# How long do you run your fans for?



## myersboy6 (Aug 23, 2010)

So i just purchased some fans for my viv that i am going to be mounting in the hood to blow on the front of the glass to keep the condensation from building up so that it is always nice and clear. I am just wondering how long you guys run them for in a day and how many times in a day you run them for.


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## hypostatic (Apr 25, 2011)

I run 24/7/365


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## myersboy6 (Aug 23, 2010)

Seriously? Doesn't that kill the humidity in the tank?

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## carola1155 (Sep 10, 2007)

It depends on the tank... If it is a sealed system, running your fan shouldn't change the humidity much.


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## myersboy6 (Aug 23, 2010)

Okay. I'm just trying to get a good idea. I was playing around with them today and ran only 2 out of the 4 for about an hour and it seemed like it was drying out my plants a bit so thats why I was seeing what everyone else does. My tank is completely sealed and I'm going to cut out places in the hood to mount them in front to keep the condensation off. 

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## hypostatic (Apr 25, 2011)

It can.

As with most things in life, it's a fine balancing act.

A lot of members have frog _collections_, but I only have one main tank. So, I can easily micromanage it if need be. I've also come to know my tank very well. I know how often it needs misting (I hand mist), when it's about to get dry, when it looks dry but is really humid, how the seasons change the rate which this happens at....

My tank is mostly sealed, so while it won't do it quickly, the fan does increase how fast my tank dries out. That being said, I find that I mist much less often than most people. I think I mist 3X a week tops, unless I am trying to induce breeding. If I'm planning on going away on vacation for a week or longer, I'll turn the fan off so it doesn't get too dry.

The best thing is to get a feel for it. Literally. Stick your hand right in there. Even if it looks dry, it can be surprisingly humid. You should be able to feel the stuffiness of the humidity. I also take a whiff, haha; you can smell the humidity as well. I guess you could say it's a pretty sensual experience, as for me it involves sight, smell, and touch.


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## Dendro Dave (Aug 2, 2005)

I'm a big fan of interval timers on fans mounted outside the tank. 15min on, 15-45min off.


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## athiker04 (Nov 15, 2013)

I'm new to the whole vivarium thing and have been trying to dial this in as well. Right now I've got the fan running for 15 minutes at a time with 45 min - hour off. That's during the day. At night the 15 min intervals are spaced 2 - 3 hours apart. So total it runs about an hour during the night and 4 hours during the day. 

The tank is mostly sealed. This schedule has the fan running about 50% more than what I had been running it up until a week or so ago. The glass stays clear now but I feel like the tank dries out a little more in general too and I feel the need to mist more often.

I'm trying to figure out the ideal amount. I'm doing it more for the hopeful benefit to the plants than keeping the glass clear. Also, it's really dry in the house in the winter and much more humid in the summer so I'm sure that will change things too.

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## myersboy6 (Aug 23, 2010)

Thanks for thay info. See thats going to be my problem in the summer because I live in arizona so its suoer dry and hot. I was thinking qbout 15min intervals as well but if you say it keeps the tank a little dry at that I will maybe try for shorter intervals amd maybe adding a 3rd misting in the day. Thanks again! 

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## kshorey (Feb 4, 2013)

My humidity stays right where I like it with a water feature in the tank and 3 small vent holes in the top of my tank. My fan sits right above the front glass, facing up and pulling air out, it simply operates on a switch that I turn on time to time. just every few days when the front glass finally manages to fog over. then when the fog is gone I flip it off.


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## myersboy6 (Aug 23, 2010)

Hmm so you have your fan reversed. I am planning on blowing air into the tank so that I have some air circulation so that I can grow some orchids in the viv. How big is your tank? I habe 4 fans that I am planning on installing to blow inside the tank. They are very small fans too which i did for a reason that they are easy to hide. 

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## kshorey (Feb 4, 2013)

sorry i took so long to reply.
yes, my fan blows out, i figured the air had to be coming in the other vents to be going out this one. the tank also has a fan on the inside to circulate air, its a 36 gallon bow front.


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## myersboy6 (Aug 23, 2010)

Very cool. I just got all my fans connected and I'm running them at 3min intervals throughout the day and it seems to be working well. 

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