Is it ok to spray white vinger in a Trantuals Vavarium?

[Woodsy]

I really need quick responses.
My Auzzie Goliath is shedding and currently sealed up her holes. There are two types of mold growing in my tank, the first mold is small orange balls in the soil which is from algae that is no longer present and the other is white and fluffy. She has 3 to 7 days until she comes out of her hole and I would like to get rid of the mold before she comes out, I know vinegar is good to get rid of mold (so ive heard) is it ok to use it in the vivarium ? By the way she is one year old.

Thank you to any responses it would help a lot.

 

[JC50]

Check out this link.It explains many ways to kill mold safely.Best Of luck.

http://blackmold.awardspace.com/kill-remove-mold.html

 

[Woodsy]

Thank you so much mate i was starting to stress out a bit....

:worship:

 

[esotericman]

Just increase the airflow and the surface stuff will clear itself. Acidification of the substrate MIGHT help, but depending on the substrates chemical characters, you're only going to nuke the surface mold. Killing the surface stuff will only work for a short time. Air flow will keep it from coming back.

What is odd to me is that I only see "orange mold" associated with Theraphosa spp. Any others notice this? Fran loves these species, maybe he'll wander by the thread.

 

[Woodsy]

il add a pic in the the next 24H.
i have sprayed vinegar throughout the tank haven't had a good chance to air it out yet. Last time i left the lid off unsupervised she did a runner on me. The orange mold has turn't white and all white mold has disappeared.

Thank you for the responses

 

[Dominatus]

I was reading Tarantula Keeper's Guide earlier this evening and I just now connected two memories; this post and something I read. It does state in that book the vinegar fumes are toxic to a tarantula. I am still looking for the exact sentence but all I've found is a reference or implied toxicity of vinegar, more or less, but I know it stated it more directly in an earlier part of the book. I don't remember anything as drastic as one drop = death but got more of and idea that you just don't want to go spraying it willy nilly all around your tarantula. ./shrug

Quote I found so far

"...but not endanger the tarantula with its precursory chemicals (e.g., vinegar fumes or direct contact with dry ice)."

Schultz S, Schultz M. 2009. The Tarantula Keeper's Guide. 2nd ed, revised. New York: Barron's. Ch 7, Care and Maintenance; p 212.

-Dominatus

 

[gmrpnk21]

Better safe than sorry... nuke the substrate and leave the chemicals out of it...

 

[Woodsy]

:wall: i hope she will be ok she is in her burrow.. about 3 inches deep and is sealed in with soil (she sealed herself in) the fumes are all most completely gone and it has been almost 24H since i have sprayed vinegar. i really hope she will be fine if she does not dig herself out in the next 3 days i will dig her out and see if she is ok (prob will get bit she is very aggressive)

i have fixed one problem and made another...

ps i did not get a chance to take the pictures today will do tomorrow

 

[jbm150]

First thing, I'm jealous of you because I'm dying to get another Aussie goliath.

Secondly, I've often wondered about doing this. Did you use straight white vinegar or did you dilute it with water?

 

[Woodsy]

Yea just straight white vinegar... hope she will be fine haven't dug her up yet. i put a cricket in there 2 days ago and it is still walking around so thats makes me feal better....

 

[elm199]

So? did she make it?

 

[Sidi]

Hey Elm, I'm Woodsy's housemate, He changed over the substrate when he notice more mold down inside the substrate, he changed substrate and she seems fine, refuses to dig in the new stuff so far, but has made a huge web fort up the back of the enclosure and is feeding and doing fine from all appearances.

 

[cacoseraph]

vinegar (acetic acid) is the primary component of our local whipscorpions because it works very well against bug tissue... except their exoskeleton

the thing they also mix it with a little bit of another acid, prussic or something ilke that, for surfactant and exoskeleton etching effects. the acetic acid has a tendency to ball up and roll off the exo

so, spraying vinegar right around a molt is just about the worst time to do it, by my figuring


of course, normal vinegar is only like 10 or 20% acetic acid and the bug spray is like 90% so you have a bit of leeway there

 

[Dominatus]

I was just going to add for reference sake that I have a piece of beautiful sandstone I have used for years in enclosure to make hides and burrows that had a fungus growing problem. In a recent rehousing it started to grow a fungus, quite a bit. It was pure white, looked almost like crystals. A quick look under the microscope convinced me it was indeed a fungus or something similar. Tried just wiping it away but it always came back just as strong and would have covered the whole rock if I'd let it.

Anyways, I took it out, washed it off with water, let it dry in the sun, then sprayed the whole thing with vinegar, let it dry for a day, washed it in warm water, let it dry in the sun again. I also let the substrate dry out before I put the rock back in. Rock hasn't grown anything since then and that was a month or more ago.

Tarantula has dug a bit under the rock and also chills most of the time on top of it, so the vinegar treatment seems to have not bothered her at all. I was worried there would be some lasting vinegar smell or something but seems not and the drying and/or vinegar worked like a charm.

-Dominatus