Harmful substrate?

[Transylvania]

How long would it take a potentially harmful substrate to have a negative effect on an invert?

I just bought a bag of Expert Gardener Potting Soil at Walmart (it was the only substrate available that wasn't Miracle Gro).

Ingredients:
This product is regionally formulated with organic materials (including one or more of the following: peat, forest products compost, or compost), sphagnum peat, perlite, a wetting agent, and plant food (see below).
Guaranteed analysis:
Total nitrogen ... 0.07%
0.04% Ammoniacal Nitrogen
0.03% Nitrate Nitrogen
Available phosphate (P2O5) ... 0.01%
Soluble potash (K2O) ... 0.03%
Derived from: polymer-coated: ammonium nitrate, ammonium phosphate, calcium phosphate, and potassium sulfate; and ammonium nitrate, ammonium phosphate, calcium phosphate, and potassium sulfate.

I'm testing it on a dubia roach right now to see if it's safe for inverts, but how long do you think it would take for any harmful effects to occur, if there are any? Based on the ingredients, would you use this stuff?

 

[jayefbe]

That does have added fertilizers (just like miracle gro) and I personally wouldn't use it. There are people on here that have used miracle gro products with seemingly no effects, but the problem with harmful environmental toxins is that they can build up over weeks/months without any outward signs of there being a problem (no direct invert evidence of this, but it certainly can be the case with vertebrates). I personally stick with coconut coir (eco earth, coconut fiber) or pure sphagnum peat moss.

 

[xhexdx]

I agree with jayefbe.

Additionally, a roach is going to be MUCH more resilient to toxins than a tarantula will be, so using a dubia as a test subject probably wouldn't give you accurate results.

Go to Home Depot and buy a bag of EarthGro Topsoil for $1.29.

 

[hamhock 74]

Or look for peat moss/ coconut fibre while your there

 

[BCscorp]

I would not use this product.

 

[Tarac]

This product is regionally formulated with organic materials (including one or more of the following: peat, forest products compost, or compost), sphagnum peat, perlite, a wetting agent, and plant food (see below).

Those fertilizer components are fine, some of us do use fertilized substrates in a pinch and/or because we grow plants in the enclosure. The "polymer-coated" refers to the time release portion, the rest are physiologic. It's generally assumed that plastics are safe for inverts. Un-polymerized acrylamides and such are bad because the tiny molecules can pass right through your skin, or exoskeleton as the case may be, but this is in monomeric form not polymeric as indicated on the label. People get alarmed when they see the chemical names listed because they don't recognize any/all of them but think of them more as the nutritional content of dirt as viewed by a plant.

The part to be concerned about is the "wetting agent," which is not defined making it even worse. This almost always means one of two things- a fungicide or a detergent. Do not use either of those things with tarantulas or any other invert. Fungicides may or may not be harmful, most are because they disrupt microtubules. A few are not but those are generally reserved for anti-fungals in the therapeutic facet. In this case it doesn't even say which (and likely it's not for jock-itch), moreover it's for broad spectrum agricultural applications so IF it is a fungicide then it is probably very bad. Alternatively, it could be a detergent which is also a no-no for inverts.

I would DO use lightly fertilized media for my tarantulas and their respective terrarium flora but I WOULD NOT use this product for the reason stated above.

 

[Transylvania]

Thanks for the quick replies, guys. I picked up a bag of coconut fiber today, and I gave the potting soil to a friend who was pretty eager to take it off my hands (hmm, I wonder what for... haha).

 

[Ciphor]

I would not use this product.

+1

10characterequirement

 

[022]

If what concerns you are the nutrients, you could flush it with water

http://www.cpeo.org/techtree/ttdescript/soilflus.htm