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Post by oceanlover on Mar 20, 2006 18:52:02 GMT
My snails cage in the last 2 days explode in fungus!!
The tank is really humid and, now it's warm too (24ºC) it have 3 big cork logs that are full of small points of fungus and already have the spores structures
The soil and the corks were sterilized thermally but seems that wasn't eneuf...
What should I do??
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Val
Archachatina dimidiata
Posts: 2,498
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Post by Val on Mar 20, 2006 18:57:33 GMT
Well personally I would take the logs out, wash them and dry them and then try putting them back and see what happens. If they keep going mouldy you may have to leave them out  Val |
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Post by sonicsnail on Mar 21, 2006 16:09:46 GMT
I have had this problem before. I took the logs out and washed them etc. However, the fungi still came back. So, no more logs in there.
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Post by sezzy5889 on Mar 21, 2006 16:43:58 GMT
I get mushrooms grow on the capillary matting and there isn't even any wood in the tank, it just appears! weird...
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Val
Archachatina dimidiata
Posts: 2,498
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Post by Val on Mar 21, 2006 18:43:20 GMT
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Post by sezzy5889 on Mar 21, 2006 19:07:18 GMT
they look like mushrooms, i assume they are a type of fungus
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LisaLQ
Archachatina papyracea
Old friend (emphasis on the "old")
Posts: 2,995
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Post by LisaLQ on Mar 21, 2006 21:02:09 GMT
Well funghi are spread by spores that float through the air, so that's how they end up in there.
My mopani wood went mouldy, but I take it you (oceanlover) mean fungus rather than mould? I just took it out, but am thinking of replacing it in the future, I dunno if cork bark copes better with the humidity, but we'll see.
I now rinse my capillary matting every other day (or sometimes daily depending on mess), so it doesn't get a chance to go mouldy.
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Post by section8angel on Mar 21, 2006 22:39:13 GMT
Cork bark is meant to be the best for humid environments. So I've read and been told anyway lol. It better as I've finally cooked mine and it's in the tanks!!
Do you just not like the fungi or are you worried it will hurt the snails? I would think they come across some sorts in the wild, so it might be ok?
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Post by sezzy5889 on Mar 22, 2006 9:23:36 GMT
I have a peice of corkbark in my limi/zachrysia tank, it hasn't began to go mouldy yet, it has lichen on it but thats not a prob
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Post by oceanlover on Mar 26, 2006 18:55:01 GMT
Well I think that the fungi appear because it don't have a good light... I put a protected lamp in side and I will see if fungus grow again..
The terrarium of my iguana is very humid too and FULL of corks (a forest) but never had fungus, I think that's because it have a lot of lamps that keep the fungus away
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Post by Paul on Mar 27, 2006 2:32:17 GMT
Sterilising everything often is not always the best thing. If you bake soil, within days the surface will be covered with fungus etc. because it has a perfectly clean surface to spread on, instead of fighting with other bacteria, some of which is beneficial. If your tanks are clean and you take food out before it molds, I would suggest increasing ventilation if possible and wiping the first signs of mold away, you'll find it may calm down significantly when other bacteria has a chance to compete with it.
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Post by oceanlover on Mar 27, 2006 20:25:03 GMT
Hum! Make sense to me
But if I can't Sterilize the soil how can I kill the worms that spread on it?? (One of the snails bring them from the petshop...)
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Post by Paul on Mar 28, 2006 2:46:35 GMT
Well, while that is a good method and I'm not suggesting you don't do it, the worms seem to inhabit the body of the snails anyway, so no amount of cleaning will ever rid you of them completely. We need to find a way for the worms to be killed or cleaned off the snails 100%.
What you can do is limit their reproduction by doing as many of the following as possible...
feeding food in dishes
removing uneaten food after a few hours
removing faeces daily
increasing ventilation
keeping your tank less wet if possible
sterilising your substrate often or using new dehydrated, compressed coir each time.
If they do inhabit the soil then perhaps there is a way to catch them... I know for instance that worms can detect food or in the case of predatory worms their hosts and make their way to it. I've not done it but I thought about trying it so here is what you do.
Get a small plastic tub and poke loads of holes in it. Then add some soil and food to it, porridge is a good one. Snap the lip on so the snails can't get at it and put it in your tank. Any worms will make there way to it through the numerous holes. Then you can simple throw the contents away daily and try again. If you do find the worms in the food, it would be far less likely they were placed there by the snails accidently. Obviously you need to throw away and clean the tub at least daily because the lifecyle of these things is extremely fast and I imagine their reproduction cycle is less than a day. But the worms are not bothered about massing together in food and they won't leave it while the food lasts so I don't think there is much risk of making it worse.
It would be a good idea, to have one drier end of the tank and then place the snails real food in that end. That'll mean the food in the wet end will be more easily found by the worms because the wet soil transmits the smell much better and the worms will be retarded a little from getting to the snail food because they'll have to travel through drier substrate and up and over the dish.
Hope these ideas help in some way.
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Post by oceanlover on Mar 28, 2006 11:29:15 GMT
Yep I'm already doing some of the ideas, the worm population is decreasing but not extinted... When I killed them all there was a few in side of the snails and they went to the soil a became flys that put egges... I'm thinking in sterilize the soil again, but this time I will try to found the water temperature that kill them and hope don't need use 100ºC for let the bacterias alive..
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Post by oceanlover on Mar 28, 2006 15:03:09 GMT
Oh! I can't believe!!! I made a test for see what water temperature can kill the worms and I discovered that 47ºC kill them in 2min  Bah! I never thought that was so easy... |
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Post by Paul on Mar 28, 2006 15:03:57 GMT
If they turn to flies, they can't be worms and need to be dealt with differently.
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Post by oceanlover on Mar 28, 2006 17:38:12 GMT
Yep it's true they are larvae of fruit flyes not worms but they are like worms, not like caterpillars, don't have "skin". I think that there are 2 different species in the tank.. The idea of dehydrated the soil results, but it takes some time, the days aren't sunny actually, well just today... Well but I'm sure that a hot bath to the soil can solve the problem... but I can't kill the ones inside of the snails, they will not like to take a 45ºC bath, do they?  |
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Post by Paul on Mar 28, 2006 17:51:01 GMT
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Post by sonicsnail on Mar 28, 2006 19:10:28 GMT
I find that the most effective way of preventing flies is to use the netting and to remove old food before it goes off. Of course, and regular clean out of the tank. This works for me but others may find different methods are better.
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Post by oceanlover on Mar 29, 2006 13:35:50 GMT
The flies are the Fungus Gnats
Well they need humidity but the snails need it to... I need to make the cleanning more times
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Post by Paul on Mar 29, 2006 14:16:11 GMT
Sonicsnail is right, the way to do it is to start afresh by cleaning out everything and then using the chiffon as netting. They'll not be able to get back in then, so the problem will pretty much be solved.
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