Mold in Fire Bellied Toad tank

[FireTigress]

My setup for my fbt is growing mold. I have a small log separating the land, which is peat moss and aquarium gravel, and the water. I was gone for about four days and my sister was feeding the toads, when I got back, there was white mold growing on and around the log. Should I take the log out for good or should I clean it and put it back? Should I change the substrate? I also have a live plant on the land side. The kind used in those vase tanks for beta fish. What other kind of setups look good and work well for the toads. These guys are my first amphibians so I don't have alot of experiance to work with. Thanks.

[reptileink]

First off, you shouldn't have used peat moss in your tank. Peat moss contains chemicals, and can be toxic to amphibians and reptiles. I am assuming this is a newly set-up tank?? The mold will eventually go away once the wood becomes fully saturated with water. If it doesn't, you can clean it off, but it might come back again. I let all kinds of mold, moss, fungus grow in my paludarium, it's kinda cool. Normally it isn't harmful to frogs. If the mold turns black, then you might have a problem, but otherwise it's harmless.

[Double J]

Reptile Ink is right about the mold... it is really nothing to worry about as it is a natural part of the maturation of a vivairum. Esssentially when a moist vivarium is set up, microbes and bacteria attempt to make use of the resources available to them and in time, "balance" their population out according to to availability of resources. This is why it is necessary to "cycle" fish tanks, as any number of the elements of the water chemistry can be all over the map until this "balance" occurs.

Now where I disagree with Reptileink is with the use of peat moss. I, and the majority of experienced dart frog breeders use peat in a wide varity of applications in the hobby. It is often used as an ingredient in "tadpole tea", as a component in foam backgrounds, and most commonly, it is a substantial portion of many vivarium planting mixes. Peat is a great asset to to amphibian keepers, and should not be overlooked. I have used it for years, as have may others and it is absolutely nothing to worry about. The tannins occurring in peat are without a doubt one of the big reasons why peat is so useful. The tannins actually help to regulate bacteria and fungus levels. This is of course the reason why so many ancient corpses and carcasses have been preserved so pristinely in peat bogs.
However, I do get reptileinks point that you can never be sure as to what additional ingredients may be in ANY substrate purchased commercially. That said, technically any substrate sourcce is at risk..... including paper towel, coconut husk fiber, potting soils, peat moss, sphagnum moss, play sand, bark mulches, newspaper..... the list is only limited by what people have come up with to use as substrates. But we cannot eliminate such a useful tool such as peat moss for use with our amphibians (though salamanders are another case indeed). Because in fact if we do stop using peat for the reasons reptile ink has outlined, then we would have to eliminate EVERY substrate that we use. However, firetigress, by all means CONTINUE using peat as a substrate fo your frogs, and don't lose any sleep over the mold. High humidity amphibians are built to deal with moisture, and all that comes with it generally. Still, in the future I would recommend instead using coconut husk fiber aka coir fiber, aka eco-earth, aka bedabeast, aka forest bed. It is the same product but goes by a number of different names. That is that it is a brick of compressed coconut husk fiber that needs only to be soaked in water to expand to form a useable substrate. It is the largest part of my soil mixtures for my dart frogs, and I use it solely for a number of the amphibian species that I keep.

Best of luck, and don't hesitate to ask any further questions. So in closing, continue with what you are doing with respect to substrate, and your frogs will be fine.

Double J