# keeping tank wet I dont get it



## ofblong (Sep 11, 2008)

Ok I just dont see what makes a mist king system vs an ultrasonic humidifier system better than the other one. I have been reading and there seems to be so many contradictory posts on here I just cant make up my mind on what to use. 

For me an ultrasonic humidifier is cheaper than a mist king misting system. 

I know alot of you use the mist king type systems but is there truly a reason I SHOULDNT use an ultrasonic humidifier setup? wont they both keep the humidity in the tank? btw my ultrasonic setup I mean putting the humidifier under the tank not in it and then use flex tubing to direct the flow of the humidifer up and over the top of the tank.

also would letting one of the other system run for say 5 minutes 3x/day be too much?


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## jubjub47 (Sep 9, 2008)

They are both different things though really. While in their own ways they both will create humidity, they serve vastly different purposes. The mist king adds moisture to the viv that the frogs require, was fecal matter off plants and such, water the plants and clean out brom axils and a few other things. The humidifier will just raise humidity and will still require that you do mistings. I personally don't run my humidifier and just run my misting system. You don't have to have a mistking either....it's quite possible to use a hand sprayer to get the same effect.


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

jubjub47 said:


> The humidifier will just raise humidity and will still require that you do mistings. I personally don't run my humidifier and just run my misting system.


Taking this a little out of context here.. I have to give this a maybe as it depends on the size of the system and the density of the animals in the system. In larger enclosures it is possible to simply run a humidifier on the frogs and have it provide all the changes in humidity needed as the low density and size spread any of the fecal material out and really make the need to wash it down a moot point. 

One of the items, I don't see discussed is that the larger droplets may in and of themselves serve as a stimulus for the frogs... 

Ed


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## insularexotics (May 3, 2005)

The ultrasonic humdifier will likely break in a relatively short time. They are not generally meant to run the amount of time you would run it on a frog tank. It will also require a relatively large opening into your tank. Unless this is constructed properly, it will increase the likelihood that fruitflies (or a frog) will escape.

I use a hand mister with pretty good success. But I would definitely prefer to have the automated system. I have worked with them in the past and they make things much easier. Marty at Mist King is a great guy and is very helpful.
Good Luck!
Rich Terrell
Insular Exotics


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## jubjub47 (Sep 9, 2008)

Ed said:


> Taking this a little out of context here.. I have to give this a maybe as it depends on the size of the system and the density of the animals in the system. In larger enclosures it is possible to simply run a humidifier on the frogs and have it provide all the changes in humidity needed as the low density and size spread any of the fecal material out and really make the need to wash it down a moot point.
> 
> One of the items, I don't see discussed is that the larger droplets may in and of themselves serve as a stimulus for the frogs...
> 
> Ed


I agree Ed, I haven't seen that in my experience, but in theory would work. I think in most instances it would require a larger system than most use though. I think that misting which in a way simulates rain can at times be under emphasized. For many amphibians rain is kind of their natural trigger and life support system.


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## IndianaJosh (Jun 20, 2008)

I just mist by hand. Misting systems are expensive and (in my opinion) take away from the "personal" time that you spend with your frogs. I like misting. You get to make sure everything gets washed off. You can make sure the broms get filled with new water. You get to make sure your wet spots and dry spots stay true... I see hand misting to be beneficial.

I went to Lowes and bought a pesticide-style pump mister. It was only around 10-15 dollars. Definitely worth it.

I have not used a humidifier, I want to build one. If I were to build one I would not replace my misting by any means. It would be used in conjunction with my misting.

Good Luck


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## ofblong (Sep 11, 2008)

well aaalllrrriiiggghhtttyyy then. Ill go with an auto mister. I dont consider $150 that expensive when you think about what I have spent on my saltwater aquarium . anywho this is going on a 29g tank so I am thinking I only need two misting nozzles anyways.


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## jubjub47 (Sep 9, 2008)

I've got 1 nozzle on a 40g viv and it waters everything fine, but it's not adjustable for aim so it hits my glass as well. Two nozzles is probably a good idea unless you don't mind looking through the water on the glass. And the systems are expandable if you add more vivs in the future it can be used to mist all of them.


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## boogsawaste (Jun 28, 2008)

I've got 3 nozzles on my mistking setup and a 44 gallon tank. Since mine is a corner tank and has a background on 2 sides this works out fine for me. I think you'll be fine with 2 of them as they are pretty adjustable. And like stated above they are expandable. I would also recommend getting the "seconds timer" as you can set your pump to turn on for times as low as 1 second if you please. It's really helpful. If you have any questions PM me.


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## EDs Fly Meat (Apr 29, 2004)

Great thread! And awesome insight into the posts. Well done.
All good points to take into account. I use all of the items mentioned.
Marty is a great guy no doubt, and I do use his systems. I have mine set to a 3 day in a row cycle so my terrariums get a little dry and then whoosh tons of rain. As Jubjub said, rain is a big trigger for amphibians to breed. On "dry days" I will hand mist to give them a little oomff so that I can encourage breeding. My pumilio love a wet tank, but too wet = dead broms, so I use a ZooMed humidifier. It's a spendy tool but I get extra tubing (ventilators) from work so I can extend my humidifier into several tanks. The broms get watered without getting soaked and they fill with water. It really is like cloudy fog. I'm a fan of that thing. There is a great DIY article on this board converting a medicinal humidifier too. It's cheaper, but doesn't fog it up like the ZooMed one does. I think ultimately it varies on what's best for the species. Access to clean water is a must, and that's whats most important.


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## JJuchems (Feb 16, 2004)

I do not see misting systems as being expensive. The kits are nice and nothing against board sponsors, but price makes a differences. If you piece it together there is an advantage of finding items on sale or getting things for free. Bellow is a basic list of what I did to build my own. I noted the cost even if I got the items for free. 


*Reservoir:* $2.50 Menards bucket with lid (sale)
*Timer:* $20 Menards
*3/8th Line:* Free from Parents (about $4)
*Nozzles and Tees:* $20 Shipped Ebay (set of 5)
*Pump:* $45 Shipped Ebay (Shurflo 8025-933-399)
*Plumber Tape:* Already had ($ 0.59 local hardware store)
*Hose Clamps:* Free Grandpa’s Garage ($6.90 [10 clamps @ $0.69])

*Total: Around $88*


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## gold3nku5h (Jul 24, 2008)

EDs Fly Meat said:


> I use a ZooMed humidifier. It's a spendy tool but I get extra tubing (ventilators) from work so I can extend my humidifier into several tanks. The broms get watered without getting soaked and they fill with water. It really is like cloudy fog. I'm a fan of that thing.


I plan on getting a fogger/humidifier, and will check out how the medicinal humidifier works, but could you, or do you have pictures of the look of the cloudy fog? 

I want to get, and set mine up to give a constant, very small supply, near the waterfall so it looks like the water is splashing alot. Does anyone know if there are increments in the amount of fog these give off?


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## EDs Fly Meat (Apr 29, 2004)

Here is at start.









Here is at 5 min.


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## JJuchems (Feb 16, 2004)

What are they smoking?

Ha, I saw the ZooMed at NARBC Chicago. I am looking at getting one for my class tank. They are pretty sweet.


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## boogsawaste (Jun 28, 2008)

JJuchems said:


> I do not see misting systems as being expensive. The kits are nice and nothing against board sponsors, but price makes a differences. If you piece it together there is an advantage of finding items on sale or getting things for free. Bellow is a basic list of what I did to build my own. I noted the cost even if I got the items for free.
> 
> 
> *Reservoir:* $2.50 Menards bucket with lid (sale)
> ...


While that is a cheap alternative I would skip the timer. Digital timers only have 1 minute as their minimum setting which can really soak a tank. The other thing is that they are known to fail, especially if you aren't vigilant with battery changes. They can either fail to turn on the system or actually fail to turn OFF the thing! If it fails to turn off you will flood your tank and possibly burn out your pump and burn down your house etc . So if you at least get a RCT (repeat cycle timer=expensive), or one of those seconds timers from mistking you can have a reliable timer with very low on/off times which is more suited for our hobby.


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## jubjub47 (Sep 9, 2008)

boogsawaste said:


> While that is a cheap alternative I would skip the timer. Digital timers only have 1 minute as their minimum setting which can really soak a tank. The other thing is that they are known to fail, especially if you aren't vigilant with battery changes. They can either fail to turn on the system or actually fail to turn OFF the thing! If it fails to turn off you will flood your tank and possibly burn out your pump and burn down your house etc . So if you at least get a RCT (repeat cycle timer=expensive), or one of those seconds timers from mistking you can have a reliable timer with very low on/off times which is more suited for our hobby.


Many of the nicer digital timers don't run on batteries. The timers I use run off of the electricity coming from the outlet and also have a capacitor that stores a bit of power for things like short power outtages. They do only run on minutes though, but that is not a problem with my vivs.


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## psychedelicwonders (Oct 15, 2008)

Ed's, are you talking about the Repti-Fogger?

I plan on getting this and its nice to hear its a good product.

It's not really that expensive if you think about it.

Can you reduce it down so much that it just leaves a faint mist in the tank compared to entirely filling it up like that?

I want to see fog, but I also want to see the the frogs etc.


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## boogsawaste (Jun 28, 2008)

jubjub47 said:


> Many of the nicer digital timers don't run on batteries. The timers I use run off of the electricity coming from the outlet and also have a capacitor that stores a bit of power for things like short power outtages. They do only run on minutes though, but that is not a problem with my vivs.


Oh I forgot to add that marty's timer is only like $30 anyway so it's not much more than what you had listed. The RCT's are around $100 though. Good info on those non battery timers, I wasn't aware of it. However in a smaller viv like mine I need short "on" periods. Thanks!


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## JJuchems (Feb 16, 2004)

boogsawaste said:


> While that is a cheap alternative I would skip the timer. Digital timers only have 1 minute as their minimum setting which can really soak a tank. The other thing is that they are known to fail, especially if you aren't vigilant with battery changes. They can either fail to turn on the system or actually fail to turn OFF the thing!


Can you elaborate? According to Intermatic, the batteries are for power outage. So how do they fail?


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## boogsawaste (Jun 28, 2008)

JJuchems said:


> Can you elaborate? According to Intermatic, the batteries are for power outage. So how do they fail?


I am not sure what Intermatic is, but I've had 2 timers over the years that have just "turned off" or faded while being plugged in and lost their programming. I've replaced the batteries and they both worked afterwards. Similar stories have popped up over time (not sure on here as I haven't been a member very long). On the mistking website it also brings this up. Here's the link to mistking's timer with a little the same info I mentioned:

MistKing :: Misting Accessories :: Seconds Timer

So I'm not sure how common this is or what timers it effects but I'm just speaking from my personal experience and what some others have said.


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## JJuchems (Feb 16, 2004)

Intermatic is the brand.


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## markbudde (Jan 4, 2008)

I got the mist king timer when it first came out (like 2 months ago) and so far it works great, and is truly a seconds timer, with intervals as short as 1 second. I highly recommend it.


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## boogsawaste (Jun 28, 2008)

JJuchems said:


> Intermatic is the brand.


Makes sense lol. I can't remember what the brand I had was as it was years ago and I haven't used them since. For my lights and other non spraying things I was using regular dial timers. But all of those that I've seen don't have anything less than 1 minute intervals which wouldn't work for my application and probably a lot of others also. Thanks for the info.


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## jubjub47 (Sep 9, 2008)

boogsawaste said:


> Oh I forgot to add that marty's timer is only like $30 anyway so it's not much more than what you had listed. The RCT's are around $100 though. Good info on those non battery timers, I wasn't aware of it. However in a smaller viv like mine I need short "on" periods. Thanks!


Yeah, smaller vivs are definitely not going to want the longer periods. I actually run my timer on my larger viv for 2 mins in the morning and 1 min in the evening. I haven't had any issues with over watering, but my false bottom has to be drained about every 2 weeks or so.


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## EDs Fly Meat (Apr 29, 2004)

You can tweek the amount of fog you get. That fogger can go literally for hours.
Here's a photo of one of my green's post fogging.


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## Bcs TX (Sep 13, 2008)

I have a fogger and a Mist King and agree that 150 is cheap for the time etc. The fogger does not wash off the frog poopie (hard to believe that small frogs do have alot of poopie) but does raise the humidity and the mister is better for the plants. Marty is great and very helpful. Go with the Mist King Value system. I have an EXO 18 x 18x 36 and am running 3 nozzles.
p.s. Josh has cheaper shipping than buying straight from Mist King.


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## housevibe7 (Sep 24, 2006)

Well, I am one of those that has had issues with timers, but it was because somehow the programming on my last mist of the day got messed up... I came home from a three day trip out of town, to a burnt hole in my carpet and an extremely hot, dried out pump.

I got one of those seconds timers from Marty when I bought a new pump. It is a good investment as you can really tweak your misting. When you think about it rain storms are never the same duration, so why should your misting be the same duration? Does anyone know if there is a way to randomize your misting other than using computer control?


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## sports_doc (Nov 15, 2004)

An alternative of course is just a hand pump mister...

With >60 vivs, I'm not going to make the investment in time, drilling, and purchasing a system for all those tanks...

but, for a smaller collection or a display tank, I can see the value.

Good luck with your set up!


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## housevibe7 (Sep 24, 2006)

Well Shawn, I think mistking's bigger pumps will do up to 70 nozzles ... I think though its a lot easier if you start with a misting system to begin with. I can see how retrofitting that many tanks would be a pain as I need to drill holes after the fact on a couple of my vivs...


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## basshummper (Jan 13, 2008)

Shawn, if anyone was in more dire need of an automated mister system I think it would be you with your building O' frogs. You must go threw a 5g bucket a day of water keeping those frogs most in the winter. Is anoyone else with a major colection manually misting? I can just picture you on roller skates misting the tanks by hand.


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