# Web on plants



## XtReMaTriX (Dec 12, 2006)

There are odd web like things growing on my plants. It started on one plant and is starting to spread to others. Does anyone recognize it?


----------



## chuckpowell (May 12, 2004)

Hard to tell, but my guess would be spider mites. You've got trouble. 

Best,

Chuck


----------



## dragonfrog (Feb 16, 2006)

Those are spider mites friend, get rid of them fast or they will destroy your plants


----------



## XtReMaTriX (Dec 12, 2006)

The best way to get rid of the spider mites is to put frogs in the vit... correct? Currently I am treating the frogs for paracites. 

One drop of Metronidazole & One drop of Panacur every two weeks. Yesterday was the first application I gave them.

If I interduce them to this vit with living moss that cant be replaced do I need to worry about infection?


----------



## KeroKero (Jun 13, 2004)

Are you guys sure they are spider mites? I've gotten them on a couple plants (jewel orchids of all things UGH) but they never looked like that... maybe I just caught them early? Still, the pics I look of up of them don't have webbing that heavy... it's always been a fine webbing... here is a pic of one of my jewels with it...










The top pic looks almost like a fungus more than spider mite webs... Easy way to tell the difference I guess would be to spray the webbing with a strong misting bottle... if it washes away under a strong mist, it's fungus, if it's still there, it's something else. If it's fungus, just keep washing it off the plants to keep it from damaging healthy soft leaved plants.

The frogs will not eat the spider mites (tried that) unfortunately it's more of something you have to make sure doesn't get into your tanks in the first place (which is why many on the board speak so much about cleaning the plants before they go in). The treatment I used for spider mites was a rubbing alcohol/water mix with a drop of dish washing soap... not stuff you'd want the frogs to come in contact with. If they are mites, do not add in anything to the tank that can't be replaced.

You're frog treatments sound a little off? I'm treating some frogs with metronidazole as well, and the treatment is 1-3 drops (depending on the size of the frog) every day for two weeks... the panacur I use as a dust and they get that once a week... might want to check dosing directions or talk to the vet again?


----------



## XtReMaTriX (Dec 12, 2006)

After taking the pictures I sprayed the stuff off. I didnt see any white specs in the web, but I have sprayed the web off before and it has come back. I think I got most of it off this time...


----------



## KeroKero (Jun 13, 2004)

Sounds like fungus... and it will keep coming back. Just gotta keep with the heavy misting... add some sprintails and isopods... the tank will eventually cycle enough that it should be too much of an issue, unless you've got bad ventilation. More air movement would keep the fungus in check as well. The spores are in the soil and what not, so it's really a matter of keeping it in check.









In this photo you can clearly see the adult spider mites (red-orange as this is their overwintering phase) and some of the protective webbing at the base of the leaf that gives them their name. The silver specs are leaf damage. The mites can vary in color depending on the time of year.


----------



## naja_naja (Sep 8, 2006)

pfffft those arent spider mites thats just mold i get that all the time when a tanks breaking in usually mines almost completely gone


----------



## Curt61 (Jan 16, 2007)

I don't know much about this stuff but the webbing looks alot like the mold that I got on my driftwood when I put it in the tank, it looked like that for a few weeks and then went away.

Curt.


----------



## XtReMaTriX (Dec 12, 2006)

The webbing has spread to about half of my moss. I have started to gut the terrarium with much deliberation. I was able to salvage some of the moss, but I the stuff takes forever to grow.

I cant seem to find anyplace that sells Tropical Living Moss.

Is there anyway to kill the webbing without harming everything else?


----------



## KeroKero (Jun 13, 2004)

Keeping rinsing the tank down with a mister, and with nothing to feed on (like rotting moss) it will phase out. Live tropical moss will often die and start rotting in a tank, especially with lower light and lack of air flow. 

I've had much better success using dried tropical moss (I believe Tropiflora has sold some of it in the past as Terrarium Moss) that techinically is dried, but under good conditions may often come back to life like sphagnum moss often does, or using small starter clumps of moss and letting it spread over time to where it will successfully grow in the tank. Big sheets of moss almost always have rotted out or become fungus gardens for me, especially on the floor of the tank where most mosses don't do well anyways.


----------



## XtReMaTriX (Dec 12, 2006)

I use computer fans for air circulation and it has been growing nicely, but you say if you keep flusing out the webbing it will soon die out?


----------



## KeroKero (Jun 13, 2004)

the webbing or the moss? (what is growing nicely, and what are you worried about dying out?)


----------



## XtReMaTriX (Dec 12, 2006)

I can get the moss to grow nicely. I am hoping the webbing will die. Is there something I can do to kill the webbing or do I just have to wait it out?


----------



## KeroKero (Jun 13, 2004)

Wait it out. It's a cycle, and the more you fight it, the longer it can actually take. I will often rinse down whatever it's growing on, but with the moss it would have to have a chance to dry out or the rinsing will actually saterate it enough that the moss won't do well and the fungus will take over.

The fungus will not die in the tank, the webbing you're seeing is a population explosion in the tank... as soon as the population peeks, there will be a crash, and the fungus will go back down to an unnoticable (to us) level in the tank. If you're worried about a plant then rinse the plant, just take the above warning into account.


----------

