that is too much I will grab a timer forsure. I can't switch where the screen is now because its siliconed in and the other side is fully glass.


----------



## Jennifer (Dec 1, 2008)

Louis said:


> There is a very simple and fairly cheap product that solves this problem called a 'solar raptor heat strip'. They're quite popular in Europe, especially Germany, but don't seem to be readily available in America.
> I use them and can confirm that they work exactly as described however they will only work well on glass enclosures with a bottom vent.
> It's a very low wattage discrete heat strip that adheres to the glass just beneath the vent and increases the flow of slightly warmer air up over the front glass. It passively increases air flow through the enclosure and clears the front glass, but not nexessarily the sides, of condensation.
> You can either leave it on all the time or have it on a timer.
> ...


Does anybody know of a similar product in the US that is readily available??


----------



## Louis (Apr 23, 2014)

Jennifer said:


> Does anybody know of a similar product in the US that is readily available??


You could achieve the same effect with a low wattage heating cable for reptiles running under your bottom vent.
something like THIS. That's basically all the solar raptor product is, it's just contained within a discrete and heat conductive housing. 
It also looks like the solar raptor products are available now in the US via EBAY
hope that helps.


----------



## Jennifer (Dec 1, 2008)

Louis said:


> You could achieve the same effect with a low wattage heating cable for reptiles running under your bottom vent.
> something like THIS. That's basically all the solar raptor product is, it's just contained within a discrete and heat conductive housing.
> It also looks like the solar raptor products are available now in the US via EBAY
> hope that helps.


Very helpful! Thank you.


----------

