Been finding mold :( Help fix!

[Arachnomore]

I have recently been spotting little mold patchest around where the wood meets the Ecoearth... am I not providing something.. or providing to much of something. I cleaned it out already.. just looking to prevent it in the future.

 

[Mushroom Spore]

Are you keeping the tank wet? Are there food bits left lying around? Is the wood itself molding - is it a tank decoration you found outside? etc.

 

[Arachnomore]

I bought it from a Pet Depot and baked for an hour. Should be fine to put in there... the walls I mist. I don't spray the wood. Maybe I just need to keep a dish in there.

 

[Moltar]

What t is in the tank? Only a few species really need the kind of moisture that can produce mold. Maybe you should look at increasing ventilation once you've dealt with the mold.

 

[Jorsher]

There's a few things you can do, based on knowledge from mushroom growing where mold is the absolute last thing you want to see:

- sterilize anything that goes in the viv, having a pressure cooker is best bet. I have a nice 41.5qt monster so I can sterilize a lot at the same time. 60-90 min at 15psi is plenty. If you don't have one, you could just wet whatever and microwave for awhile.

- growing mush needs oxygen exchange (they breathe oxygen like us), so to allow for ventilation without allowing in evil mold spores, micropore tape is placed over the holes. You can get it from walmart in the pharmacy area and put it over ventilation holes.

If you already have mold in the viv, it will keep coming back if there's moisture, which the T will need. You can try spraying diluted peroxide on it, but mold is hard to get rid of since it releases so many resiliant spores, and I'm not sure on the effects of HO on Ts. I would just sterilize the wood if possible, replace the substrate, and keep humidity lower next time, possibly use micropore tape over the ventilation holes if you want to be really careful.

 

[jblayza]

misting

you should allow the substrate to dry almost completely before misting. And you may have to increase ventilation. What are you keeping in this enclosure?

 

[Nich]

Grab a pic of the enclosure, chances are you simply would be better off with more ventilation, also might want to think of replacing all the wood with corkbark which is relativley mold resistant.

 

[Arachnomore]

P regalis is whats in the container and a A hentzi in the other. I do need more ventilation... I am in the process as most know of putting in vents into my design.. for now its about 15-20 nail size holes in the top of a 4" diameter plastic top.

 

[Mushroom Spore]

I bought it from a Pet Depot and baked for an hour. Should be fine to put in there...

Wood will still mold if kept in a damp environment, unless specially treated like the wood people use for siding on houses.

 

[Moltar]

P regalis is whats in the container and a A hentzi in the other. I do need more ventilation... I am in the process as most know of putting in vents into my design.. for now its about 15-20 nail size holes in the top of a 4" diameter plastic top.

Well the hentzi can be kept uber-dry. P regalis needs less humidity than one might think. They need nothing like what a avic does, anyway.

The trick (i've been learning recently) to ventilation is CROSS ventilation. You can do more with less holes on adjacent sides of the enclosure than just on top. I also try to make the holes as large as safely possible and use just a few, i think that also promotes airflow.

 

[Arachnomore]

Yea I will be combining cross with top ventilation soon. I think I know how to correct the problem. Just didn't know if it was ventilation that was causing it... how with that correct it from molding though.

 

[Jorsher]

Mold grows in very humid conditions. Airflow decreases the humidity and keeps fresh air around.

Lower humidity = less mold

Mold is evil

 

[Cocoa-Jin]

Too much mositure will bring the mold of course. Some woods are more or less mold prone than others. So choice of wood is key also. Find a source for vivarium woods for dart frogs and stuff. They will hopefully specify which woods are good for moist environments.

I believe crok bark is a good mold resistent wood in moist environments...a little ventilation helps too.