Soil moisture in sal tank

[firedreams]

Hi,

We acquired a pair of Plethodon Cinereus about 5 months ago and set them up in an approx. 5 gal naturalistic enclosure with a substrate of mixed coco fiber and soil (see pic).

Everything was going well in the setup until the passed week or two, when moisture levels in the soil started to spike. We stopped misting the tank this week, but the soil is sufficiently moist so that the overall humidity in the tank has remained quite high. Yesterday we noticed some mold on one of the pieces of wood.

We are worried that the mold will hurt the sals. Is it an immediate danger?

Secondly, is there any way to reduce soil moisture without actually changing the substrate? Our two sals have only recently begun to overcome their shyness, and we want to avoid disrupting them too much.

Should the tank have drainage? Their are currently no drainage holes in the bottom - would the addition of drainage holes help?

Thanks for your help!

 

[Kaysie]

The mold won't hurt them, but it is a sign that your humidity is probably a little high. Unless your substrate is really wet, I wouldn't worry about it much. Just stop misting for a little while until the humidity has gone down. Then go back to misting as needed.

When you do change the substrate (I change mine every 3-6 months), you can put a layer of gravel or hydro-balls on the bottom for drainage, but unless you're heavily wetting the tank, it probably isn't necessary.

 

[firedreams]

Thanks, Kaysie. We removed the mold and haven't misted for the past couple days, and the mold hasn't returned. The soil moisture is definitely on the high side (so we won't be misting for a while), but its still a ways from the "mud" stage.

Your suggestion about gravel sounds like a really good idea. I will definitely do this when we change the substrate (probably in about a month, as long as all goes well). I have noticed that some articles suggest adding a charcoal layer to help filter the substrate - do you (or anyone else) know if this is a good idea or not?