Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Well, i was looking on the net for misters and found that they are all too much $$$. So i thout, why not make one. Here it is, fist take a submersible fish pump (not sure what size). Stick it in a bucket hook the pump into a digital timer. Run lines and hook up misting heads(not sure what kinds ether).

Have anyone tryed this? if so what kinda pump and misting heads did you use.

I havn't tried your idea nor do I know any who have. It is a good idea. However I feel the need to inform you that a lot of what you pay for from the big companies is the pump. All the tubing and connectors are cheap from local plumbing suppliers the mist heads and the pump is where the money is. Those just happen to be the important factors as well. To me I would much rather pay for reliability.

By know means am I saying you should buy from the big boys but know what they offer. I would look at what compaines like Ecologic at cloudtops.com. Patrick from Saurian get his stuff straight from ecologic cut out the middle man and see what they have to offer.

I don't think you will be disappointed. But if you still choose to build your own good luck and let us know how it turns out.
Jeremy
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"I am become death, the destroyer of worlds" July 16, 1945 Robert Oppenheimer

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the problem (and the reason why the big companies charge alot) is the difficulty in finding a powerfull enough pump to push the water. it is fairly difficult to find a pump with the power to push the water for a cheap price. i have used the method you described with good results but had used an old pump that i had from an outdoor pond.
an alternate method with just a little less convienience is as follows:
get a garden sprayer (size depends on your needs but 1 gallon is usually good), cut off the wand part and get connectors to attach it to a garden hose timer. then get more connectors to attach that garden hose timer to the misting nozzels. all you have to do is fill up and pump the sprayer about once a week depending on misitng schedule (i had it set up for 2-3 times a day for 1 min each time). you could also just connect the garden hose timer to a faucet if you have an open one available. this method is by far my prefered as it is not only easy, but cheap, as the garden hose timer will be the most expensive part (cost me $30 for a digital one with tons of options).

>>Well, i was looking on the net for misters and found that they are all too much $$$. So i thout, why not make one. Here it is, fist take a submersible fish pump (not sure what size). Stick it in a bucket hook the pump into a digital timer. Run lines and hook up misting heads(not sure what kinds ether).
>>
>>Have anyone tryed this? if so what kinda pump and misting heads did you use.

The problem with submersible aquarium pumps is that they can't push the water at high enough pressure through standard misting nozzles. As one of the other posters mentioned, with the commercially available misting systems the cost is in the pumps and less so, the nozzles. I've experimented around with home-made misting systems and I greatly prefer an automated pump over the garden sprayer misting system. My advice would be to simply buy a misting pump as sold by one of the companies like Ecologic Technologies. Then, buy your misting nozzels and tubing from them separately or from a supplier such as BARRS [www.barrs.com].
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Matt Campbell

Big animals, little animals, plants - right down to the sea itself. We need them, not just for their own sake, but because all this has to be here for everybody forever. Only one thing is certain: if we are to preserve our environment and save this priceless wildlife we need much, much more knowledge.
Harry Butler from 'In the Wild With Harry Butler' 1977