Viv mold problem help!!

[Fillygirl]

I have had a 120 gallon viv set up for a little over a year and I recently noticed some mold growing between the glass and the potting soil substrate. I have the potting soil because I have live plants in the viv. How do I get rid of the mold? I had a Chinese Water Dragon in it for a bit but sadly the dragon died. I want to re-furbish the tank before getting a new CWD and to do that I need to get rid of the mold. any ideas? Also I want to put in a PC fan to help with circulation but am not sure if it will cause problems maintaining temp and humidity. Any suggestions? Will post pics ASAP to show the mold I am talking about.

[jpstod]

Crickets, Sowbugs (rollie pollies), springtails. Not only will they get rid of mold but they will also break down feces and decomposting plant matterial.

A good balanced system will regulate itself.
I believe that a 120 gallon is to small for a CWD.
Its recommended that a CWD needs at least a 8 ft long x 4 deep x 4 high Cage. As they get bigger they will a pond. as long as they are. 4ft long for adults.

[Waterkeeper]

The fans will help with mold in areas that the air circulates. between the substrate and the glass is not one of these areas...

as far as temp/humidity, the fans will only help keep it fluent top to bottom in a tank this size, it won't pose any problems if setup right. DON"T use the fans to push in fresh air.. circulate the air within the tank and you will be fine.

[Fillygirl]

Thanks so much! Now I just have to round up some rollie pollies and put them to work! But I still worry that the mold currently in the tank may pose a danger. I know a CWD will need a bigger tank but at the rate they grow this one should hold one for a few years until I can afford to upgrade to a bigger tank. Yes I know they will need a pond and I have taken care of that. I do worry that the CWD will eat the Roly Pollies once I put one in there. How do I fix that problem??? This forum is one of the best I have found by the way! Thanks for the help. Oh and Water I was looking at the pics of the viv you are working on and I was amazed!!!! It was so awesome!!! Thanks for all the help!!

[jpstod]

I have never seen anything eat the rollie pollies in my tanks..The problem I have is that nothing eats them, unless you making more tanks they tend to over run the tanks easily.

Once your CWD gets bigger it will naturally go after bigger food sources

[Green Ghost]

Rollie pollies? Never heard that. Was laughing when I read that....

If you want to give the sowbugs (rollie pollies )a place to hide put a small flat stone (or stones) in the tank so they can hide under it (them).

[Fillygirl]

Thanks for all the advice! I am still not sure if I should do anything to the mold at the front of the tank. Should I move the soil and scrape it off the glass and then put the pill bugs (sow bugs) in to keep it from coming back??

[Green Ghost]

Originally Posted by Fillygirl

I am still not sure if I should do anything to the mold at the front of the tank. Should I move the soil and scrape it off the glass and then put the pill bugs (sow bugs) in to keep it from coming back??

Yeah you can do that.

The mold is always there and will pretty much always be there. Usually it's just too small for us to see it. It just grows to the point where you can see it when conditions are right. It can't infect your frogs but I could understand that it doesn't really look very nice.

When I get mold in my setups and I want it to dissapear immediately (and I don't want to disturb the tank contents with my hands) I wet it. The thing is, the mold probably started growing because conditions are too humid. I'd suggest circulating the air inside the tank or drying it up a little. If you don't have anything in the tank except live plants you could open the top for a day or so? If not then you could put some kind of screen on the top to let the air circulate freely?