Substrate Woes

[Predatorhousepet]

First, I found a small colony of Ascarus siro mites in the substrate of 2 out of 5 deli cups feeding on the remains of a half eaten fly. I cleaned out the substrate from all 5 including the enclosure where I keep live flies until feeding time. I replaced the substrate for the flies with paper towels and replaced the mantises substrate with fresh, newly hydrated coco fiber. Not even 24 hours later I start seeing white fluffy mold or fungus growing on the coco fiber substrate of 3 out of 5 cups. I changed the substrate again this morning using a different coco fiber brick since the other one might have  been contaminated with spores. However, that did no good because when I got home about 12 hours later I return to find this (see pic) growing on the substrate AGAIN on 4 of the cups this time and it's 10 times worse than yesterday. Is there another substrate I can use for my nymph's deli cups that won't promote mold and fungus growth so easily but will still hold enough moisture to keep the humidity at optimal levels? I'm using towels for my flies now and in the deli cups temporarily.  I have some ground spagnum moss on hand, would that be any better or am I stuck using paper towels?View attachment 10485

 

[CosbyArt]

@Predatorhousepet That is a amazing bloom of mold, and that quickly sounds suspect. I see you did try another brick with the same results, which would have been my first suggestion. Regarding if it is mold or fungus, see here for details.

Coconut is the substrate of choice for being the most mold resistant, and I've never had any mold on coconut (or heard of it other than extremely damp substrate for long periods of time). Sphagnum peat moss is resistant to an extent as well, but tends to mold easier than coconut; however, I have been using sphagnum for 3 years now with no real issues (due to the huge price difference).

For your issue it could possibly be a few things.

That is if the bricks you have came from the same source, or kept together, could be equally contaminated. A sponge or some other item used during cleaning could be spreading the mold. The spores could be in a high concentration in your air as well, especially if you have consistently high humidity levels.

In all likelihood for such a quick bloom to appear there are several issues at play; however, the high humidity is the main culprit. I don't know what species you have, but would suggest keeping the substrate as dry as possible (as damp conditions leads to growth). I would also suggest trying the sphagnum peat moss you have as well, to see if it does the same as the coconut (but hopefully better).

With the typical mantid species requiring 50-60% humidity, it is achieved by misting the habitat for a few seconds/squirts (depending on applicator) and evaporates within 30 minutes. A visibly damp substrate is near 100% humidity (depending on airflow), and only useful for springtail cultures - even most isopods like it drier than that. Commonly misting every other day is enough to keep the proper levels, depending on the habitat air flow/size and your room's humidity which varies by season/AC/heat. In which case a hygrometer can help in figuring out the proper amount of misting needed.

However, if you have springtails they eat mold and will help keep it at bay if you add some to the substrate.

 

[Predatorhousepet]

I think I may be adding a little too much water to the substrate. I will try the spagnum moss and lower the amount of water to see if it helps. I'm going to do some tests with the coco fiber to see if the bricks were the culprit or if it's  something else. I do have hygrometers for my terrariums but not for the room in general nor for the deli cups.

 

[Serle]

I must agree with Thomas , looks as if you have a very humidity in the cup. With high heat and moisture any wild spores will begin a growth . ...... S

 

[Predatorhousepet]

The weird thing is that I've been doing it this same way for over a month but only experienced the mites and mold growth in the last 2 days.

 

[Serle]

You must have some wild infiltrators lately .......... S

 

[CosbyArt]

@Predatorhousepet Best of luck, and hopefully you get the problem resolved. Indeed it could be a problem lately due to a wild population recently taking hold, or a built-up to the point it is a problem in the air.

 

[Predatorhousepet]

Mold and allergens have pretty bad spikes where I live, it's supposed to be one of the worst cities to live in if you have allergies. I did look at the mold count for the last week but according to reports it's been low. However, that doesn't mean I didn't get hit with a large amount of wild spores, those counts are just an average sampling. In addition, I live on the edge of town in a slightly more rural area and I have a creek directly behind my house that attracts all sorts of critters. Finding live scorpions in my bed at 6 am is no fun and neither is discovering an 8ft wild rattlesnake hanging out in my dining room. I'm not too surprised about the mites showing up but I've tried to be careful to avoid them. The mold on the other hand was a big surprise, I've never seen it bloom out of control like that in such a short amount of time. Crazy. I put the less damp spagnum moss in the cups this morning and it seems to be ok, no mold so far.

 

[CosbyArt]

Mold and allergens have pretty bad spikes where I live, it's supposed to be one of the worst cities to live in if you have allergies. I did look at the mold count for the last week but according to reports it's been low. However, that doesn't mean I didn't get hit with a large amount of wild spores, those counts are just an average sampling. In addition, I live on the edge of town in a slightly more rural area and I have a creek directly behind my house that attracts all sorts of critters. Finding live scorpions in my bed at 6 am is no fun and neither is discovering an 8ft wild rattlesnake hanging out in my dining room. I'm not too surprised about the mites showing up but I've tried to be careful to avoid them. The mold on the other hand was a big surprise, I've never seen it bloom out of control like that in such a short amount of time. Crazy. I put the less damp spagnum moss in the cups this morning and it seems to be ok, no mold so far.

That's crazy, and makes me glad to be here in the colder climate where we don't have either in the wild. Is the Sphagnum still holding up mold free?

 

[Predatorhousepet]

@CosbyArt

Yeah, so far so good. I have no idea why the mold would suddenly explode out of control on the coco fiber but nothing on the sphagnum. I did add a little less water to it to start but it really wasn't a big difference from the coco fiber. I did do some experiments with coco fiber, coco fiber/sphagnum mix, and sphagnum only with varying levels of water.  Only the pure coco fiber with the 3 highest levels of saturation have any mold on them but interestingly the most saturated has the least amount of mold, the middle amounts have the most. The almost dry coco fiber has no mold & neither do any of the pure sphagnum samples no matter the saturation. The 2 mixes with 75/25 and 90/10 coco fiber/ sphagnum and a moderate amount of water do have a little bit of mold but it's a tiny amount. The highest & lowest saturated mixes have none.  Apparently the mold likes moderately saturated pure coco fiber best. I didn't get any mold on the paper towels I substituted either. 

Interestingly, I found a couple more of those mites in the hatching container for the bluebottle flies. They go straight from the fridge into a deli cup with a fiber lid so the flies have to be the source of the mites. BB flies are pretty cold resistant so I put the hatching container with the newly hatched flies & mites in the freezer *just barely* long enough to knock out the flies but not long enough to kill them. When they warmed up the flies revived but the mites did not.

 

[CosbyArt]

@Predatorhousepet Interesting results, and glad to hear the mold is under control. I have to admit I'm surprised the Sphagnum is mold free in so many of the results too. Paper towel does well due to how sterilized the material is, but if any matter collects and is kept moist will mold as well as everything else.

Disturbing to hear that the fly pupae are the source of the mites, but like anything are susceptible to mites too. Good trick to kill off the mites, hopefully with your next batch of pupae it will not be a issue either. I can't say I have heard of others getting fly pupae with mites, but not surprised due to the small mite size - and likely not a common occurrence thankfully.