Is high humidity bad?

[fishguyturnedfrog]

I've only got a 10 gallon tank for now with egg crate false bottom, hydro balls, soil, then sphagnum. A quick light misting once a day my humidity levels can jump to 100%+. I have a full glass lid that is split in the middle so I can just pull the front piece up and have about a 1/2" gap to help lower the humidity. Even when the humidity is high, the sphagnum feels only slightly moist but not really damp to the touch. I do live in a humid area to begin with. Summers here it can hit 110% humidity easily. Any suggestions?

[dynekevin]

Sounds perfect man! 100% humidity is right where you want it! Any where from 80%+! I wouldnt worry about lowering humidity at all!

Good luck!

[fishguyturnedfrog]

Thanks Kevin. I was under the assumption that it needed to be kept around 80%.

[Philsuma]

100% humidity would not be optimal if you had the enclosure completely closed and rarely opened the lid and had very ittle air exchange. Every other day feeding and looking around / maintainance of th viv will allow for decent air movement.

I've had vivs in the winter / off cycle that were @ 60% humidity and that was not a problem - froglets grew out and even eggs were laid.

@ 80% humidity would be a 'sweet spot' for a lot of species but it's also better to be on the 'higher end' than the lower end, especially when you are new.

[FHal11]

As others have said, 80% and up is a good guideline. I'm a little confused though, you say your viv is 100%+, and reaches 110% humidity in your area? I'm unclear how it can be over 100% anywhere...also, how are you measuring humidity in your viv?

[fishguyturnedfrog]

Live on the south-east coast and weather reports are over 100% humidity quite often. I'm using a exo digital temp/humidity gauge. Once it goes over 100% it'll start showing 00%, 01% ect. Thought it was broken the first time I saw it.

I'm starting to learn to manage my humidity much easier now. Since it's so hot here right now, I'm working on a night schedule for lights, so I do a light mist at lights on and keep the front part of my split glass hanging over the front of the tank, leaving about 1/4" gap in the center, for a couple hours and it'll come down to around 80% then I put the glass in place and will remain between 85-90% the rest of the day. But this is a 10 gallon. My 40 gallon that's been up for about a month and a half, almost always stays a constant 88% on one side and 86% on the other. Seems like the larger the tank, the more stable things will be.

[frogfreak]

It's not possible to be over 100%. I suspect your gauge is broken.

Best

PS This chart is kind of cool http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Relative_humidity

[Philsuma]

indeed.....the other thing to consider is - those cheapo hobby gauges are crap and give erroneous readings.