# Consistently high humidity



## mikeh77 (Feb 2, 2017)

Is humidity that's consistently in the range of 94-97% OK for vent frogs, broms, orchids, ferns, and other plants that enjoy high humidity? Do they enjoy this level, or is it too much? Temperatures are in the mid to lower 70s.

The drainage layer isn't soggy and the substrate isn't wet, the humidity is just really high.

I'm briefly misting (like 5 seconds) 3x daily via 2 MistKing nozzles in my 55g long tank. At the top are 8 mosquito-netted vent holes in the glass, on top of the tank are 2 fans for light cooling, and inside the tank are 2 fans for internal air circulation.

Thanks in advance for the suggestions!!!


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## blacksmith (Feb 24, 2009)

What are you measuring humidity with?


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## Pumilo (Sep 4, 2010)

Agreed. You don't tell us how big your vents are, but a vented viv shouldn't be able to go that high, save right after misting.
I would be suspicious of your humidity gauge.

Unless you spent a pretty penny on it, lower end humidity gauges are notoriously inaccurate. If you were to pick up 3 more guages, I'll bet you all 4 give you different readings.

Oh, and you are right to be leery of elevated humidity levels. It can lead to respiratory infections, bacterial infections, and shortened life spans for your frogs. I know you are good now, but it could also eventually lead to a saturated substrate. That's not only bad for your plants, it can actually lead to a bacterial infection on your frogs feet and legs, which can eat away the flesh of the feet and legs. Terribilis seem to be particularly sensitive to this.
Humidity levels around 70 would be a better target.


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## dmb5245 (Feb 7, 2014)

I'll mention too that even if your gauge is operating properly, it may not be calibrated. On my little cheapo, the plastic case will spin to calibrate, but only with enough force that it feels like it's about to break. And that feature was written nowhere on the packaging.

I use the salt slurry trick to calibrate and periodically test.


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## mikeh77 (Feb 2, 2017)

blacksmith said:


> What are you measuring humidity with?


HTU21D-F https://www.adafruit.com/product/1899
It's supposed to be calibrated and very accurate... In fact, I did quite a bit of research before choosing this sensor. Here's a very interesting article on its accuracy as compared to other breakout sensors: https://www.facebook.com/notes/phil-moyer/comparing-temperaturehumidity-sensors/10157468075605557





Pumilo said:


> Agreed. You don't tell us how big your vents are, but a vented viv shouldn't be able to go that high, save right after misting.
> I would be suspicious of your humidity gauge.
> 
> Unless you spent a pretty penny on it, lower end humidity gauges are notoriously inaccurate. If you were to pick up 3 more guages, I'll bet you all 4 give you different readings.
> ...


Awesome pointers, thank you!

I have 8x 1.5" diameter vent holes, spread over 2 different 24" panels on a 55g tank. You can see 3 of these vents in the following picture (please excuse the out-of-focus):










In fact, I was hiding the sensor under a piece of Magnolia leaf litter to "disguise" it, as seen here in the second picture:

















I made sure that the leaf itself wasn't touching the humidity sensor when I did this, but I realized after your comments there still likely could have been a little micro-climate underneath there - yesterday I moved it outside from underneath the leaf, more similar to the first picture above.

After doing that, the humidity levels seemed to read lower and drop an hour after misting to the mid 80s. The sensor is hooked up to an Arduino/Pi and provides data capturing over time which allows me to monitor trends.

Still no frogs, but that's why I'm closely monitoring conditions - to get them right before they are introduced. Is consistent humidity in the 80s still too high? Instead of misting very quickly 3x a day, should I drop that to maybe once a day? Another idea is I can point the fans on top of the tank to blow directly over the vent holes.

I have all high-humidity loving plants, and I'll be purchasing Ranitomeya ventrimaculata frogs in a few weeks when everything is settled and stable. You said humidity in the 70s is ideal, but from what I've read I thought 70s are too low...?


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## kromar (Jun 6, 2015)

Well i would expect a lot higher humidity that close to the ground and especially under some leave.
I tend to keep sensors in a vertical position to reduce the chance of water build up on top of the sensor.
Try to put the sensor in different regions, of the tank, you will notice that there are wetter and dryer areas and since you dont have frogs its a good time to experiment a bit with the misting, every tank is different.

Sent from my Nexus 5X using Tapatalk


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## Pumilo (Sep 4, 2010)

As soon as I saw you had it under a leaf, there it is!

80's is better than 90's, and some ventilation is always to be applauded. More would be better. If it were my viv, I would put a minimum of a 1" vent, all the way across the top. Even better would be to put a 1" vent across the back, and another 1" across the front. So I'm talking about two, 1" vents, on each panel.
As you've already found, it's harder to get your humidity lower, if you want it lower. If you want it higher, all you have to do is mist more often. You can also consider very easily blocking off part of your vent, but it's a bit of a project to add more ventilation, especially after frogs are in.

Contrary to old school beliefs, a lower humidity is more natural, more what you find in the wild, and better for your frogs. Too high of humidity can lead to respiratory issues. I was one of the old schoolers, and kept many frogs in sealed boxes. Getting things properly ventilated was a huge improvement. It makes plants a lot easier to keep, too. Long way of saying, yes, going even lower on your humidity would be a good thing.

A link for you from some old geezer, ex-window guy that used to hang around here a lot. http://www.dendroboard.com/forum/parts-construction/63781-screen-vent-construction-how.html


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## Pumilo (Sep 4, 2010)

Oh, and got to learn about microclimates! The more you can build into your viv, the better.


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## mikeh77 (Feb 2, 2017)

kromar said:


> Well i would expect a lot higher humidity that close to the ground and especially under some leave. I tend to keep sensors in a vertical position to reduce the chance of water build up on top of the sensor. Try to put the sensor in different regions, of the tank, you will notice that there are wetter and dryer areas and since you dont have frogs its a good time to experiment a bit with the misting, every tank is different.


Awesome insight and suggestion, I'll try to move the sensor around a little to see the variation in the tank! Thank you.



Pumilo said:


> As soon as I saw you had it under a leaf, there it is!
> 
> 80's is better than 90's, and some ventilation is always to be applauded. More would be better. If it were my viv, I would put a minimum of a 1" vent, all the way across the top. Even better would be to put a 1" vent across the back, and another 1" across the front. So I'm talking about two, 1" vents, on each panel.
> As you've already found, it's harder to get your humidity lower, if you want it lower. If you want it higher, all you have to do is mist more often. You can also consider very easily blocking off part of your vent, but it's a bit of a project to add more ventilation, especially after frogs are in.
> ...


Thank you, I really appreciate the suggestions! In fact, there were several dendroboard posts (some from yourself) that I researched at length prior to building my tank, and I learned that both internal air circulation and venting are critical for proper viv health. That's why I drilled the glass for the 8x 1.5" diameter round vents on the top. In retrospect, it probably would have been better to do a linear vent similar to your post referenced above, as I do have a powerful MistKing system setup.

As it stands, I think I'll be doing the following:

1) Monitor the humidity in different areas of the tank to see the localized humidity variation
2) Work on aiming the external fans directly toward the vent holes in increase internal/external air exchange (and thus lower humidity in the tank)
3) Tweak automated misting schedule for getting humidity consistently in the lower 80s

If you guys think of anything else or have any other suggestions let me know! Pumilo, if the 8x vent holes are just too much, I may end up biting the bullet and going with a full linear vent solution. If I can get away with the above 3 tasks to get lower humidity then I'd rather avoid buying more material and redoing the top.

Another great example of why you should monitor conditions and let a viv acclimate prior to introducing frogs!


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