Mist King Installation and Evaluation

[MikeM670]

Don,

Very nice work on putting this together. Now I want to see your real setup with all this stuff attached.

[DonLisk]

Don,

Very nice work on putting this together. Now I want to see your real setup with all this stuff attached.

Thanks Mike. I will as soon as I get that drill bit to drill the glass top. I'll also do some more diagrams of other ways to route to multiple tanks.

I'm using the Monsoon nozzles right now since I am either going to drill that top or make a larger screen section for the top and put the nozzles through that.

[Marty]

Nice write up. If you need any info, let me know.

I noticed on the first page, you say that the hole in the reservoir should be drilled with a 3/4" bit. That's for the advanced 3/8" tubing bulkhead, the bulkhead you have pictured is the smaller (Value Bulkhead) for 1/4" tubing.

For the Value bulkhead, I recommend drilling with a 9/16" bit. The hole will be slightly undersized and you'll need a bit of force to jam the bulkhead in. Given that most of the people drill in plastic, then that's not too difficult. Once it's in, it will sit nice and very tight. You could also get away with 5/8" bit and if you're installing into something hard (glass, metal, etc) I recommend 5/8" since it will be harder to jam the bulkhead in.

Here's a PDF for your reference.

Marty

[clownonfire]

Marty,

Thank you for the precisions.

Don, I think I will change my Monsoon units to the Mist King. For new readers, some of us on this board had written our experiences with the Monsoon. We all experienced similar issues with the units, most related with quality control: defective nozzles, off timers, ect.

I personally had a great customer experience with Hagen when it was time to replace the defective nozzle. But this weekend, timers on my units started being off. Both tops were filled with water (Don, have you checked yours lately?) and one of the Monsoon now mists each minute, no matter what setting I put it on. And the other one, more erratically.

I agree with Don that the Monsoon looks great and may seem practical and more user friendly than the Mist King on first view. But at this point here I think I am going to go towards quality and efficiency. That is of course, when budget will allow. And when I do so, I'll write up my own review on the Mist King.

Eric

[Marty]

Eric, yet the Monsoon is very pretty, but I think MistKing is even prettier when you tuck it away and never look at it. Ha Ha

[DonLisk]

I parked the Monsoon once the Mist King was set up. I runs flawlessly and once I mounted down the hoses its super quiet.

Since it has so much preasure, the hoses will slap around, but thats what you get when you get real preasure heading to the nozzles.

Marty, Thanks for the clarifications on the drill bit sizes.
I'll probably be trying out the premium nozzles later on but with how good the system is working, I might hold off and enjoy the viv for a bit.

[bshmerlie]

With every system there are some glitches. I just set up my Mist King this weekend and one of my T connectors is leaking and floods the tank. Don is trying to get me a new one before Thursday before I go to frog day. Thanks Don. Wouldn't it be funny if I came home and the house was flooded? Yikes!

[Marty]

Cheri, can you email me a picture of the faulty connector ? Take a flash light and look inside. See if the o-ring is sitting in properly. Sometimes it can get dislodged. Send a pic to marty[at ]mistking{ dot}com

Don, the premium nozzle will be a bit higher end, but the mist will be identical.

[DonLisk]

With every system there are some glitches. I just set up my Mist King this weekend and one of my T connectors is leaking and floods the tank. Don is trying to get me a new one before Thursday before I go to frog day. Thanks Don. Wouldn't it be funny if I came home and the house was flooded? Yikes!

I had this happen and was laying on the floor getting to watch the whole thing play out.

Was filling an extra large garbage can for mixing up some salt water for the reef tank when while in my livingroom, my back went out and as I lay there on the floor not able to move, got to watch my kitchen fill, then the livingroom and eventually go out the open front door.

Only took about 30 minutes to eventually get myself up and make it to the hose shutoff. Luckily it was a nice sunny day, so the carpet was taken outside by some neighbors and they gave me some help cleaning up. My dog at the time enjoyed the mini tubby we had and I was pretty relieved I didn't get to add the salt before the flooding started.

[bshmerlie]

Cheri, can you email me a picture of the faulty connector ? Take a flash light and look inside. See if the o-ring is sitting in properly. Sometimes it can get dislodged. Send a pic to marty[at ]mistking{ dot}com

Don, the premium nozzle will be a bit higher end, but the mist will be identical.

I will do that when I get home tonight. Right now I have it over my clown tank which has a screen lid so it floods into that tank. It is only on one end of the T so I guess it could be an O ring. Is there a way to fix it if it is the O ring?

[mdtalley22]

You know I have had my mistking for about a month or so, and I couldn't be happier with it. I have 2 nozzles in my clown tank and it has been working great! I only have a screen top so installing the nozzles was pretty easy...

[DonLisk]

I like all the optional nozzles available in the premium series of nozzles. So many setup choices/options. The dual nozzle off a single line in would work well for so many setups.

[bshmerlie]

I like all the optional nozzles available in the premium series of nozzles. So many setup choices/options. The dual nozzle off a single line in would work well for so many setups.

I have one dual nozzle in a horizontal 20 long it works well. And its cheaper than buying two individual heads.

[DonLisk]

I have one dual nozzle in a horizontal 20 long it works well. And its cheaper than buying two individual heads.

Cheri, do you have it center tank? How does it look? I thought about this over and over and I would hate to have something distract from the view on my darts 20 long.

[bshmerlie]

Cheri, do you have it center tank? How does it look? I thought about this over and over and I would hate to have something distract from the view on my darts 20 long.

Well here's what I did...I have five baby Azureus in the twenty long. So I have a large brown rock structure in the middle and all the plants on the sides. The dual head is mounted overtop the rock and sprays the plants to the left and right of it. The rock is dark and kind of blends in with the misters is the middle. It doesn't seem any more distracting then the ones off to the side because your eyes focus to the plants to the left and right. It actually works. I will post a picture in the morning. I was worried the Azureus would become territorial as they get older so I was trying to make spaces where they couldn't see each other....thus the rock in the middle.

[clownonfire]

I will soon replace my Monsoons with Mist King. I called Hagen angry yesterday, and they are sending me a free replacement unit. But that still leaves me with a second one that works with a few quirks. Fortunately, one of its problems became a solution for the Atelopus spumarius tank.

These little fellows need ponds with fresh and clean water. Therefore I managed to build two ponds at the extremities of the tank, made of rocks and a small water bowls, placed right underneath the nozzles. Now as the nozzles drip after each misting, whatever is left in the nozzle drips in the pond. And there's enough of it to recycle the water. When it fills the bowl up, the extra water drips in the substrate to the drainage layer, where it will either evaporate or be siphoned when i do maintenance on my tanks.

It's still no Mist King, but at least they can still be used.

[DonLisk]

I am guessing Hagen did not do long term testing with the Monsoons. I should hook mine back up and see how it functions just spraying the 12x12 I build a while back.

It was working fine, never perfect with the timers consistancy but it keep the dart viv going well.
Eric, at least they are supplying something but just wonder how long it will operate until its having issues again.

[bshmerlie]

Here's a couple of shots with the dual nozzle head in the middle of the 20 long tank. It is against a dark background and is not really distracting. I personally don't thinks its that big a deal. But it would depend on the color of the background.

[clownonfire]

I am with you on that, Don. 100%. I know the new unit will end up showing another issue soon enough. But I won't wait. Mist King is on my list.

[dtfleming]

ON drilling glass. I have drilled several tanks, mostly for Saltwater. Keep the bit cool. plumbers putty to form a circle around the hole you want to drill, fill with water to keep the bit cool. Make sure to have some padding under the hole for when the glass pieces falls out. Keep your drill on a low torque setting and nice even drill speed. Start the hole on an angle and as it starts to make a groove, straight the drill to 90 deg angle. DO NOT push down on the drill, let the bit do the work. You can stop to make sure it is drilling fine and to add more water if need.

Look up some videos on drilling glass tanks to see what I mean.