Mold???

[DigitalPunk]

White mold in a new terrarium is common and is natural. It will run its course and go away in a few days. Cork bark gets this white mold very quickly when it is first introduced into a humid environment. One thing you can do is add some Springtails to the terrarium. Them LOVE to eat mold and will help keep the tank clean. On top of eating mold they LOVE to eat frog poop and decaying leaf litter or plat leaves. Eating all that waste in turns makes the soil healthier for your plants and will make your soil last longer.

[ukfan1976]

Oh thank goodness I thought I had introduced disease LOL where would you suggest getting springtails?

[DigitalPunk]

There are a couple of good online shops. I like to get mine from here. They have cheaper shipping rate on live insect and they come in a modified ABG mix so you can just dump it straight into your tank under the moss. After a couple weeks the population will boom and you will have all the Springtails you will ever need. If it will be a while before you add frogs to the tank (2 - 4 weeks) than I would add the "Springtail food" to your order from NEHerp. It is just brewers yeast. You put a small pinch in the terrarium and lightly mist it. The yeast will mol dover night and the Springtails will flock to it and eat the mold. Just add more yeast every couple days or when you see all the previous yeast is gone.

If you are getting a Dart frog for this tank than the Darts will snack on the springtails from time to time .

[ukfan1976]

There are a couple of good online shops. I like to get mine from here. They have cheaper shipping rate on live insect and they come in a modified ABG mix so you can just dump it straight into your tank under the moss. After a couple weeks the population will boom and you will have all the Springtails you will ever need. If it will be a while before you add frogs to the tank (2 - 4 weeks) than I would add the "Springtail food" to your order from NEHerp. It is just brewers yeast. You put a small pinch in the terrarium and lightly mist it. The yeast will mol dover night and the Springtails will flock to it and eat the mold. Just add more yeast every couple days or when you see all the previous yeast is gone.

If you are getting a Dart frog for this tank than the Darts will snack on the springtails from time to time .

Great info! Exactly the site I was looking for! My frog is kinda tiny right now. Would I need to add more food to the soil for the springtails until he's big enough to start pooping enough to feed them? I'm also considering getting him a friend for the tank but want to wait til he's big enough that I can try and sex him (I really have no idea if its a "him" i just refer to him that way haha). The tank is definitely big enough.

[DigitalPunk]

The issue I see with waiting till he is bigger is he may be to big to add a friend in there with him, smaller frogs can look like food.

Once the frog is in the tank I would stop putting the yeast in. I don't know that it would harm the frog, but I would just in case. If you have leaf litter in the tank the leaves will start to break down and the Springtails will feed on those as well as any parts of the soil that start to break down. Any feeder insects that die in the tank will be eaten by the springtails as well. Basically once the frog is in (2 weeks or so after the springtails are added) the tank will be primed to support the springtails on it's own.

I love NEHerp and Josh's Frogs. NEHerp has become my favorite for terrarium supplies and such. I find Josh's shipping prices to be much more expensive. Jessica at NEHerp is an absolute pleasure to deal with and is very quick to respond to emails. I have even placed an order and then contacted Jessica to tell her how I was planning to use the pieces I ordered and she did her best to pick the perfect items for me.

I added a Springtail culture to my Red eye tree frog tank and they is a **** ton in there now. I have even pulled some springs from that tank to seed 2 other tanks. Breeding them is simple too. Buy 2 cultures and a breeding kit from NEHERP. Dump one culture into the tank and follow their instructions on setting up the breeding box. In about a month you will have plenty of springtails to start other breeding cultures or restock your terrarium to help keep the population up enough so the frog or frogs can find them easily and eat them . It is actually pretty cool to watch the Springtails do their thing in the tank

[ukfan1976]

do the springtails prefer damper soil? or does it need to be completely dry? what about isopods? do they like the same soil?

[DigitalPunk]

They like high humidity which requires damp soil. Both Springtails and Isopods do good in a wide variety of soil types. ABG mix tends to be the best because it has so many different comp nets to it and will break down slower. ABG mix when cared for properly can last for over a year before it need to be replaced.

Isopods do the same job that Springtails do and can be eaten by the frogs as well, though most frogs prefer to eat the baby isopods as they have a softer shell. Having both Springtails and Isopods will not cause harm to one or the other. Having them both in the terrarium helps in bring as much of nature as possible into the habitat.

I know it is in another thread here, but refresh me on the frog you are putting in here. I think it was a Dart frog, they require high humidity which will lead to the soil being moist but not swampy which will be perfect for the soil insects.

From your picture in the first post I don't see any leaf litter. Your frog will love leaf litter. It gives them loads of hiding spots if they get spooked. It will lead to your frog being more bold than it otherwise might not be. NEHERP has leaf liter as well. Its cheap and you will get more than you need. Save what you don't use to add in after a month or 2 and to replaces the leaves that have decayed.