# Fungus gnat problem



## Sadiemae (May 20, 2021)

So I recently started a vivarium and in only like a week it has fungus gnats. I was hoping that wouldn’t happen but I live in the south and they are really active right now. I tried my best to prevent it but I noticed a few baby’s flying around in the tank yesterday so my question is do I need to get rid of them or are they harmless? I wanted to go ahead and plant all my plants but is it safe or are they going to kill them? I read that they won’t hurt the frogs which I don’t have yet btw but I remember reading that if you get them in house plants that it’s best to get rid of them because they eat the roots and eventually kill the plant. If I do need to get rid of them does anyone have suggestions? They would probably come back though because they are literally in all of our outdoor plants. Thanks! -Sadie


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## asteroids (Mar 20, 2021)

Simple solution: mosquito bits


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## Robru (Jan 1, 2021)

It is probably about the mourning fly. I wouldn't worry about that. Only in gigantic numbers can they cause damage.


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## asteroids (Mar 20, 2021)

Not my writing but I just saw this on a FB group and it might help


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## Harpspiel (Jan 18, 2015)

Mosquito Bits may not be safe for frogs. There was a recent discussion about this here.


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## fishingguy12345 (Apr 7, 2019)

Generally speaking , fungus gnats will wear themselves out, by consuming the food source in your tanks and/or being outcompeted by springtails, with no intervention from humans needed.


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## Socratic Monologue (Apr 7, 2018)

I agree that B.t.i. has been shown not to be entirely safe for some species of frogs, and also that fungus gnats will likely run their course and then leave you alone, at least for a while. Once you get the frogs, the gnats may well be frog food.

The risk of the gnats damaging plants in a non-commercial setting seems to be very low. They are a nuisance, though. I've gotten good control by leaving out bowls of apple cider vinegar (next to the viv), which the gnats drown themselves in. Makes more sense to me to kill a pest before it breeds, rather than letting it breed and then killing the offspring.


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## Kmc (Jul 26, 2019)

I dont think its good to say 100 % safe. Biology has chaos. Thats part of its charisma.


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## Sadiemae (May 20, 2021)

Socratic Monologue said:


> Makes more sense to me to kill a pest before it breeds, rather than letting it breed and then killing the offspring.


I agree with that and I will do more research on all of these options. I am leaning towards doing nothing and letting them be, but I do think that they already did breed because these are baby gnats flying around only inside the tank. Honestly as long as they won’t hurt anything then it’s fine but it is extremely annoying because the tank is in my bedroom.


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## Enaykudisi (Dec 6, 2020)

I'm partial to placing sticky traps around outside of enclosures at a minimum. I hate them eye and nose bombing me. I have noticed they will boom and crash if I do nothing to control them, but for me at least this tends to be a cycle, so I also use bti for _everything_. I break off a piece of mosquito dunk, and toss that into a fine mesh bag. That goes into my hand sprayer for all my stuff including springtail and many other inverts. But my anecdotal experience isn't evidence of safety in all situations, the dose makes the poison, etc. 
Another option that I don't see suggested often is rove beetles. Roach Crossing has a culture available that is specific to fungus gnats.
I have ended up with what I believe to be a similar sp. that run around my largest (nonsterile) isopod enclosure. They always boom right after I get a boom of gnats. Springtails seem to be doing fine in there, so even if mine happen to be the type of rove beetle that eats springs, it doesn't seem to be in excess.


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## TeddytheFinger (May 8, 2019)

I had them bad for a couple of months but eventually they died off. Air movement helps keep them from flying about and breeding and such so My fan was on quite often. Now I water like normal and rarely notice them.


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## StephanieInSaintPaul (Oct 13, 2021)

Sadiemae said:


> So I recently started a vivarium and in only like a week it has fungus gnats. I was hoping that wouldn’t happen but I live in the south and they are really active right now. I tried my best to prevent it but I noticed a few baby’s flying around in the tank yesterday so my question is do I need to get rid of them or are they harmless? I wanted to go ahead and plant all my plants but is it safe or are they going to kill them? I read that they won’t hurt the frogs which I don’t have yet btw but I remember reading that if you get them in house plants that it’s best to get rid of them because they eat the roots and eventually kill the plant. If I do need to get rid of them does anyone have suggestions? They would probably come back though because they are literally in all of our outdoor plants. Thanks! -Sadie


They are finding some decay in your plant material.They don't eat the roots, the fungi are doing that. Maybe cleaning up the plants' roots will help. Otherwise, try insectivorous plants as an additional to your plantscape? Do the frogs show any interest in the gnats?


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