# Mycelium problem



## Brandon C (Aug 10, 2010)

I have some large areas of mycelium growing in my terrarium. I installed a small computer fan that moves the air without lowering the humidity in my aquarium thinking that it would stop the spreading of the mycelium but it made it much much worse!!!! How can I get rid of this stuff because its killing my moss!


----------



## mikefromearth (Feb 1, 2011)

Brandon C said:


> I have some large areas of mycelium growing in my terrarium. I installed a small computer fan that moves the air without lowering the humidity in my aquarium thinking that it would stop the spreading of the mycelium but it made it much much worse!!!! How can I get rid of this stuff because its killing my moss!


Hehe, I think I can field this question. I happen to have grown some mushrooms in my day. It would help to know what type of mycelium is growing in your tank, but the only easy way to tell is from the fruiting body of the mushroom. Heat is a very easy way to kill most mycelium. I dont know if your tank has animals or if your plants can withstand it, but 90º+ temps *should* kill it quick. A medium strength bleach solution will work as well. Hydrogen peroxide will slow the growth, but probably wont kill it. Unfortunately a viv is a near PERFECT environment for many types of mycelium to grow and it could quickly take over your whole sub. Try removing large chunks by hand and spraying the rest with diluted bleach or h2o2.

I'll look around and see if there's anything I can find. Usually the advice I get is on how to keep myc alive, not kill it ;-)

Also myc killing moss is odd.. I wouldnt think it would have much of an effect.. I was actually thinking about introducing some edible myc into my viv to see how it would do. Perhaps adding some springtails/isopods to your sub would keep it at bay?


----------



## Brandon C (Aug 10, 2010)

Thanks for the info! Yea im not too sure what type it is. I just know that it really is killing the moss that It covers. In-fact it only covers the moss. It looks white and is made up of super thin strands of wed-like strings. I was going to just let it do its thing and flower but its too much. 

Maybe I can take a blowdrier to it for a little and maybe same the moss?


----------



## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

Are you sure the moss is alive?


----------



## mikefromearth (Feb 1, 2011)

Ed said:


> Are you sure the moss is alive?


Yeah, if the moss is alive, the myc shouldnt take it over.. Myc eats decaying organic matter, not live matter.


----------



## Brandon C (Aug 10, 2010)

I think the myc is growing and eating the dead matter that is the water logged wood that the moss grows on. The mycelium appears to be some how taking something that the moss needs to survive. The moss is green and very much alive but where the myc is growing, the moss is turning yellow and even brown in a few spots. I will post a photo when I can.


----------



## mikefromearth (Feb 1, 2011)

Brandon C said:


> I think the myc is growing and eating the dead matter that is the water logged wood that the moss grows on. The mycelium appears to be some how taking something that the moss needs to survive. The moss is green and very much alive but where the myc is growing, the moss is turning yellow and even brown in a few spots. I will post a photo when I can.


A pic would be great. Spray some h2o2 on it and hear it sizzle. 4% (medical grade), not the strong stuff!


----------



## earthfrog (May 18, 2008)

It seems like removing dead matter is the key to stopping that sort of growth. It sure loves the moist cocofiber which is 'siliconed' to the wall of the viv in a lot of setups. I replaced my soggy substrate with one amended that contained less moisture, stopped daily misting overall (just in selective spots for breeding or that need cleaning), set up extra ventilation and a fan and removed most of it by hand. 

Setting up a banana tray in-viv for FFs encourages it as well, so if you do that maybe start the banana off with a sprinkle of yeast first and see that it is ripe so the yeast will stave off the fungi a bit. These changes may help considerably.


----------



## mikefromearth (Feb 1, 2011)

Extra ventilation may also send the myc into fruiting, which would also seriously slow down growth.


----------



## Mitch (Jun 18, 2010)

Chances are the hypae have spread through most of the soil... So that means fruiting bodies (mushrooms) could pop up anywhere. Are you sure that they are "killing" your moss? That sounds VERY unlikely. Also, please don't spray bleach into your tank. That's just asking for major problems.


----------



## Brandon C (Aug 10, 2010)

Mitch said:


> Chances are the hypae have spread through most of the soil... So that means fruiting bodies (mushrooms) could pop up anywhere. Are you sure that they are "killing" your moss? That sounds VERY unlikely. Also, please don't spray bleach into your tank. That's just asking for major problems.


Like I said, where the mycelium grows, the moss dies...

Im not going to use anything that will put my frogs or plants in jeopardy. Bleach or any other chemical wont be used in the tank. I think I just might try heat in a focused area where the mycelium is growing at this point. 

Mycelium killing moss is has happend to others: 

white mold killing my moss, what to do? - Terrariums Forum - GardenWeb


----------



## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

The moss may appear to be "alive" as it could be rotting or dying from the bottom to the top, which would result in the appearance that the moss was "alive" and being attacked by the mold.

What kind of moss is it and where did you get it?


----------



## Mitch (Jun 18, 2010)

Brandon C said:


> Like I said, where the mycelium grows, the moss dies...
> 
> Im not going to use anything that will put my frogs or plants in jeopardy. Bleach or any other chemical wont be used in the tank. I think I just might try heat in a focused area where the mycelium is growing at this point.
> 
> ...


But, these are mushrooms, and not mold. The mushrooms themselves are probably not killing the moss, it would be the hypae if that was the case (but I don't think it is). It sounds like the moss is rotting from bottom to top (like Ed said) and it is being decomposed by the mycelium. 

Do you have any pictures?


----------



## epiphytes etc. (Nov 22, 2010)

i' try adding a crapload of springs... they will desroy pretty much any fungi, i can never keep myco going when i want it.


----------



## Brandon C (Aug 10, 2010)

Maybe this stuff is mold...


----------



## Mitch (Jun 18, 2010)

Ohhh, I see. I thought you were saying that mushrooms were spurting out of your moss, but that stuff looks like either mold or a mat of hypae... have any mushrooms grown off of it? If not then it's probably mold.


----------



## Brandon C (Aug 10, 2010)

Mitch said:


> Ohhh, I see. I thought you were saying that mushrooms were spurting out of your moss, but that stuff looks like either mold or a mat of hypae... have any mushrooms grown off of it? If not then it's probably mold.



I think your right. Looks like mold. I have not seen mushrooms from it. I don't mind mushrooms in my terrariums, a little recycling here and there is good but this stuff is bugging me.


----------



## Mitch (Jun 18, 2010)

Okay, so then my verdict is mold. Dump in some extra springs and they'll take care of it. Glad we got to the bottom of this haha.


----------



## mikefromearth (Feb 1, 2011)

That is not mycelium, it's cobweb mold. Spray some diluted h2o2 on it and it will sizzle and disappear before your eyes


----------



## Brandon C (Aug 10, 2010)

Nice!!! Thanks again to everyone that responded. I have some springtails coming tomorrow along with a frog. I will send them off to work. 

So the mold CAN kill the moss?


----------



## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

mikefromearth said:


> That is not mycelium, it's cobweb mold. Spray some diluted h2o2 on it and it will sizzle and disappear before your eyes


Isn't cobweb mold a parasite of fungi?


----------



## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

If it is cobweb mold then increasing your air movement should prevent it from occuring.. it prefers stale stagnent air..


----------



## mikefromearth (Feb 1, 2011)

Ed said:


> Isn't cobweb mold a parasite of fungi?


Well, in the sense that it can suffocate fungi, yes. It can occur by itself though, so it's not an actual parasite of mold. It grows in the same conditions as mycelium but will cover the top of the substrate. I dont know how it interacts with mycelium, other than suffocating it. When I make tubs for propagation of fungi using horse poop, coir and vermiculite the cobweb mold often rears its ugly head. I've always used h2o2 to kill it and it works extremely well. I would suggest peroxide because it breaks down into water an oxygen and as far as I know, is not harmful to plants. In fact it's a common practice to use peroxide in hydroponic systems to increase oxygen to the roots of a water-logged plant, and to kill harmful pathogens.


----------



## earthfrog (May 18, 2008)

mikefromearth said:


> That is not mycelium, it's cobweb mold. Spray some diluted h2o2 on it and it will sizzle and disappear before your eyes


I take it springtails will not be able to keep it in check, then, because it grows so rapidly?


----------



## frogparty (Dec 27, 2007)

where I have seen this in my vivs, it occurs where the moss already is in decline, usually from contact with calcium powder. I have used H2O2 in the past to battle mold when I cultivated mushrooms, could definitel work here. Also, letting your viv dry out a bit can also help. You could be experiencing rot from the bottom up as previouly suggested, and I think this is the most likely cause for this mold outbreak. 

If no animals are present in the viv now, Id spray with H2O2, then let the viv dry out for a few days, then introduce your springtails, and the frog a few days after that


----------



## SCS1014 (Feb 16, 2010)

Yeah I'm pretty sure I'm having this thick white mycelia problem too. About a month ago I changed out the lids on one of my dart frog setups to increase breeding probability. I noticed some thin white webbing growing up the glass in certain spots and just wiped it away w a damp paper towel. Also had some light snow looking stuff on one higher up part of soil that I changed out for fresh soil. About a week ago the thicker white stuff started to really show. 
Sooo....what are my options to get rid of it w/o harming the frogs? Please help


----------



## Woodsman (Jan 3, 2008)

Hi Steve,

You could either have some fungal mycelia or a slime mold, neither of which is really very concerning in the vivarium. Slime molds creep around the viv looking for little things to eat and leave a residue on the glass that can be wiped away. Fungal mycelia will come to the surface to produce reproductive parts (such as mushrooms). There really aren't any health issues to worry about for the frogs.

If you hand mist the mycelia, it will knock it back quite a bit. After the tank reaches its set point, most of the fungal issues will resolves themselves.

Good luck, Richard.



SCS1014 said:


> Yeah I'm pretty sure I'm having this thick white mycelia problem too. About a month ago I changed out the lids on one of my dart frog setups to increase breeding probability. I noticed some thin white webbing growing up the glass in certain spots and just wiped it away w a damp paper towel. Also had some light snow looking stuff on one higher up part of soil that I changed out for fresh soil. About a week ago the thicker white stuff started to really show.
> Sooo....what are my options to get rid of it w/o harming the frogs? Please help


----------



## earthfrog (May 18, 2008)

Fans, fans, fans. They will not hurt your frogs and they will drastically slow the spread. These are in my vivs all the time. I just wipe them off by hand and then put a fan on for 15 minutes a day.


----------



## SCS1014 (Feb 16, 2010)

Thank you all for your help.


----------

