# Slime Molds, Good or Bad?



## MonarchzMan (Oct 23, 2006)

So, I have this 29 that I've had set up for about a month and a half now and I just put a pair of leucs in it and I've noticed that I have a slime mold in the tank (I only now noticed because it got onto the glass). It's kinda cool, to be honest, but I don't know if it's something that should concern me. I know molds in general are just part of a tank's cycle, but what about slime molds? I'm inclined to think that it's nothing to worry about, but I thought I'd ask.


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## MJ (Jun 16, 2005)

Nothing to worry about man I get them all the time they look amazing on the glass 8) vivaria projects used to have a gallery of them lol but I don't know if they still do.


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## sbreland (May 4, 2006)

good or bad? I would say neither I guess. Nothing wrong with them that I have heard, but also no real benefit either other than looking cool


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## Conman3880 (Jul 8, 2007)

You should see the waterfall in one of my tanks. Hard to believe there's cork bark under there, you'd have thought I made it from teal silicone. I'm not sure if it's a slime mold, it almost looks like cyanobacteria.

But I do have the white slime in most of my vivs... I havent had problems with it.


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## Bubble_Man (Nov 11, 2007)

I was going to make a thread about a similar topic, but I'll just ask the question in this one. I set up a 40-gallon vivarium for my d. auratus couple. The substrate is mostly bark and other woodland substances. I placed a couple of inches of eco earth on top of it and covered the eco earth with live moss. Now I'm seeing a growth down in the bark area that looks like a bunch of little white balls next to the glass. Will I have to rip apart the vivarium and redo the substrate, or is such a growth harmless?


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## Android1313 (Dec 15, 2006)

> is such a growth harmless?


Probably is, but cant be sure without looking at it. You have a picture maybe?
I am no mold expert, but I find that most of the white molds I have experienced don't last that long before they go away, while the blackish, blueish, and the darker colored molds seem to hang around a bit longer.


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## MonarchzMan (Oct 23, 2006)

If you load of the vivarium with springtails, they'll help keep those molds and organic matter in check.


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## slaytonp (Nov 14, 2004)

I love some of the slime molds, especially the one called by mushroom experts, "Dog Vomit. " Wipe them off the glass if they get in the way of vision, and otherwise ignore them, or learn to enjoy them. They will eventually cycle out in a healthy vivarium. They are a part of the biological process, and generally a healthy sign. If you take everything down and attempt to "sterilize" everything and start over--what you will end up by doing is starting over with the same scenario. 

And if you can see it growing, it is not going to be a pathogen to your frogs, and rarely if ever, to any plants that aren't already dying of another cause related to inappropriate conditions for their needs.


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## skylsdale (Sep 16, 2007)

Slime molds = fantastic. As slaytonp suggests, I would just enjoy. Actually, they're always in your viv...but it's only when conditions for them are insufficient that they band together and move to a new location that are more suitable (which is when you see them on the glass). Otherwise, the cells spread out and settle in apart from each other and you don't even see them.

I know the process if more complicated than that--someone who knows the cycle of slime molds better can chime in--but I think that's the just of it.


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## EDs Fly Meat (Apr 29, 2004)

I would say that slime molds are an indicator of a healthy tank.


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