calcisand to bump up ph

[tonymontanaflows]

this is for my a. opacum tank. i was wondering if it would be safe/benefitical for me to add something like untreated uncolored calcium carbonate sand to perhaps bump up the ph of the substrate.
I've had the tank and salamanders since 2006 and have never changed the substrate. it's a mix of topsoil, coco fiber, cypress mulch, leaf litter, and old shreaded moss that sits on a 3inch "floor" of layered packed sand,charcoal,topsoil. The substrate has a large active population of pillbug/sowbugs, millipedes, springtails,earthworms and some other little bugs hat break everything down so i just mist, stir it up, and add more leaf litter and it's pretty much self sustaining.

my main concern now is dying earthworms. seems like when they venture on the surface by themselves or when i try to bait they the sals to eat by leaving them close by they die. the substrate is moist enough and deep for them to burrow. i'm thinking either the ph of the soil is too low or the other little bugs are eating them alive. It's kinda of hard to tell with the latter since as soon as any waste appears they're breaking it down. My sals seem unaffected by the substrate, they burrow in it and i inspect them for sores and such which they have none. my frog and toad tank which have always been moss free and setup similarly with doesn't have this problem. the moss in the salamander tank was originally used in these pvc caves i have setup, once it got nasty i would shread it up mix it with the rest of the substrate thinking nature would run it s course. not much is in the substrate and has been worked over by my hands that there is no real trace of it.

anyone have any experience with trying to alter the ph of there soil in such a way? people add crushed eggsheels to compost so this should have a similar affect right? i'd really hate to have to dump the substrate since it works so well of breaking stuff down and providing food.

 

[Jennewt]

What kind of worms are you using? I'm not sure why they die. I cannot understand your sentence "seems like when they venture on the surface by themselves or when i try to bait they the sals to eat by leaving them close by they die". This seems important, can you explain a bit more clearly?

Before trying to change the pH, you should try to test the pH. There are soil test kits sold in garden centers, or it might be possible to use an aquarium kit.

Even in a long-term stable setup like this one, you might want to do partial substrate changes. I would suggest you might want to dig out a quarter of the top soil and replace it with fresh coco-fiber. Then do the same with each quadrant every few months. This would be less disruptive than changing out all the substrate, and perhaps better than trying to amend with calcium carbonate.

 

[tonymontanaflows]

here's an old pic of the tank setup.i know it looks dry. the rock areas on either side are setup to house the bugs and worms and rest on about 1-3in of substrate/pvc pipe. when i actually see waste i just put it under a rock and let nature take it's course. the worms which are just red wrigglers i find in my backyard and occasionaly buy from a bait shop. 99% percent of the time the worms hang in this area since there's food, shelter, and more burrowing space. it's when they leave this area either by their own or when i place them near one of the salamanders who might be in a pvc cave or burrowed somewhere in the middle of the tank that they die. theres enough substrate for them to burrow everywhere, but they seem to die right on the surface.

i'll see if i can get a ph kit, and the partial changes sound like a viable solution before i start playing chemist to a tub of dirt

 

[chuckpowell]

If your trying to change the ph of the soil I can't see what calcium carbonate would do except to add water stains to your tank. But before you change the ph on the soil, what is the ph of the soil. Changing it blindly seems dumb. And do you know the prefer soil ph the worms you use need? Just changing things to change them seems dumb. And why let the worms into the tank soil? You never see them and most likely neither will the salamanders as they only come out of the ground when the soil has excess moisture and most people don't flood their tanks as they don't have drains and it still takes to long to dry. I'd suggest putting a small bowl in the tank and put the worms in there - better chance for the salamanders to feed. JMO.

Best,

Chuck