Help now have a mold issue..

[matheny00]

Ok so we have a tort enclosure that we bought the wood ones. Have about 1" of wood chip base. Bought some stones to feed tgem in instead or the plastic bowls and got a terracata clay dish for water. I moved the bark away set the clay dish on the wood brought the bark to the did a and works great. Only problem is it is porous and now we have mold under it against the wood base and dish. We are cleaning that all up but are so lost. We are doing what everyone suggest based on what we can read. Can some of you chime in on what we are doing wrong. Please

 

[Millerlite]

I would change the substrate. The wood chips tend to mold. They soak in the water and stay damp and mold. I would go with a soild and peat moss mix. or coco coir. The moss and coco coir are a little more acidic and keeps mold away a little better. Others might have better Ideas.

Kyle

 

[matheny00]

I would change the substrate. The wood chips tend to mold. They soak in the water and stay damp and mold. I would go with a soild and peat moss mix. or coco coir. The moss and coco coir are a little more acidic and keeps mold away a little better. Others might have better Ideas.

Kyle

Thanks but we still will have a mold issue with tge botyom of tge enclousure. The mold is on the floor of tge rnclousure not the bark

 

[pguinpro]

Thanks but we still will have a mold issue with tge botyom of tge enclousure. The mold is on the floor of tge rnclousure not the bark

Just to be clear, mold on the wood? Black spots?

 

[pguinpro]

Thanks but we still will have a mold issue with tge botyom of tge enclousure. The mold is on the floor of tge rnclousure not the bark

I had a similar issue so I put holes in the bottom of my enclosure so that when the water gets to the bottom it has somewhere to go. Under my enclosure now sit a large yellow storage lid that's upside down so it can hold water. When the water starts to accumulate it is so evenly dispersed that it evaporates more quickly; hope this helps. Alternatively you can coat the entire inside with polyurethane or something like that so the wood doesnt get moldy or buy a shower curtain and staple it to the inside after getting rid of mold.

 

[matheny00]

Just to be clear, mold on the wood? Black spots?

Just mold on the wood. We cleaned it of and it is outside in the sun torts are safe in yard in a baby fence enclosure.

So me question is if the clay dish is the best idea how do you seal it or prevent future mold. Are we to have some form of moss under it for air should we put maybee linoleum down the create the base?

 

[Maro2Bear]

Greetings

From the looks of it, there doesnt appear to be any waterproof type layer under the substrate. What I successfully did with my enclosure was a multi-pronged approach to combat the issue you have.

- I’d suggest remove all the substrate and contents and let it 100 percent dry out,
- go to hardware store, get some application like KILZ, apply two or more good layers to the entire bottom, and up the sides by however you plan on having substrate.
- once the KILZ is dry, lay down a perfectly cut thick plastic layer on the bottom, staple that down to the corners and along the edge. (I used mutiple 4 or 5 mil thick black plastic waste bags).
- then apply a waterproof tarp, again cut to size, but so it wraps up the edges of the enclosure a few inches (as deep as your substrate). Fasten this down as well. Depending how handy you are, you can make it look very nice and finished by fastening PVC molding around the entire tarp edge that meets the substrate level. This holds the edge of tarp nicely against the sides.

Now, fill up you enclosure with your damp to wet substrate....and you have the Kilz, and two plastic layers to protect the wood.

Hope that helps. Unprotected wood in “damp” conditions, with substrate, water bowls, etc is bound to form mold or mildew. The above steps will greatly prevent the issue.

Good luck.

 

[matheny00]

Greetings

From the looks of it, there doesnt appear to be any waterproof type layer under the substrate. What I successfully did with my enclosure was a multi-pronged approach to combat the issue you have.

- I’d suggest remove all the substrate and contents and let it 100 percent dry out,
- go to hardware store, get some application like KILZ, apply two or more good layers to the entire bottom, and up the sides by however you plan on having substrate.
- once the KILZ is dry, lay down a perfectly cut thick plastic layer on the bottom, staple that down to the corners and along the edge. (I used mutiple 4 or 5 mil thick black plastic waste bags).
- then apply a waterproof tarp, again cut to size, but so it wraps up the edges of the enclosure a few inches (as deep as your substrate). Fasten this down as well. Depending how handy you are, you can make it look very nice and finished by fastening PVC molding around the entire tarp edge that meets the substrate level. This holds the edge of tarp nicely against the sides.

Now, fill up you enclosure with your damp to wet substrate....and you have the Kilz, and two plastic layers to protect the wood.

Hope that helps. Unprotected wood in “damp” conditions, with substrate, water bowls, etc is bound to form mold or mildew. The above steps will greatly prevent the issue.

Good luck.

Thanks for the input we are going to lay linoleum down and curve it up the walls. What prevents mold growth on the substrate?

 

[Maro2Bear]

Thanks for the input we are going to lay linoleum down and curve it up the walls. What prevents mold growth on the substrate?

Substrates like orchid bark, peatmoss coco coir, cypress mulch are pretty resistant to mold growing on them. I’m sure higher acid content compared to plain old untreated “wood”.

Good luck.

 

[matheny00]

Substrates like orchid bark, peatmoss coco coir, cypress mulch are pretty resistant to mold growing on them. I’m sure higher acid content compared to plain old untreated “wood”.

Good luck.

Can I bother you for a little more on substrate? How to layer it and how thick?

 

[Maro2Bear]

Can I bother you for a little more on substrate? How to layer it and how thick?

Different folks have different go to substrates, i know @Tom prefers fine grade orchid bark mix for lots of reasons. I used a mix of coco coir, peatmoss and cypress mulch. Depends on how much you need, availability, shipping costs, etc.

• No trick really in layering it down. I would soak my substrate in a bucket of warm water, let it drain out, then just add to the thickness i was looking for.