Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I think I'm a bit of an engineer at heart, and Scottish to boot (that makes me frugal). So I've been considering the alternatives to buying a misting system for $100 (or more). This is where I need your help.

1) Can you please post/send me (close up) pictures of the pumps used with your Rainmaker JR, Mr. Mister, Mr. Moisture, Big Apple Herp systems, etc. along with any writing on the pumps that might help identify the specs/source of the pump? The misting systems seem to be a pretty simple setup: a reservoir, a pump, the right nozzles, and a timer. I would just like to see what type of pumps the are using to power the 30 psi nozzles.

2) Those of you that use Humidifiers piped in: do you find any need to water your plants, or is the water accumulation from the cool mist enough?

3)Do you really need fans running to keep your bromeliads from rotting? Currently my vivarium (with no frogs . . . yet) runs between 68% to 82% humidity without misting. The top is 80% glass with a screen section that runs along top front glass and the side glass.

Thanks, everyone, for all of your help. I should be posting picures of my setup within the next few weeks, and I'll keep everyone updated on what I find out.

Homer

I use a humidifier and i never water the plants and they are growing like crazy. It is a much cheaper way to go than a mistingsystem. I think it is better till you find out if you are going to sstay in this hobby or not. Then buy you a goodmysting system.

I kinda agree with the humidifier idea... if you are only going to have one tank, or only a couple, a misting system is not cost effective. Misitng systems are meant for large (50 gallon ) tanks or tanks set up in a "rack" type system (if you don't know what I'm talking about, check out Patrick's page about his rack on his page www.saurian.net).

As long as your tank is already watered/soaked well when you start your humidifier, you shouldn't have a problem with watering unless you have bromiliads, and especially if you are breeding eggfeeders or letting thumbnails raise their tads. Bromiliads always need their axils to have water in them, which should be flushed (gently pour luke warm water in the center of the brom and let it overflow for a couple seconds, NEVER USE COLD WATER as it will damage broms and give a temp shock to tropical plants in general, room temp to luke warm water is best) about once a week. If breeding eggfeeders/thumbnails you need to flush the broms a little more often and I prefer to do it with a mix of tadpole tea and regular treated water. A way to get around this is to just not use broms if you don't need them, but it really doesn't take much time (if you have non-bromiliad breeding frogs).

As for the fans... with your top covered so much you may need a fan due to lack of ventilation, which can cause problems not only for plants but the frogs as well. The best way to get around this is side vents and/or front opening tanks, with fans being used to move air around a tank in only top opening tanks. Another way to get around this is to have two openings at the top of your tank (you have it covered 80%, so it would be 10% at each end) with the humidifier at one end, and allowing the air to flow out the other. I'm not sure how this would work, but its better than nothing.