What Pump To Use For A Drip Wall?

There's lots of info on this for dart frog vivs, but my situation is a bit different.

I want to do a drip wall from a single pump that can do 4 enclosures.

The enclosures are built 2 x 2 on top of each other, the top ones being just over 6 feet off the ground.

What I want to do is run two lines from a pump on the ground, up to drip down into the cage into 'cupped' fake leaves, and then just drained away.

It will be 2x lines from the floor up 6 feet, T-lined so the 2 lines can continue down to the bottom two cages.

What kind of pump do I need that it will just do a drop or two a minute, but has enough power to do the 6 feet x 4 cages. Or can I use any pump and just attach a valve to adjust the pressure.....and would that cause any backup pressure issues to the pump?

Thanks in advance.

hmm... Marty or Kevin may be able to answer this

If Im understanding you right, a cheep pond pump could pull that off.
Your wanting like a "trickle" right?

Yep a trickle, but to make it up 6+ feet, and do 4 cages, and not flood the cage....I just want a drip or two a minute.

My main concern is that if I use a valve on a pump that has too much output it will cause a backpressure issue and damage the pump..... likewise if I use a pump with lower output it won't make it up 6 feet.

Ok, got it. Well, I once attempted to make a DIY mist system, and used a 30gph/gpm(or whatever the he77 its measured in) pond pump. I got it all ran nice and clean. It came from the floor, to the top of a cage, probably a 6-7' run. I turned it on and...just a trickle. It would have made a great automatic dripper I think a 30gp? pond pump is what your looking for. Although I dont have any experience with using another gp? pump though.

Zen Reptiles said:

Yep a trickle, but to make it up 6+ feet, and do 4 cages, and not flood the cage....I just want a drip or two a minute.

My main concern is that if I use a valve on a pump that has too much output it will cause a backpressure issue and damage the pump..... likewise if I use a pump with lower output it won't make it up 6 feet.

Click to expand...

Well, a drip or two a minute, I would just make a large dripper tank, and put a flow regulator on it to control the output.
Didnt notice that bit

HAHA what a grand finale to your project.


Was this just connected to one mister? If so, this sounds like it would do the job for 4 cages and the low drip rate that I want. Thanks for your help, I am glad I asked otherwise I probably woulda gone too low.

You have no idea.
Im a do it yourselfer.
I figured, mist system? How hard/expensive can that be to build?
Well $75 and 5hrs later(I wanted it really fancy and clean)
All I got was angry and a firm conclusion to get a mist king.
I had lots of nozzles on it initially, but it would only run one.
It was just a dribble that came out, I took the mist nozzle off the line, and the same amount was coming out.
So yes I think it would be at least very close to what you need. Pump cost me $20.
The entire thing is just sitting in a box, in case I ever need a pond pump regulators, and miniature mist nozzles(I wont) Couldnt stand the thought of just chunking the $75
Lesson learned!

Solid Snake said:

Well, a drip or two a minute, I would just make a large dripper tank, and put a flow regulator on it to control the output.
Didnt notice that bit

Click to expand...

This would probably be your best bet, home depot sells a splitter for tubing. looks like this http://www.blackjungleterrariumsupp...-vivarium-Step-by-step-photo-essay_ep_57.html

Any "pond" pump will work that can pump at least 6' height. Since you plan on splitting amongst multiple cages, I would *HIGHLY* recommend ball valving each line independently....

http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc...splay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053

I am personally using this pump, it can pump to 7' height on its own, and the flow is way more than my needs (I'm running 3 lines out of it, 2 lines to waterfalls and 1 line to a drip wall).

Unfortunately, I have not found a smaller pump that can easily pump to 7' height with decent water flow. The next size down can only pump 4' high...granted I only checked HD, but there are a ton of comparable pumps...just not too many that can meet the 6' vertical height requirement.

Since you plan on splitting it across multiple cages, I'd think that the pump I linked should work perfectly fine for your needs. From my research, I doubt you will find a good, working pump for less than $35-40 range that can also meet the 6' requirement. If you do, let me know

As for your concern about the "back blast"... it should not be an issue unless you buy a RIDICULOUSLY strong pump, but even if you do it can be avoided VERY easily.....just split your line and have the last split go BACK to the water reservoir (with no valve on it). In other words, the pump pushes water through the 4 valved splits dripping, and any pressure/water leftover goes to the 5th split which returns and simply pours into your reservoir. No back pressure problem

@SolidSnake: in order to build a misting system you need a high end pump with HIGH PRESSURE but LOW VOLUME. You can *NOT* use a standard sump/pond pump to do this very well. If your pump cost you $20, thats most likely the problem Also, you said your pump was 30 GPM? there is a HUGE difference between GPM and GPH....GPH = 60*GPM....in other words 30GPM = 1800GPH. If your pump cost $20 it was most likely 30gp*H* and unable to pump the 6' vertical height so you had no pressure on your water, hence no mist from the nozzles. EDIT: Just to give you something to compare to, the "standard" mistking pump is 210psi but only pumps 0.55Liters/min (there are 3.7Liters in 1 gallon...so it pumps roughly 1/8GPM but at HIGH pressure)

EvilLost said:

@SolidSnake: in order to build a misting system you need a high end pump with HIGH PRESSURE but LOW VOLUME. You can *NOT* use a standard sump/pond pump to do this very well. If your pump cost you $20, thats most likely the problem Also, you said your pump was 30 GPM? there is a HUGE difference between GPM and GPH....GPH = 60*GPM....in other words 30GPM = 1800GPH. If your pump cost $20 it was most likely 30gp*H* and unable to pump the 6' vertical height so you had no pressure on your water, hence no mist from the nozzles. EDIT: Just to give you something to compare to, the "standard" mistking pump is 210psi but only pumps 0.55Liters/min (there are 3.7Liters in 1 gallon...so it pumps roughly 1/8GPM but at HIGH pressure)

Click to expand...

Yeah I understand all this NOW lol.
I did research, saw how much one of the pumps I needed went for, and went with mistking. Glad I did.
I know theres a difference in gph-gpm, but wasnt sure witch one pond pumps were measured in

You can make airlift pumps to do it. You use an aquarium bubble pump to make the low pressure air. You can put 4 airlift pumps in one bucket as the sump. They are individually controlled. I think my air supply is about 110 liters per hour and it uses about 3.5 or 4.5 watts. http://www.flickr.com/photos/52815627@N06/8660038327/ I usually use 1/4 inch internal diameter tubing but you can also use 3/16 or 5/16. 3/16 will get you higher and slower and 5/16 will not go so high but can spurt out more water. The taps are to adjust water speed. I find that new tubes take a couple of days to "break in" and instead of using new tubing, I put some muddy water into the tubing and let it sit for a day. New tubing has some sort of hydrophobic coating. You can see my windowfarms research videos at https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL17DC16567E0712FA (I have worked on improving airlift pumps for several years. The airlift in a bucket has the highest lift to submergence ratio of anything I have tested. The windowfarmers have used my designs for several years. Brian

I'm using a supreme mag 3. It seems to be doing the trick.