Trouble keeping substrate moist throughout

[MikeIsGreen]

Ok lol...i called back to petsmart and they have "all living things" brand CHE and the fixtures also. BUT I'm not sure how many watts I should get? They have 65, 100, 150 watt all are on sale atm. I'm definitely going to get a reptifogger and CHE and fixture. I will have to order a regulator if I can't get it dialed in correctly. Also, will R/O water be alright to use with the fogger? I'm under the impression that it will, but wanna make sure! Edit - is this what you were refering to? Petsmart doesn't have one and if this is what I need then I will order it from amazon and go ahead and spend the extra money getting he reptifogger tomorrow since it's much needed! Thanks

[Bedore]

Yes, that is the device you can hook both your heating and humidity devices up to. The Zoomed Hygrotherm. As for the CHE wattage, it depends on how cold it gets in your area. I tried 60W but it wasn't enough. For a 10g I would recommend trying 100W but double check that the fixture can handle 100W. I believe most can take up to 150W.

With the Reptifogger you want to use distilled water. Regular tap water has too much hard stuff in it that will gunk up the internals (minerals, metals, etc). Not sure on R/O water as I have no experience with R/O, but I assume it will work. Just read the directions to be sure. When you first hook the fogger up be sure to check and see how often it runs. If it's running constantly it will most likely fail quicker and you have too much humidity escaping, but for now worry about getting everything plugged in and fine tuned.

[GrifTheGreat]

Just so everyone knows it is normal for he surface to dry some. If it never did then there would not be any humidity without misting. Moisture evaporates from the soil no matter what heat source is used. There is always a drying effect. Makes the substrate a little more moist and some of this probkem will go away for a while. Allow it to be moist enough so that when squeazed it will drip some. This will help keep the soil more moist longer.

[MikeIsGreen]

Grif...thank you for replying! I understand that the substrate will dry out on top no matter what, but with the light petsmart pushed on me it dries it out bad. I've stopped using any light except for the infared heat light. I hope this is ok...? There is a lot of ambient light from windows and other lights I have on. I'm gonna get the reptifogger today and a CHE/fixture. I will the. Order the hygrotherm regulator from amazon. I just feel like I'm doing my little guy wrong by using lights, by not using lights. Do pacman frogs need additional light or can I just put it aside and let the natural light work. Please help lol...

[DigitalPunk]

Mike,

Here si the pic I promised yesterday.

As for the HydroTherm. I do not have mine connected to my misting system It was keeping the substrate to wet for my liking. I instead got a Mistking timer. Lets you schedule to on off for days of the week and hours, mins, and seconds. Its very nice! I do however have have the CHE plugged into it. Works great at regulating the temperature.

[MikeIsGreen]

Wow Paul! Thats a very nice setup! Well i got my CHE and new fixture (60watt) and I also picked up the reptifogger. Once I finally got it to turn on, it works and works great BUT once humidity reaches 80% and I turn it off it's only about 10min if that and it drops back down to 40%. Rather frustrating to say the least. Any ideas on what I could do? When I get the regulator it will be turning off and on all the time....confused

[Bedore]

Wow Paul! Thats a very nice setup! Well i got my CHE and new fixture (60watt) and I also picked up the reptifogger. Once I finally got it to turn on, it works and works great BUT once humidity reaches 80% and I turn it off it's only about 10min if that and it drops back down to 40%. Rather frustrating to say the least. Any ideas on what I could do? When I get the regulator it will be turning off and on all the time....confused

If you haven't covered the top of the tank with aluminum foil etc, then the humidity is escaping rather quickly. You should try covering some of the top of the enclosure. I tried a 10g tank for mine and I could not get humidity past 40% or so. I ended up going back to my exo-terra enclosure and it holds humidity much better. This was more than likely due to my low room humidity, as it's winter and the forced hot air dries the room out. You may need to consider a different enclosure.