How to deal with mold in terrariums

How to deal with mold in terrariums 

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High humidity terrariums with low air circulation are perfect places for mold to grow. 

Isopods and springtails also prefer a high humidity environment. 

They feed on the same detritus mold likes to grow on. 

By eating detritus isopods and springtails reduce the amount of food available for mold to grow on. 

For this reason isopods and springtails are often called cleaning crew in terrariums. 

Also, isopods and springtails feed on some types of fungus - not all fungus! 

And that is where things get interesting. 

In common English language people often use word mold instead of fungus.

 It causes a lot of confusion and misunderstanding.

 Those two words are not interchangeable.

 Mold is a type of fungus and so is yeast for an example. 

People consume yeast, but may get sick by consuming mold. 

Well, some types of mold are used for making cheese and penicillin etc. 

So, it really helps to know which mold we are talking about in terrariums :)

 I trust my cleaning crew of isopods and springtails when it comes to identifying mold. 

Isopods and springtails stay away from poisonous mold. 

The poisonous mold feeds on detritus and may destroy the entire terrarium with the cleaning crew in it.

 I actually published a video experiment a couple years ago showing it. 

Here you can see different types of springtails feeding on yeast, which is a type of fungus. 

You will not see any springtails gathering around poisonous mold, which is also a type of fungus. Regular observation is the key for understanding. 

It's easy to keep terrariums mold-free with 3 simple steps. 

The first step is to prevent mold from growing. 

It can be achieved by adding isopods and or springtails into terrariums. 

I like to add white, silver and orange springtails in all my terrariums. 

It takes a couple months to establish a small colony.

 More time is necessary to grow a larger colony in larger terrariums. 

Here you can see springtails at work consuming food not taken by mold yet. 

Here we come to the second step. 

Do not overfeed. 

Give a small amount of food your pets can eat in one day. 

Never add any food in terrariums with old food leftovers or mold. 

The third step is to remove any leftover food and the mold. 

I use a soft brush to swipe off mold with the food it grows on.

 Do not feed on the day you swiped - let it sit clean for a day or two. 

Also, it helps to have a flat feeding surface in terrariums. 

I use flat tree bark or flat rocks as a feeding surface. 

A flat feeding surface makes it easy to swipe off and it can be removed or replaced if necessary. 

So, as you can see it's actually a very simple 3 steps for keeping terrariums clean from mold. 

Have fun and happy terrariums :)