Mold...

[Thylacine]

I am starting to see mold in my vivarium. The first thing I am going to do is remove the living plants in there and get everything fake. How do I prevent mold from growing though?

 

[Rick]

Too much moisture is why it grows. When it starts to grow on my substrate thats when I know it needs changed.

 

[13ollox]

i use vermiculite, never had mold grow. keeps in moisture well and i when i take out the half eaten things .. looks good as new . but people have different preferences ! but in the end as long as it keeps moisture and not toxic . its fine, even if you do have to change it out once in a while !

thanks

Neil

 

[Jay]

I use both vermiculite and pearlite (pronounced pearl lite). You can buy it pretty cheap from hardware stores. As a substrate it does a pretty good job at keeping humidity high and mold low.

 

[julian camilo]

it usually grows due to high humidity AND a lack of ventilation, which is the main thing. you can have high humdiity and not get mold, its the ventilation thats the key. it happens in taller enclosures, glass ones with solid lids (ie not screen or mesh). also if the soil is too wet, standing water can go bad and cause mold problems on uneaten food and the like. but ventilation is the key. replacing the living plants with fake ones doesnt really solve the problem much. it would be interesting to know what kind of enclosure you use (dimensions, lid, material, size etc). in short, increased ventilation reduces mold, decreasing humidty helps too.