How did you get rid of fungi?

[darlingi]

I've read just about every thread about fungi, and it seems every keeper has once dealt with the yellow/white-dots-kind of fungus. As for solutions, I'm still not quite sure what to do.
Drying out seems to be the no-brainer move when it comes to fungi/mold, but I've read some comments suggesting that this particular fungus (Leucocoprinus birnbaumii?) is pretty drought tolerant, and for some even getting worse when attempting to dry it out. I doubt that changing out the substrate would have any positive long term-effect (as long as I keep using coco fiber), since spores are everywhere.
The general consensus seems to be that this kind of fungus is not harmful to your T's, but I'm still a little anxious about it, since nobody really seems to know.

Another question; I just noticed that the bag of soil that I use together with coco fiber has a little warning on the back. It says "If you're keeping T's on this substrate, never let it completely dry out since tiny fibers could get into the T's book lungs and block them." I'm 99,9% sure this is a case of wrong petshop-information, but I figured it wouldn't hurt to ask.

edit: added a picture of the mycelia.

 

[Poonjab]

Looked him dead in the eye and said, listen Dave! You used to be a fungi, and I enjoyed hanging out with you. But in recent years, you’re just bringing down the vibe. So I’m going to have to get rid of you from the group. I hope you understand

 

[Dorifto]

By using a good substrate, controlling the moisture and having a good ventilation, you should be able to control funghi. Using cleaning critters would help a lot too.

 

[Smotzer]

It’s not of concern soils are living entities. Theyre in the substrate regardless of what you think, sometimes you just see them is all. But maybe points to the fact that your moisture/ventilation levels may need to be played with.

and what is that soil made of? Cause that sounds preposterous.

 

[darlingi]

It’s not of concern soils are living entities. Theyre in the substrate regardless of what you think, sometimes you just see them is all. But maybe points to the fact that your moisture/ventilation levels may need to be played with.

and what is that soil made of? Cause that sounds preposterous.

Yeah, I accidentally watered it way too much last time. Ventilation should be fine, I have lots of cross-ventilation from soil level to the top. But that's what I was thinking; they are in every substrate, wether they are visible or not, so I guess it shouldn't be a problem.
Well, it just says it's "humus" (=topsoil I guess?). It's a way too expensive turtoise/terrarium substrate, but here in Germany I didn't really see anything else without any additives or fertilizers. As I said, I doubt the warning makes any sense, but I still want to make sure I don't put my T's at risk. The "sand can get in the book lungs" myth was debunked ages ago, so substrate surely shouldn't get in there too, right?

 

[Hakuna]

It’s not of concern soils are living entities. Theyre in the substrate regardless of what you think, sometimes you just see them is all. But maybe points to the fact that your moisture/ventilation levels may need to be played with.

and what is that soil made of? Cause that sounds preposterous.

All of what smotzer said concerning ventilation and probably consider adding springtails

 

[darlingi]

All of what smotzer said concerning ventilation and probably consider adding springtails

Springtails have always been in the enclosure, but they don't seem very interested in that particular fungus.

 

[Hakuna]

Hmm, I had a similar outbreak in an enclosure that was suspected of not having enough ventilation. Made more holes in the lid, scooped out the tiny white fuzz balls and haven’t seen it since.

 

[The Grym Reaper]

Springtails have always been in the enclosure, but they don't seem very interested in that particular fungus.

Yeah, springtails only really eat the fuzzy white stuff that appears on the surface, mycelium usually gets ignored. Drying out the sub doesn't kill off the fungus, it just slows the growth rate and eventually makes it go dormant, as soon as you moisten the sub enough again it'll just resume growing.

In any case, it's not harmful to your tarantula, it's just unsightly, I pick out mushrooms as they start to pop up.

 

[darlingi]

Yeah, springtails only really eat the fuzzy white stuff that appears on the surface, mycelium usually gets ignored. Drying out the sub doesn't kill off the fungus, it just slows the growth rate and eventually makes it go dormant, as soon as you moisten the sub enough again it'll just resume growing.

In any case, it's not harmful to your tarantula, it's just unsightly, I pick out mushrooms as they start to pop up.

Well, if it’s not harmful to the T that’s enough to put my mind at ease, thank you!
Do you think the thing about fibers clogging book lungs is nonsense? I need some reassurance here, because if this is a possibility I might want to change my substrate.

Or maybe someone else who knows more about book lungs/tarantula anatomy than I do can chime in, that would be great.

 

[The Grym Reaper]

Do you think the thing about fibers clogging book lungs is nonsense?

I would assume so.

I use topsoil mixed with peat, the topsoil I use is pretty loamy (2:2:1 mix of sand/silt/clay IIRC) and peat is known for getting quite dusty when it dries out. I've not had any issues with my arid species in over 4 years of using it.

 

[darlingi]

I would assume so.

I use topsoil mixed with peat, the topsoil I use is pretty loamy (2:2:1 mix of sand/silt/clay IIRC) and peat is known for getting quite dusty when it dries out. I've not had any issues with my arid species in over 4 years of using it.

I’ve been using that turtoise soil mixed with Eco Earth, which is very dusty too when dry. It’s definitely finer than the soil I’ve been talking about, so if coco fiber is fine the soil should be too.
I might experiment with peat anyway, since it’s the only non-petshop substrate without additives I’ve found so far. Regular topsoil seems to be hard to get in Germany, or I’m just not looking in the right places.

 

[fat axolotl ssssss]

I've read just about every thread about fungi, and it seems every keeper has once dealt with the yellow/white-dots-kind of fungus. As for solutions, I'm still not quite sure what to do.
Drying out seems to be the no-brainer move when it comes to fungi/mold, but I've read some comments suggesting that this particular fungus (Leucocoprinus birnbaumii?) is pretty drought tolerant, and for some even getting worse when attempting to dry it out. I doubt that changing out the substrate would have any positive long term-effect (as long as I keep using coco fiber), since spores are everywhere.
The general consensus seems to be that this kind of fungus is not harmful to your T's, but I'm still a little anxious about it, since nobody really seems to know.

Another question; I just noticed that the bag of soil that I use together with coco fiber has a little warning on the back. It says "If you're keeping T's on this substrate, never let it completely dry out since tiny fibers could get into the T's book lungs and block them." I'm 99,9% sure this is a case of wrong petshop-information, but I figured it wouldn't hurt to ask.

edit: added a picture of the mycelia.

I just change the substrate and put a heat pad incase it is to moist in there

 

[boina]

I’ve been using that turtoise soil mixed with Eco Earth, which is very dusty too when dry. It’s definitely finer than the soil I’ve been talking about, so if coco fiber is fine the soil should be too.
I might experiment with peat anyway, since it’s the only non-petshop substrate without additives I’ve found so far. Regular topsoil seems to be hard to get in Germany, or I’m just not looking in the right places.

I'm in Germany, too, and I use - coco fiber earth. Very sucessfully so. No, nothing gets into the book lungs, that's a myth. But I use soil microfauna in every enclosure that has moisture. I originally created that by using a couple of spoons of soil from a nearby wood (no pesticides in a wood) to mix in with the fiber and added a few springtails for good measure. By now I have a really well balanced population of microfauna in several of the larger enclosure (e.g. my Megaphobema mesomelas) and I seed new enclosures with soil from those enclosures.

TL;DR: Cocofiber earth works just as well as anything else, it just needs a little help with its microfauna while you find that more naturally in top soil.

 

[viper69]

Just proper venting on my end, and dry conditions- no mold at all