Mold in Bio-active setup???

[Ronald7232]

so I have a bio-active setup that's working really well so far... but I'm seeing some white fully layer growing on my soil and moss? is this mold? or healthy fungi? not home at the moment but when I am I will show pictures

 

[bbyoda]

Bioactive setups do go through a fungus growth spurt early on as they're being established. Provided it's not artillery fungus you should be fine. You have lots of isopods and springtails in the mix?

 

[Ronald7232]

Bioactive setups do go through a fungus growth spurt early on as they're being established. Provided it's not artillery fungus you should be fine. You have lots of isopods and springtails in the mix?

I have around 15 pill bugs(wood lice) around 2 weeks ago and it maybe 10 earthworms and i just bought a sprintail colony sooo right now its a little empty

 

[bbyoda]

Let them do their thang. If it's a new setup probably just going through its fungus cycle.

FYI earthworms are great clean up crew but will aerate and work through the soil so you'll need to top off the soil more frequently than if you just went with isopods and springtails.

A decent layer of leaf litter and watching humidity/ moisture levels will help too. If fungus/mold is a persistent issue something would need tweaked for sure.

I recently listened to this episode of Chameleon Academy and it goes into bioactive setups and the fungus cycle a bit: https://chameleonacademy.com/s7-ep33-isopods-for-your-bioactive-enclosure/

 

[Ronald7232]

Let them do their thang. If it's a new setup probably just going through its fungus cycle.

FYI earthworms are great clean up crew but will aerate and work through the soil so you'll need to top off the soil more frequently than if you just went with isopods and springtails.

A decent layer of leaf litter and watching humidity/ moisture levels will help too. If fungus/mold is a persistent issue something would need tweaked for sure.

I recently listened to this episode of Chameleon Academy and it goes into bioactive setups and the fungus cycle a bit: https://chameleonacademy.com/s7-ep33-isopods-for-your-bioactive-enclosure/

Thank you for the info! What do you mean by aerate? Like constantly moving the soil around? If so how often?

 

[bbyoda]

Thank you for the info! What do you mean by aerate? Like constantly moving the soil around? If so how often?

Yeah exactly. They'll break down the soil mix faster. I'd say just keep an eye on the soil and overall setup and if the substrate mix is looking more like worm castings or compost that's the time to add more to the mix. And harvest the substrate for gardening too!

I've never used worms so not sure how fast it'll go.

 

[jamest0o0]

Yup mold is normal starting out, you can turn some soil over on it if you’d like to get rid of it faster.

I don’t like earthworms in bioactive enclosures. In nature they aerate, help breakdown nutrients, etc. But in enclosures they compact the soil over time, reducing oxygen, killing aerobic/helping anaerobic bacteria, eating micro fauna, and consume a lot of the nutrients fairly fast. This makes it hard on plants in the long run, eventually it can make a muddy/smelly mess. Some species aren’t as voracious as others though and with a large system you may not see issues, some people might add a predator that would keep worms in control.

A good example of the damage worms can do is seen with the invasive Asian worms we have in parts of the US now where they outcompete the natives. They consume the leaf litter very quickly and disrupt the ecosystem.

 

[Connorology]

Yup mold is normal starting out, you can turn some soil over on it if you’d like to get rid of it faster.

I don’t like earthworms in bioactive enclosures. In nature they aerate, help breakdown nutrients, etc. But in enclosures they compact the soil over time, reducing oxygen, killing aerobic/helping anaerobic bacteria, eating micro fauna, and consume a lot of the nutrients fairly fast. This makes it hard on plants in the long run, eventually it can make a muddy/smelly mess. Some species aren’t as voracious as others though and with a large system you may not see issues, some people might add a predator that would keep worms in control.

A good example of the damage worms can do is seen with the invasive Asian worms we have in parts of the US now where they outcompete the natives. They consume the leaf litter very quickly and disrupt the ecosystem.

I'll second that, I don't intentionally add earthworms to the setup, I think they break down the substrate too quickly. That said, my experience with them is from an accidental introduction and they haven't destroyed that setup and it's been four years. I do have to add a bunch of mulch every 6 months or so (usually I'll use orchid bark but I've used coco chips and cypress shavings too).

And I agree with previous commenters - new setups need to cycle. Eventually you'll stop seeing mold when everything reaches equilibrium.

 

[Ronald7232]

Yup mold is normal starting out, you can turn some soil over on it if you’d like to get rid of it faster.

I don’t like earthworms in bioactive enclosures. In nature they aerate, help breakdown nutrients, etc. But in enclosures they compact the soil over time, reducing oxygen, killing aerobic/helping anaerobic bacteria, eating micro fauna, and consume a lot of the nutrients fairly fast. This makes it hard on plants in the long run, eventually it can make a muddy/smelly mess. Some species aren’t as voracious as others though and with a large system you may not see issues, some people might add a predator that would keep worms in control.

A good example of the damage worms can do is seen with the invasive Asian worms we have in parts of the US now where they outcompete the natives. They consume the leaf litter very quickly and disrupt the ecosystem.

Gotcha! Now im scared of what the worms can do... maybe ill take them out if i see them poking out here and there

 

[jamest0o0]

I'll second that, I don't intentionally add earthworms to the setup, I think they break down the substrate too quickly. That said, my experience with them is from an accidental introduction and they haven't destroyed that setup and it's been four years. I do have to add a bunch of mulch every 6 months or so (usually I'll use orchid bark but I've used coco chips and cypress shavings too).

And I agree with previous commenters - new setups need to cycle. Eventually you'll stop seeing mold when everything reaches equilibrium.

For sure, a few of mine had earthworms as well and didn’t have problems. The species would definitely make a difference and if you’re adding to the soil things will probably be fine. In your case you’re adding some good aerating substrate(orchid bark) that I’m sure balances it. Some worms reproduce very fast and quickly turn it into a compost pile, for the person that wants to do the least amount of work with their soil after setting it up, worms might not be the best option.

BTW good to see you on here more often, hope being a vet is going well for you

 

[jamest0o0]

Gotcha! Now im scared of what the worms can do... maybe ill take them out if i see them poking out here and there

If you can remove them, maybe go for it, but if not just watch the soil. You can always add to it down the road if it starts getting too thick.

 

[Ronald7232]

If you can remove them, maybe go for it, but if not just watch the soil. You can always add to it down the road if it starts getting too thick.

ok thank you, i just heard earthworms were great for soil... guess not

 

[bbyoda]

ok thank you, i just heard earthworms were great for soil... guess not

They definitely are, but in a closed bioactive system they are too good.

 

[jamest0o0]

Yup^ And they are very bad for ecosystems that they aren’t native too.