# Fogger vs. Mister which one is better?



## skittlenips

I'm starting to get into Dart Frogs and I'm budgeting everything I'll need for the vivarium. What are the pros and cons of a Mister and a Fogger, and which one is objectively better?


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## dendrobates99

If you are going with obligates a mister is a must. It will fill your bromeliad axles so your frogs can deposit tadpoles and raise them.


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## skittlenips

dendrobates99 said:


> If you are going with obligates a mister is a must. It will fill your bromeliad axles so your frogs can deposit tadpoles and raise them.


So you can't just have a fogger? Even if you don't plan to breed? Thanks for the advice!


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## dendrobates99

Yes you can just have a fogger. Actually you don't have to have a fogger or mister at all. Dart frogs do just fine without either.


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## skittlenips

dendrobates99 said:


> Yes you can just have a fogger. Actually you don't have to have a fogger or mister at all. Dart frogs do just fine without either.


Well as I live in the desert I think it would be beneficial to get a mister or fogger. I think I'll just go with the mister in case I start to breed, although the mist king is a little expensive. Is there any other mister you would recommend? If not I'll just bite the bullet and buy the mistking.


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## dendrobates99

Mist King seems to be the mister of choice for most hobbyists but honestly I can't say because I have never owned one. If you are just getting into the hobby I wouldn't recommend a mister or fogger. You just need to keep the humidity between 80 and 100 percent. This is easily achieved with a glass lid.


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## skittlenips

dendrobates99 said:


> Yes you can just have a fogger. Actually you don't have to have a fogger or mister at all. Dart frogs do just fine without either.





dendrobates99 said:


> Mist King seems to be the mister of choice for most hobbyists but honestly I can't say because I have never owned one. If you are just getting into the hobby I wouldn't recommend a mister or fogger. You just need to keep the humidity between 80 and 100 percent. This is easily achieved with a glass lid.


Alright, thanks man. I appreciate it!


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## MasterOogway

dendrobates99 said:


> Mist King seems to be the mister of choice for most hobbyists but honestly I can't say because I have never owned one. If you are just getting into the hobby I wouldn't recommend a mister or fogger. You just need to keep the humidity between 80 and 100 percent. This is easily achieved with a glass lid.


This is poor advice. Your tank needs to ventilate, especially if you live in a hot area. Without good ventilation everything stays soggy and mushy, and most importantly your frogs can't utilize evaporative cooling to thermoregulate. This is why many of us use automatic misters, but if you only have one tank hand misting is perfectly doable. But, bottom line, put in a good ventilation strip or several vent holes in your glass lid, don't have it be one solid piece covering the entire top of the tank.


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## Gibbs.JP

dendrobates99 said:


> If you are just getting into the hobby I wouldn't recommend a mister or fogger. You just need to keep the humidity between 80 and 100 percent.


I disagree completely. TarantulaGuy already hit on this, and he's correct. Frogs will not do well at all in constant 100% humidity, as they need the evaporative cooling. All the common advice I see most is humidity should be between 65-80% consistently. Spikes and drops are fine, but that range should be your goal. Also, as he mentioned, your plants and tank will need to be able to dry out some too. 



dendrobates99 said:


> Actually you don't have to have a fogger or mister at all. Dart frogs do just fine without either.


How else would frogs get their water, then, with no misting or fogger? How would you keep the humidity high enough without any water going in?

When I started, I just bought a $10 manual pump mister and it was fine. I hand misted 1-2 a day. Totally fine. 

To answer your original question; A fogger will help keep the relative humidity up, but a mister will be all around better for watering your plants. I would say Mister > Fogger.

I encourage you to spend some time searching through these forums and you'll find all the answers you could ever need.


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## joshsfrogs

A mister on a set schedule that fits the needs of keeping the humidity at the correct levels on your specific tank is choice, however, a hand mister will also suffice. You will just have to be "on top of it" more.

Foggers tend to over saturate the substrate. If you decide to go with one, I would avoid the disc ones that have to be placed inside the tank. They tend to be more of a pain and you have to make sure that the frogs or other animals inside to not get close to the ultrasonic mechanism.


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## DragonSpirit1185

If you do go with a fogger use an external one. You can easily take a cool mist humidifier unit and turn it into a nice fogger for cheap. The foggers made for out hobby or reptiles don't hold much water. 
I have found humidifiers dirt cheap at thrift stores.
Regardless if you're going to be using the humidifier or fogger you have to still mist.
I only have 2 tanks on my MistKing system cause they are in different rooms. I hand mist 5 setups. 
If you are going to be hand misting I would suggest a pump sprayer. You can get the pressure built up and get a pretty fine consistant mist. 
I use one made my All Living Things that I got at PetSmart for like $8.

Edit:
Here are some units I've found at yard sales and thrift stores.
(The algae was my fault I didn't but it line that)


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## BlueRidge

Foggers are a novelty IMO. Just another piece of equipment that you have to monitor and maintain. Misters work just fine. A lot of people just like that foggy look to show off to their friends.


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## JoeDigiorgio

I really think foggers are under appreciated. They're typically used for cool effects but that's by no means all they are good for. My viv stays appropriately humid with only a fogger that alternates running with a fan all day. The timer that switches the fogger and fan stops completely when the lights go off, neither runs at night. 

I had heat issues when I was running only the fan and hand mister because the evaporation wasn't sufficient for evaporative cooling. It was getting too dry between misting and I couldn't mist more frequently without causing the viv to be too moist especially at the bottom. Now, with the fogger constantly alternating with the fan, the cool mist combined with quick evaporation of condensation keeps the viv cool even with glass tops and a lot of LED wattage. It made a several degree difference and has been the difference in being able to keep some miniature orchids that were otherwise failing to thrive. 

Now I hand mist only to water certain orchids that want to be particularly moist and every few days I target spray to top off film canisters for the tads.


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## Abishia

Thanks everyone. I was wondering about this same topic.


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## Andy27012

I've worked with chameleons and chondros and hopefully soon dart frogs. I have to say the universal opinion on chondros and chams is mister, as previously stated foggers raise rh but it is quickly wisped away in most tanks with adequate ventilation and seems to be suspect of ri's. Misters will saturate the environment allowing a sustained rh as the water evaporates even with proper ventilation. Once humidity in the tank reaches 100% the glass fogs over anyways and you can't see anything. Obviously it can work but as a new hobbyist I would suggest hand misting over an automated system. Until you feel you have a handle on how to take care of the animal your best tool will be to put your eyes on them two or three times a day. Hand misting forces this. If you decide to go automated, mist King is worth every penny or you can relatively cheaply make a system yourself using their nozzles and an ro booster pump.


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## Tivaj

JoeDigiorgio said:


> I really think foggers are under appreciated. They're typically used for cool effects but that's by no means all they are good for. My viv stays appropriately humid with only a fogger that alternates running with a fan all day. The timer that switches the fogger and fan stops completely when the lights go off, neither runs at night.
> 
> I had heat issues when I was running only the fan and hand mister because the evaporation wasn't sufficient for evaporative cooling. It was getting too dry between misting and I couldn't mist more frequently without causing the viv to be too moist especially at the bottom. Now, with the fogger constantly alternating with the fan, the cool mist combined with quick evaporation of condensation keeps the viv cool even with glass tops and a lot of LED wattage. It made a several degree difference and has been the difference in being able to keep some miniature orchids that were otherwise failing to thrive.
> 
> Now I hand mist only to water certain orchids that want to be particularly moist and every few days I target spray to top off film canisters for the tads.


May I ask about your fan fogger schedule.... I met with a gentleman in Malaysia who's an expert in building tropical vivarumes and told me that foggers are best used for orchids and moss


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## Zero

From experience my frogs do just fine with a heavy mist in the morning. It tends to get too humid inside so I use a fan to lower the humidity. I have a glass top on my viv. Some people mist their enclosures only twice a week. It depends on the plant requirements. If you have tons of moss then a mister may be of use.


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## rosicakes

As some have said, you can hand mist. I hand mist twice a day and my viv is doing great. I live in a very hot climate and open have a strip of mesh for ventilation. Otherwise it’d be hot and be too humid.


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## AncientSmariner

Back to the OP's question, what are the pro's and con's of the Fogger and Mister?


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## S2G

Old bump but ok...

Fogger
Pros: raises humidity, looks cool
Cons: humidity drops quick with proper ventilation and no water to rinse crap off everything and water plants

Mister
Pros: keeps humidity constant with good intervals, frogs get water, plants get watered. Debri gets rinsed off everything
Cons: buying ro or distilled to fill container/resevoir. Intial cost of mist king system if you choose that.


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## jgragg

I just think this bears repeating, as *it is priceless advice*:


> ...as a new hobbyist I would suggest hand misting over an automated system. Until you feel you have a handle on how to take care of the animal your best tool will be to put your eyes on them two or three times a day. Hand misting forces this. If you decide to go automated, mist King is worth every penny or you can relatively cheaply make a system yourself...


As for this (emphasis mine):


> Fogger
> Pros: raises humidity, looks cool
> Cons: humidity drops quick with *proper ventilation* and no water to rinse crap off everything and water plants
> 
> Mister
> Pros: keeps humidity constant with good intervals, *frogs get water, plants get watered*. Debri gets rinsed off everything
> Cons: buying ro or distilled to fill container/resevoir. Intial cost of mist king system if you choose that.


All true. But note which sides of the ledger the "big stuff" falls on, versus the "small stuff". It seems pretty clear that *mister beats fogger* in the important details, whereas the fogger's benefits or the mister's downsides are really _pretty trivial_, or easily overcome (e.g. DIY vs full-retail $$). If you really want a fogger for those "cool effects" I would still urge you to rely (after you get your amount & frequency figured out by hand-spraying) on a mister for providing water for life.

And don't mess around with poor ventilation. By way of example, I live in a desert, and have all screen tops. I have to add a lot of water, OK? Ha ha. So I just mist plenty. I have large vivs with large false bottoms (kept almost full-depth with water), deep substrates, and mossy drip walls on their own timers (more & longer cycles than my misters). My animals consequently have large temp and humidity gradients to choose from and fill their own needs, and they use the heck out of those gradients. They are doing great day by day, and year over year. I can also enjoy some pretty weird plant communities, with careful attention to placement. Succulents up on the dry "rocks", Selaginellas and liverworts on the drip walls.

Good luck, have fun!


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## AncientSmariner

Thanks guys! Good information.


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## Piper

I had a fogger for the first few months then switched to a mister. Things seem to be growing better with a mister. The fogger didn’t have a time though so it was hard to control what was coming out.


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## B-NICE

I use both lol


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## Big Blue

jgragg said:


> I just think this bears repeating, as *it is priceless advice*:
> 
> 
> As for this (emphasis mine):
> 
> 
> All true. But note which sides of the ledger the "big stuff" falls on, versus the "small stuff". It seems pretty clear that *mister beats fogger* in the important details, whereas the fogger's benefits or the mister's downsides are really _pretty trivial_, or easily overcome (e.g. DIY vs full-retail $$). If you really want a fogger for those "cool effects" I would still urge you to rely (after you get your amount & frequency figured out by hand-spraying) on a mister for providing water for life.
> 
> And don't mess around with poor ventilation. By way of example, I live in a desert, and have all screen tops. I have to add a lot of water, OK? Ha ha. So I just mist plenty. I have large vivs with large false bottoms (kept almost full-depth with water), deep substrates, and mossy drip walls on their own timers (more & longer cycles than my misters). My animals consequently have large temp and humidity gradients to choose from and fill their own needs, and they use the heck out of those gradients. They are doing great day by day, and year over year. I can also enjoy some pretty weird plant communities, with careful attention to placement. Succulents up on the dry "rocks", Selaginellas and liverworts on the drip walls.
> 
> Good luck, have fun!


Reviving as this helped me immensely for my first viv. Many thanks! This should be pinned with the way jgragg nailed it...


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## boardingfool

If you do go with a mister every one recommends Mist King for a reason. Buy once cry once.


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