29 Gallon Viv with humidity problems! Help!

[m1helmethead]

Thanks for the information fellows!

I have one other question like I was saying I have a extremely small pond in the center of the tank do I need to filter the water? I'm assuming I do because the frogs absorb through the skin so dirty water is going to hurt them. Should I just place a small submersible filter/pump in the water or should I pump the water up and out of the tank into a external filter and then pump it back in?

[Green Ghost]

If you ask me I'd say do the filtering external if you can. It makes things a whole lot easier later on.

Yup, Frogs need clean water.

[m1helmethead]

Seeing as I've never done one of these types of setups in the past can anyone point me in the direction of a tutorial that would explain this external filtering?

[bareass]

i had a very similar problem in the same size tank. i don't have a sublayer and i live plants in a peat moss substrate. i hooked a 12V PC fan to an adapter, and it works great. humidity stays in the mid 70's. but if i turn off the fan the humidity jumps to about 95% so it works really well. i used a .1A fan and a 1A adapter. just be sure to get an adapter that is a higher rating then the fan, so it won't get hot when you keep it on all the time.

[bareass]

oh sorry.... didn't read the whole post!

[mreynolds55]

Hi,
Maybe you've solved this problem by now, but I would advise anyone with humidity doubts or problems to check the validity of the readings. There is a very easy & reliable way to calibrate a hygrometer using only a small container of salt and a plastic baggie.
Just Google "calibrate hygrometer" and there are a number of places that explain the steps.Most are on cigar enthusiast sites ,at least one in reptile info(About.com)
I've found wide variations in gauges from the same manufacturer placed side by side.
M.

[bareass]

thanks a ton.. mine stopped working.. and now my new one is no good too!

[froggsong]

I read on a snake forum that placing wet terra cotta in the tank will drastically raise the humidity. I haven't tried this yet, but everyone there agreed that it worked very well. Some of the methods included placing a shallow dish filled with water somewhere in the tank and placing small wet pots in as hides. There may have been others, but I don't remember. Just a tip to anyone dealing with the same problem. I am going to try it as soon as we get paid, my humidity needs to be a little higher. I will post an update to say whether it works or not and how high it raised the humidity.

[kells236]

whre i live it gets very dry due to heat and ac in the house so i tried a water fall it increased mine 30% live plants gave me anouhter10-20% also if you have live plants and live moss or coconut bark you can mist more often w/o getting mold and i agree with the heatr light being too hot...it can harm ur animals and plants ...try a little less heat....hope you have some luck...also on the top of my tank i have plexi glass coverign everything but plant light and basking lamp....good luck

[froggsong]

I know this is an old post, and I don't know why I didn't post this before, but as for using a towel to trap heat and humidity, a dry towel is only going to suck the humidity out of your tank, especially if it is getting warm from the heat of the lights. If you HAVE to use a towel because you don't have anything else, make sure you keep it wet, it is the only way it is going to trap ANY moisture in the tank. As the water from the towel evaporates, a small amount of the moisture will end up in the tank, but if you let the towel get to dry again, it will just suck it right back up. I used a towel this way for a while until I just broke down and got the plexi. My dragon needs UVB, so I don't have plexi under his lights.