# Moldy Vivarium



## BoaGal (Jun 16, 2012)

So, I've been unable to keep a steady colony of springtails in a few of my crested gecko cages (I have multiple other enclosures with the same setup that are teeming with springtails). Now mold is growing (and even a couple of yellow mushrooms I just noticed today!). I realize now that I should have a layer of leaf litter.

I just finished a few new vivariums to move the geckos out of the moldy cages. So the plan is to add a layer of leaf litter from Josh's Frogs to all fo the vivariums and then try again with the springtails in the moldy cages. But my question is: do I need to get rid of the mold before adding the springtails again? The moldy cages have a different kind of bug that took over so I'm worried that they keep killing the spingtails I try to add.










Unwanted Bugs:


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## Jjl (Feb 2, 2014)

I have that same mold (the white one) in my gargoyle tank. Springtails don't eat it, for whatever reason(s) they have, but it doesn't seem to harm geckos.

In my experience, there's no way to permanently get rid of it unless you toss all of your tank's organic components. Yes, that includes plants. Plus, the easiest way to keep cresteds is on newspaper or paper towel; even that reptile carpet works. Faster cleaning and more efficient fecal monitoring can outweigh aesthetics in an emergency. 

Your unwelcome bugs are probably some kind of mite that prey on springtail eggs, in addition to detritus. I personally don't mind them, unless I see them digging into the lizard's skin (which hasn't happened to me).


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

The first picture on the top left are you sure that is a fungal growth and not salts migrating to the surface of the material during evaporation? 

In any case the ability of springtails and isopods to control fungal outbreaks is grossly over exaggerated at best. You would to have in place sufficient consumers that the growth of the fungus is at worst impeded and at best totally consumed, and to get a *crude estimation* consider the trophic webs where to get one kg of consumer you need 10 kg of plant matter ... so if in your entire enclosure you have 100 grams of fungus you would need ten grams of springtails. Consider how many springtails that would be ... 

some comments 

Ed


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## Andy27012 (Jul 23, 2016)

Do you recommend trying to keep a colony of springtails going in the vivarium or do you feel they are of little to no benefit other then frog food? If they're primary purpose is frog food I'm guessing they would be better off being cultured independently of the vivarium.


Ed said:


> The first picture on the top left are you sure that is a fungal growth and not salts migrating to the surface of the material during evaporation?
> 
> In any case the ability of springtails and isopods to control fungal outbreaks is grossly over exaggerated at best. You would to have in place sufficient consumers that the growth of the fungus is at worst impeded and at best totally consumed, and to get a *crude estimation* consider the trophic webs where to get one kg of consumer you need 10 kg of plant matter ... so if in your entire enclosure you have 100 grams of fungus you would need ten grams of springtails. Consider how many springtails that would be ...
> 
> ...


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

Andy27012 said:


> Do you recommend trying to keep a colony of springtails going in the vivarium or do you feel they are of little to no benefit other then frog food? If they're primary purpose is frog food I'm guessing they would be better off being cultured independently of the vivarium.


I'm going to start this by going off on a tangent for a minute. 

One of the things people tend to try and recreate in these enclosures are small ecosystems which as a result need some form of nutrient recycling which is provided by things like springtails and isopods. Now there is a trend in this and other aspects of the hobby to make claims about the level of nutrient cycling and control that can occur in enclosures through the use of springtails and isopods but they fail to take in consideration the scale implied by the trophic webs to handle all of the nutrient imports into the enclosures particularly with those that argue that these organisms are capable of handling all of the waste materials and as such remove any need for nutrient export from the enclosures. Nutrient export has to occur as otherwise you end up with things like salt deposits on the points of evaporation (think white crust that forms at high points in plants that haven't been repotted or the salt creep that forms on marine aquariums) and unstable systems. 

With respect to keeping them going in the enclosures, if you are feeding the frogs and adding leaf litter, your going to be culturing them at some level inside the enclosures. The population inside the enclosure is going to depend on several things including but not limited to predation, food availability and shelter. The vast majority of enclosures are too small to include a sufficient population of invertebrates to sustain the caloric demands of the frogs unless your able to set up a several square meters/frog so it is still a good idea to culture them outside of the enclosure particularly if your rearing very small animals such as pumilio froglets. 

Does that help? 

Ed


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## kimcmich (Jan 17, 2016)

Greetings,

I would reiterate what Ed has said - specifically about the substrate looking salt-whitened rather than moldy (on the surface that is). Clearly you've got fungal growth lower-down - one of them being good ole' "yellow houseplant mushroom" - which is perfectly natural given an environment with moisture and carbohydrates.

I would also reiterate his comments about the reality and feasibility of nutrient cycling in your tank. *If you are not using distilled or R/O water for misting and other watering, you are slowly adding salt to your tank* that will accumulate to the point that your plants, at least, will suffer. Perhaps your microfauna already has: Being residents of moist woods, springtails are not likely used-to substrates with high concentrations of mineral salts. Mites, on the other hand, are common even in seashore habitats - so you might be in a situation where mites are the only things that can tolerate the conditions of your substrate.

Do you have drainage layer and a drain? One of the benefits of letting water drain from you tank is that is transports salts and other excess nutrients with it. Your current substrate looks like it needs to be replaced or, at minimum, soaked and washed with freshwater a few times to pull out some of the salts...


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

kimcmich said:


> Greetings,
> Being residents of moist woods, springtails are not likely used-to substrates with high concentrations of mineral salts.


There are more than a few species of springtails that are found in marine environments including intertidal zones. Pretty much if it is moist there is a good chance of finding springtails ranging from deep soil to the Antartic. 

One of the primary methods to culture Folsomia ssp in the lab is on a plaster of paris substrate. 

Some comments 

Ed


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## kimcmich (Jan 17, 2016)

Ed makes a good point - though it's still possible the conditions of your wood-based substrate (specifically what appear to be mineral deposits) are a problem for your microfauna. I don't think a wash/leaching or a replacement would hurt. A substrate replacement will not rid you of the fungus in any event.


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## BoaGal (Jun 16, 2012)

Thanks for all of the information. Based on the replies, I think salt deposits are the culprit. I've been using filtered tap water to mist the cages. I have 7 cages that are affected and only 1 of them actually has fungal growth (the cage in the 2nd & 3rd pictures). The other 6 just look like the first picture.

I now have distilled water and live oak leaf litter. I added leaf litter to the 10 unaffected cages and I'll only be using the distilled water from now on. Does anyone know if distilled water is ok for crested geckos as their only water source??

For the 6 cages with salt issues, I'm going to replace the substrate, but keep the same plants and start over again with the springtails. I'll probably just pitch the substrate and plants in the fungus cage and rinse the hydroton before I put that one back together.


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