# what's this yellow spiderwebby stuff on the glass?



## btcope (Jan 7, 2009)

hey guys,

any idea what this is? just popped up from nowhere overnight. it appears to be attached at the base to some dead long fiber sphagnum ... 

anything to worry about?

thanks in advance,
brett


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## srrrio (May 12, 2007)

Not to worry it is perfectly normal. Part of the 3 of the 3 Ms of DB: Mold, Mites and Mixing!

Sally


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## Geckoguy (Dec 10, 2008)

Slime mold! I love these there so neat they pop up really fast and are gone just as fast. They are not to be worried about wont hurt a thing just enjoy the new addition to your viv while it lasts.


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## btcope (Jan 7, 2009)

ahhh, i don't know if i'm relieved that its not dangerous, disappointed that its not going to stick around, or excited that i have some interesting biological activity going in my relatively new first viv...

yay slime mold! whoo!!

thanks for the answers guys.


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## Woodsman (Jan 3, 2008)

What you're looking at is the plasmodium stage of the slime mold. It is a giant amobae that creeps around the viv eating up any tiny mites and the like it finds. They do finally sporulate, finding a dry-ish spot, then turning into hundreds of little "lolli-pops" or something like that.

I think a valuable addition to the terrarium fauna. Take care, Richard.


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## Marinarawr (Jan 14, 2009)

It EATS mites?! How do I go about intentionally introducing this stuff?


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## hexentanz (Sep 18, 2008)

Marinarawr said:


> It EATS mites?! How do I go about intentionally introducing this stuff?


lol my thoughts as well


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## Woodsman (Jan 3, 2008)

In the lab, we would isolate slime molds by putting banana peels into bell jars. The plasmodia would slide off onto the glass and sporulate.

It's likely that they are already in everyone's vivs, but you could put some pieces of banana peel into the tanks and this could introduce new species.

Take care, Richard.



Marinarawr said:


> It EATS mites?! How do I go about intentionally introducing this stuff?


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## btcope (Jan 7, 2009)

dude, i left before the lights went out and i came home today and that freakin blob slid like 6" from where it was yesterday. I was so creeped out i had to come on here to tell you guys that my mold was a genetically mutated monster that moves around on its own, but then I saw Richard say that it cruises around eating mites.

I hope it makes its way over towards the water and finds all those little ~2mm long white crawly things and munches them all to death. 

If I catch it in the "lolli-popping" stage, I'll try to snap a photo for you guys, but all I have to work with is iphone camera so don't expect anything too great.

thanks again for the great info!,

brett


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## jclee (Jul 13, 2009)

This has to be one of the coolest threads of all time. I'm gonna go read up on slime molds now. Is it wrong to be jealous that I don't have something so disgustingly named "slime mold?"


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## UmbraSprite (Mar 2, 2007)

I studied this in college and loved them. If you put them under a magnifying scope you can actually see the fluid flow back and forth like a stream reversing direction throughout. 

Very cool stuff!


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## Marinarawr (Jan 14, 2009)

Seriously... I've gotta try introducing a bunch of new slime mold into my viv! I thought it was really gross when I first saw it climbing up my glass but then I watched it closely and you can actually see it spreading!! Plants and fungi have really been fascinating me lately... My Cissus amazonica put out a 'tendril' that reached completely out of it's path of growth to grab hold of a single stick that was a few inches away. I couldn't even begin to comprehend how that plant KNEW that the stick was there! It was the first tendril sent off a newly rooted cutting so it wasn't like a lucky hit among a bunch of offshoots... It's all rather intimidating and exhilarating . Sorry to change the topic from slime molds... Thanks for the advice on getting more slime mold in my viv Richard!


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