Mold!

kupo969

Arachnoangel
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Hey I have an A. avic. in a 1 gallon jar with a giant piece of drift wood in there that has only been in there for a week and is now partially green and I was wondering how do get the dang mold off of it.

Thanks for your time.
 

P. Novak

ArachnoGod
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Well first you have to remove it asap, so that the little avic doesn't die from it. THen you should either boil the drift wood in some water or cook it in the oven at like 375-400 degrees for about 30 min.
 

kupo969

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Awesome, thanks for the info. Also, will this prevent mold from forming again?
 

RoachGirlRen

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Better aeration. It sounds like the humidity is too high, causing mold to form. Periodically removing and baking the log will get the moisture out of it, but the root cause is that there isn't enough air flow to keep the wood from getting moldy.
 

kupo969

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Better aeration. It sounds like the humidity is too high, causing mold to form. Periodically removing and baking the log will get the moisture out of it, but the root cause is that there isn't enough air flow to keep the wood from getting moldy.
Ah, I didn't know that. I may be misting a bit too much!
 

RoachGirlRen

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Is there any way to mist but not mist the log? Remove it while misting, perhaps? This way you could keep things suitably humid, without the mold risk. It sounds like the moisture is seeping into the log and making it go moldy.
 

P. Novak

ArachnoGod
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Awesome, thanks for the info. Also, will this prevent mold from forming again?
It does for me, so just give it a shot, and like someone already mentioned try to get more ventilation.
 

kupo969

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Is there any way to mist but not mist the log? Remove it while misting, perhaps? This way you could keep things suitably humid, without the mold risk. It sounds like the moisture is seeping into the log and making it go moldy.
Nope there isnt really a way to remove the log when misting as I mist daily. It will stress my T way too much.
 

julesaussies

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i had the same problem with one of my Pokie's house and i wasn't even misting daily. There was already plenty of ventilation. i got rid of the stupid log. i use cork bark now and am a little more careful about just misting one side of her house. No problems. To me, it isn't worth the risk of mold because it just grows too fast. Cork bark + peat moss/vermeculite mix = no problems.
 

DrAce

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Hey I have an A. avic. in a 1 gallon jar with a giant piece of drift wood in there that has only been in there for a week and is now partially green and I was wondering how do get the dang mold off of it.

Thanks for your time.
For the record, if it's green, it's not a mould.

Moulds are fungi. They eat the wood to survive.

Green = plant. You got an algae there. It'll ONLY survive when it's wet. There's also a good chance that it's harmless, although an indicator that you're adding too much water.


Cooking, microwaving, and the like should kill it off, but I also wouldn't be too shocked if it came back. Algae have some pretty neat little survival tricks. They tie their DNA in knots so that radiation can't get it, and the like. Cook it, and reduce your water addition.
 

kupo969

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For the record, if it's green, it's not a mould.

Moulds are fungi. They eat the wood to survive.

Green = plant. You got an algae there. It'll ONLY survive when it's wet. There's also a good chance that it's harmless, although an indicator that you're adding too much water.


Cooking, microwaving, and the like should kill it off, but I also wouldn't be too shocked if it came back. Algae have some pretty neat little survival tricks. They tie their DNA in knots so that radiation can't get it, and the like. Cook it, and reduce your water addition.
Very interesting. I ended up boiling the piece of wood and it looks brand new now.
 

ImTheDaddy

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Aug 27, 2007
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Glass is terrible for holding in humidity. You could try using a tuppaware tub as these help hold the humidity better. The green stuff you have is alge due to lack of ventilation. If you increase the venitlation it will be harder to maintain humidity but there is a way round this. Spagnum moss... place your normal substrate in the and put two finger size holes in the substrate and add the spagnum moss to the holes. Gently mist on a dialy basis but concentrate most of the misting on the spagnum moss this will help higher the humdity. Once a week change the moss to stop mold and bacteria.

Hope this helps

ITD
 

bushbuster

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Nov 11, 2006
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Yeah, I set up a new 5.5 tank for a juvie L para and got the eco earth a tad too moist. Now theres a lil bit of mold green crap growth going on. I even drilled a bunch of vent holes in the hood/lid/top before setting it all up. My M robustums tank did the same thing, and the fix was vent holes. I would hate to have to redo the dam thing by ripping the decorative stick out and excavating the eco earth that is too moist, maybe theres a tarantula in the yellow pages that runs a back hoe, lol
 

kupo969

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I dunno why I said Jar, but it is in a Tupperware gallon "jar". So far i created more holes, but all the humidity seriously escapes fast. So what I did was make more holes, but i covered a couple on the side that i mist the most with cling wrap (clear wrap). I use this method for my scorps, i dunno why i didnt think about it before.
 

bushbuster

Arachnobaron
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Nov 11, 2006
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I dug the mold/green crap out, and dug all around the stick to expose it better, and not be laying in the wet eco earth for the L para. Also, elevated his/her water dish as to not make it so easy for him/her to make a wick...looks like success.
 
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