Mould in tank

[Matt Brett]

Having a bit of a mould problem. Any ideas how to solve it? I.e., do I need to do a complete substrate change, or is there an easier way?

I remember reading somewhere that it wont harm her unless it's everywhere. Right now there's just one or two bits that keep cropping up. I keep removing them for now, but I'm going to need a more permanent solution.

While I'm here, is it normal for her (Brachypelma Smithi) not to drink? I haven't seen her drink in the last 6 months. She hates water and avoids any encounter with it (usually when she steps in the water dish, quickly removes her feet and then climbs the tank to dry out).
I haven't fed her for about three weeks now after she took about three weeks to eat her last meal. I was pretty sure she was going to moult as she was displaying some signs, but she hasn't yet. I'm going to put a cricket or two in there soon though.

[Rebecca Norris]

A smithi shouldn't be wet enough to have a mould problem... She should be kept on dry substrate. Increased ventilation will dry the enclosure out and prevent mould.

You rarely see spiders drinking. But if you have to keep topping her bowl up then she is drinking

How big is she? I'd say just put one cricket in and if its not been eaten in a day or two remove it. If she moults with crickets running round in there, there is a chance the cricket can chomp on the moulting spider... Not worth the risk

[Clinton Hogben]

Having a bit of a mould problem. Any ideas how to solve it? I.e., do I need to do a complete substrate change, or is there an easier way?

I remember reading somewhere that it wont harm her unless it's everywhere. Right now there's just one or two bits that keep cropping up. I keep removing them for now, but I'm going to need a more permanent solution.

Hi Matt
As Rebecca pointed out a Smithi prefers dry conditions so increasing ventilation will allow the substrata to dry out and reduce the mould
Its more of an issue with Tarantula from tropical rain forest environments that need high humidity
The natural method of removing mould / fungi is throw in a handful of woodlice they will eat the mould and the "T" will ignore them
it works for me I seem to have an explosion of woodlice at the moment they breed and live in the vivarium with the L para, they ignore each other and I have had no mould for months now

All the best

[Colin D Wilson]

Just make sure th woodlice have bee gathered from a pesticide/chemicle free area. They are crustaceans and so are able to store toxins in their body for short periods of time, If you keep them in quaranteen for a week to 10 days and feed them tropical fish flakes they will be ok to introduce.

[Samantha Lewanewsky]

Always move mould out straight away, and if possible change substrate.
Like the other posters have said, try to get some woodlice!

I've had a case of reoccuring mould before, in the pot there was a tiny bit of mould, just starting to grow, I took it out ASAP, but the next day it had starting growing again.
This time I did a whole tank change, just to be on the safe side, I used new substrate and a completely different pot.
Again, the next day, mould started growing. I took the spider out and put into another completely different pot.
Next day mould had started growing again!!
I'd pretty much guessed by this time the mould was being passed about by the spider itself. So I removed the growing mould and left the spider in the pot, I didn't want to put it through the stress of rehoming again.
The next day the spider was very lethargic, the mould had started to grow back aswell. The next day I woke up to find my spider completely covered with the stuff and dead.

I'm not trying to scare you or anything, just pointing out the importance of removiong mould as quickly as possible.

Sam x

[James Box]

sorry to hear that Sam
you're not the only one who's had mould related deaths.
there are some species that just grow on dead matter (gross)...but i guess there must be some that grow on living matter as well.

[Peter Lacey]

sorry to hear that Sam
you're not the only one who's had mould related deaths.
there are some species that just grow on dead matter (gross)...but i guess there must be some that grow on living matter as well.

oh yes, fungal growths and mould, even us humans suffer from them - warts, athletes foot, ringworm etc.
I guess you didn't see Lost Land of the Jaguar during the week?

[Matt Brett]

Cleaned up tank

So today I decided to tackle the mould.
It was basically all down to having moss in the tank. It is a suitable moss etc but I think it really holds the moisture well (especially when she puts it in the water!). There wasn't that much mould to get rid of, but it did smell like mushrooms which wasn't all that nice.
I cleared out all the top layer of substrate and moss, which came away really nicely because she'd webbed the whole lot together really well.
I gave everything else a really good turn over and re-layed the substrate. Scrubbed the log thing as that had some mould (not much, few bits of white dotting) and put that back, with a couple of other cork wood ornaments. Don't think she liked the open ground much. She seems to like obstacles to push around and hide behind etc.

Looks much better now, doesn't smell like mushrooms. Hopefully that will be the end of the mould. With no moss, it shouldnt grow back so easily.

Gonna get a few woodlice too. Put one in there the other day and it went straight to the mould, so putting a few more in should keep on top of it all if it does come back.

Anyway, she's a lot more lively now. She's had an explore, aggravated a couple of crickets and is sat on top of an ornament cleaning herself. I'm waiting for the obligatory tank climb now. Every time she's had a tank change/move about etc, she spends the first couple of nights chewing the plastic roofing and sticking legs through gaps.