Mold or fungi

[Matts inverts]

Howdy y’all. I found this in my Pac-Man frog tank. She died shortly after I built this but I figured I’d keep this runnin and see what I could make with this tiny forest. I was checking on it and found this. Can anyone tell me what this is and if it’s safe? It looks like normal mold with a couple mushrooms popin up and whatever those lines are.

 

[Malum Argenteum]

It is some sort of fungus. The lines are called "mycelium" -- it is the vegetatively growing part of a fungus. The "mushroom" is a reproductive structure called a sporocarp (it is where the spores are made). Fun fact: the largest living thing in the world is a fungus. So don't make it mad.

So that's what it is. It is decomposing the organic stuff. It is most likely as safe as most of the thousands of other fungi that are all around, which is pretty safe. If you touch it and then stick your fingers in your mouth and see the lizard people rising up out of the carpeting, just stop sticking your fingers in your mouth.

 

[Matts inverts]

Thanks. Personally, I wouldn’t stop licking it. Haha. I don’t have anything to worry bout in that tank but I got kinda freaked out for a second. I don’t get how it would be decomposing the cork and not the grape wood though.

 

[schmiggle]

Thanks. Personally, I wouldn’t stop licking it. Haha. I don’t have anything to worry bout in that tank but I got kinda freaked out for a second. I don’t get how it would be decomposing the cork and not the grape wood though.

If the cork gets more moisture, or the grapewood was treated with something, that could explain it right there. However, a lot of that stuff is kind of random, and depends more on whether the fungi you have floating around in your environment happen to be able to break down the chemicals in a particular piece of wood.

 

[The Snark]

Grape wood contains tannic acid, a natural preservative and organism growth inhibitor.