Low Humidity

[cmpltclutch]

So I just set up a 10 gallon crabitat I added a moss pit and I also Built My Own humidifier once who for the airline with the stone going in and two lines coming out Distributing the air to the tank I wrapped my lid with Saran Wrap and I have a heat lamp on the one far corner.
My humidity is reading 60% I mist it 2 times a day to get the humidity up but I can't get it to stabilize on its own. Any suggestions would be great.

[daws409]

So I just set up a 10 gallon crabitat I added a moss pit and I also Built My Own humidifier once who for the airline with the stone going in and two lines coming out Distributing the air to the tank I wrapped my lid with Saran Wrap and I have a heat lamp on the one far corner.
My humidity is reading 60% I mist it 2 times a day to get the humidity up but I can't get it to stabilize on its own. Any suggestions would be great.

Have you calibrated your gauges? They could be off. Heat lamps zap or take humidity away. The humidifier - if not used correctly - can cause a flood.

Most people who use 10G tanks can't get/keep their environment stable. When they upgraded to a bigger tank, the tanks for some reason are more stable.... Really weird but maybe has something I to do with surface area.

I would try calibrating your gauges first and then go from there.

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[aprilmay]

I have a 15 gl and just went through similar thing, couldn't keep the humidity, it always drops to low 70% even with frequent misting and a bubbler going 24x7.
Here were what i found out:
1. Heat source. Heat lamp (i was using a ceramic heat lamp in addition to a zoomed UTH on the back) kills your humidity really quickly. I found out that whenever i turn my heat lamp off, the humidity in the tank sky rocketing to 90%. but then my temp couldn't get to 80C any more.
2. insulation. zoomed UTH can't be insulated, but you could insulate around it. also i originally forgot about my lid. it was a mesh lid that i wrapped aluminum foil around it completely. The foil reflect heat back to the tank, but without an insulation layer on top of the tin foil, it couldn't hold the heat.

so for 1. i eventually got a smaller Ultratherm Heat Pad from http://www.reptilebasics.com/ultratherm-heat-pads to put on the side panel and complete insulated that side of the tank using reflectix insulation. and put reflectix on the back panel AROUND the zoomed. then i could turn off the heat lamp(and the bubbler) completely. Now my temp can be kept at 78-79C and humidy around 80% with once a day mist.

It was still not ideal. but i was getting closer. Then the other day i suddently realized #2! so i added reflectix on my entire lid. viola! now without misting at all, in my tank the temp has stayed above 80C and humidity in mid-90% consistently!

i'm in San Francisco, so the summer is notoriously cold. Our house on a foggy day is often in 65C-70C during the day.

I wish i had realized 1 and 2 sooner. Hopefully this will be of use to you.

[Happyhermiehome]

I had exactally the same thing happen. I had a 20L and humidity was ALWAYS an issue. I tried the homemade humidifier jar but it didn't work well it was much better just putting the bubblers in the water pools. But it still wasn't optimal. I ended up with bacterial bloom in my sand on one side because my pool was abit leaky and I WAY over misted to compensate for humidity levels being low after that I upgraded to a 50gal and my condition are near perfect and stable. I use a pretty wide Tupperware dish for freshwater with a dual bubbler pump and a double light dome for heat with day and night bulbs on dimmer swhiches so I can brighten and dim to reach a perfect temp. My humidity ranges between 80% and 90% and I only mist after I've had the lid open for a while to feed and clean just to boost it back up quickly. My heat is 86 day and 80-83 night. The lamps don't seem to effect my humidity much in the 50gal.

I would suggest putting the bubblerstones in your fresh water dish and make sure it's deep enough and doesn't leak And switch to a uth if possible. also check your local Craigslist you might be able to find a larger tank for free or really cheap.

[aussieJJDude]

A larger tank is more likely to be stable to to the increase in volume. EG: fish tanks, everyone reccomends to get the largest you can afford. The reason is the increased amount of volume, the less likely toxins are to build up to harmful levels, or build up at all, which in turn increased stability. This can be applied to our tanks, the larger it is the less likely external conditions - such as temperature or humidity - will have an effect. If the power went off, a larger tank wouldnt have a rapid cooling like a smaller tank would.

(Surface area is 2D, while volume - such as our tanks - are 3D. IMO, an increased surface area can hold more crabs than an increase in volume... But increase in volume helps with stability, which may be useful for people that live in extreme environments and have poorly insulated homes. So, you aint exactly wrong, but not exactly right at the same time, and want to clarify just in case. )

Those DIY humidifers will never cause a significant amount of flooding, they simply too low powered/effective to cause over-saturation of the substrate.