Cleaning a misting system

[nightanole]

How does one clean a misting system that is filled with well water? Since they are plastic with odds are rubber membrane pumps, im not sure if i should CLR it. Also what do you put in the buckets to prevent alga build up?

 

[KatiLemons]

What kind of system do yoy have?.. You could try to use vinegar. Thats natural and shouldnt hurt the inside.Just make sure that you run it several cycles to rinse it out efficiently enough. You definitley do not want to use CLR. I would only use half if a 5 gallon bucket every couple days and I would clean it out before refilling it too!

 

[nightanole]

aquazamp rain dome. Im est a 1/3 gallon a day (its what im using now manually).

 

[KatiLemons]

I think if you use a 5 gallon bucket and you put distilled water in there with a top on it. It shouldnt build up algae. Try that and see if it works. Also I would definitley use vinegar for cleaning it.

 

[danTHAman152000]

What about MistKing?

I set mine up last week. It ran flawlessly on the soft water that we have at our home (not naturally but with a soft water filter), but the next day I heard the pump working but no mist. I swapped out the mist nozzle and it has been working since then.

I know soft water is not ideal for the mister, and I am reading now that chameleons shouldn't have it either so I will have to find a source for distilled water.

But can one day's use be enough to clog a MistKing nozzle?

And do I really need to use a 2 gallons of vinegar to clean out the system?

 

[Zen Reptiles]

There's something wrong with what you are doing if you are getting algae buildup.

Is it in a bright area of the room/house? Is it a clear container?

It should be in the dark, and a solid container. This will prevent any algae growth.

In the old days (and this is what I do), people would add a few pieces of Silver to their water to prevent a biofilm from growing. Worked then, works now.

If you are using well water.....stop. Distilling it yourself or even buying it costs next to nothing, and/or a Reverse Osmosis is a good investment for you, your pets, and your misting system. If you want minerals in your water (like many people do), ADD THEM AFTER it has been filtered. Well water is not nearly as good as people so patriotically ensure others it is. Personally I add a few grains of Himalayan pink rock salt to my reverse osmosis for me personally to drink, but there are many options.

 

[nightanole]

I HAVE RO water, so that would prevent calcium buildup? I know it has a resin bed and 3 stage filter.

 

[summoner12]

Hope this helps

I HAVE RO water, so that would prevent calcium buildup? I know it has a resin bed and 3 stage filter.

Hello,

What is the water source for your RO unit? Is your tap water from the city or a well?

Issues with algae are generally because they have a light source and a nutrient source. If you have those, you need to remove them and you won't have the algae. When was the last time you changed your RO filters? Is the water reservoir from AquaZamp? Is it near a light source, or open at the top or a clear container?

The best thing to do in order to clean the system is a 10 parts water 1 part bleach rinse, then just run water through the system until you can't smell any bleach. even when you can't smell the bleach I would continue to run water for a bit just to be sure. I would disconnect the tubing from the misting nozzle or RainDome and insert that tube into the sink. Fill the reservoir all the way, add the bleach and turn the pump on, draining the reservoir. Next add water again with no bleach and run the pump till empty, do this a couple of times and rince the reservoir out in the bathtub to be sure it's clean of bleach. You could do all this with the nozzle connected but it might take a few hours to drain the reservoir each cycle.

Also another note, if you are using the water so slowly it might be good to just not fill it all the way in order to not give time for algae growth... BUT Another option is to try and get a UV sterilizer. This would be great all around as it won't allow algae and will give your water another step in the cleaning process. You can even find an in-line UV sterilizer for RO units. Also there are submersible types for fish tanks you could place in the water reservoir. But I would focus on cleaning the system out and eliminating the source.

 

[nightanole]

Well water goes through the RO, which is checked yearly various filters are changed as needed. The bucket is the stock zamp bucket. My Algae concern was standing water +white bucket+uv light = algae.

 

[summoner12]

Well water goes through the RO, which is checked yearly various filters are changed as needed. The bucket is the stock zamp bucket. My Algae concern was standing water +white bucket+uv light = algae.

Just to be clear, do you have algae growth? Filters can be changed and some types of filters do more obsorption than others especially the type of water contaminant the filter can handle.

The white water reservoir will not transmit UVB or uvc but some UVA I am sure can get through. I don't know how close you have the reservoir to your lighting but most people place the reservoir on the floor or under a rack mostly in darkness.

Out of curiosity how do you determine when a filter should be changed?

 

[nightanole]

Our water system gets checked once a year by the water guy. He checks for algae in the systems and how much each filter is saturated, and replaces them as necessary.

No i do not have algae growth, but the tank will be placed about 4ft from the UV light since the cage is not raised and i dont have a cabinet near by.

 

[Carlton]

Our water system gets checked once a year by the water guy. He checks for algae in the systems and how much each filter is saturated, and replaces them as necessary.

No i do not have algae growth, but the tank will be placed about 4ft from the UV light since the cage is not raised and i dont have a cabinet near by.

Either cover the tank with black plastic, cloth, or paint it.

 

[Carlton]

No, one day's use shouldn't clog the nozzle. There could have been a small particle that got wedged in it. Softened water has a little bit of salt in it but not enough to clog a nozzle. After all, softened water is supposed to prevent hard water deposits not create them. Even very hard water takes some time. You might be able to flush that bad nozzle or return it if it was faulty.

 

[summoner12]

What about MistKing?

I set mine up last week. It ran flawlessly on the soft water that we have at our home (not naturally but with a soft water filter), but the next day I heard the pump working but no mist. I swapped out the mist nozzle and it has been working since then.

I know soft water is not ideal for the mister, and I am reading now that chameleons shouldn't have it either so I will have to find a source for distilled water.

But can one day's use be enough to clog a MistKing nozzle?

And do I really need to use a 2 gallons of vinegar to clean out the system?

Hi, if you are using a water softener at your house I could provide you with a pretty low cost RO system that can polish off that salt water. Using an RO system on a house with salt water is actually easier for the RO membrane than if it were being fed hard water. If you just wanted to fill a water reservoir, it wouldn't be very much money.

And no, one day will not clog a filter unless there are large bits of debris in the water. But if this were the case you might destroy the pump first if it was a lot of stuff in the water.

Our water system gets checked once a year by the water guy. He checks for algae in the systems and how much each filter is saturated, and replaces them as necessary.

No i do not have algae growth, but the tank will be placed about 4ft from the UV light since the cage is not raised and i dont have a cabinet near by.

I don't think you will have an issue. If you find you have an algae issue, do the bleach cleaning as I suggested, as needed.