Humidity in an aquarium?

Question

I have an 80 gallon aquarium with a glass top and light. We have a big glass casserole dish filled with rocks, water and a water fountain as well as another dish with salt water and there are two sponges in there. I have a big box thing that is supposed to release hot, wet air but nothing seems to be creating enough humidity except a spray bottle. It sits at about 60% but is between 70-80% when I spray it down and this only lasts for a little while. I can not be spraying it every hour! Any suggestions how to add extra humidity??

Answer 1

You could get an automatic misting system. I use them in my viper cages. You can set them for different times of the day and different mist strenghts. I would check it out if I were you. Google reptile misters and you will get a few hits.

** Also, if you put a heat pad under or a heat lamp over your dish of water that wouldhelp, but then you run the risk or having too much ambient heat in the tank... Stick with a misterd.

Answer 2

I would suggest trying some of these things:

1) Keeping the hoods closed all the time. Work on keeping the top of the aquarium as sealed up as you can. (safely)

Hot air escapes upwards taking the humidity with it.

2) Get more powerful and/or additional light or reptile specific heat lamps. (or if it is possible use some good old free sunlight by moving your tank nearer to a window)

3) Add and maintain more shallow water areas. Shallow motionless water evaporates faster than deep, moving water.

4) Turn down the human air conditioning in that area of your house. Some of these systems can be so powerful that they overwhelm/override the aquarium conditions that you want.

5) Maybe an under-tank heater can help you.(see link)

Since heat rises the constant effects of just a few degrees can significantly effect your aquarium's humidity.