eco earth

elyanalyous

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
Joined
Mar 23, 2006
Messages
484
i used eco earth for the first time, and i'm not impressed. i squeezed the water out, and put my slings in...but now 3 days later it looks fuzzy...did i do something wrong? it was squeezed ntill no water even came out...should i chage the enclosures? or can i just let them dry out a bit?...i'm going to give the slings water dishes...well bottlecaps to be exact....if i do this will i be able to let it jsut dry out?
 

Arachnophilist

Arachnoprince
Old Timer
Joined
Sep 12, 2006
Messages
1,252
first how big are your slings? second if your substrate is moldering you dont have adequate ventilation. you really shouldnt need a water dish for a small sling... and depending on the species you shouldnt need wet substrate either.. I use the coconut fibre beddin and I find it is the best so give a little more info on the situation and we;ll see if we can troubleshoot it for ya!
 

Scorp guy

Arachnoangel
Old Timer
Joined
Dec 22, 2005
Messages
897
first how big are your slings? second if your substrate is moldering you dont have adequate ventilation. you really shouldnt need a water dish for a small sling... and depending on the species you shouldnt need wet substrate either.. I use the coconut fibre beddin and I find it is the best so give a little more info on the situation and we;ll see if we can troubleshoot it for ya!

i agree totally.

How big are the slings? what about the viles? what are they being kept in? how many airholes do you have for ventalation. i've actually never had eco-earth mold up on me...it's always worked very, very well.
 

elyanalyous

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
Joined
Mar 23, 2006
Messages
484
they are in small kk...they wander quite a bit...they are h. incei slings...about 1" or so...they are using all thier cage.
 

Arachnophilist

Arachnoprince
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Sep 12, 2006
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1,252
okay well I have found that if you are using the compressed blocks. I use hot water and lean towards the 3 litre per block instead of the 4litre per. cause then it isnt soggy just moist and expanded.. and with the hot water alot of it steaks off as you break it up with your hands. then I set the tank and let it air out with the lid off for awhile. then setting it up and letting the T into the tank. are you applying somewhat direct heat to the tanks? because the heat will create moisture and keep it soggy. creating mold. but I dont know why it would do that. you could take the remaining soil and air dry it or bake it for a bit I guess.. I have never had it go moldy and I have kept it soaked for my T. blondi for a long time. where do you keep your spiders.. could be the room is not ventilated enough.
 

Frazier_05

Arachnosquire
Old Timer
Joined
Jun 21, 2004
Messages
146
I agree with everyone else, regarding the ventilation issues. I have used the bricks and only the bricks since I've been keeping t's. One thing is to let it dry out awhile before using it, then if you have to, reapply the moisture to it for the species specific care.

Brett
 

kenspidey

Arachnosquire
Old Timer
Joined
Jan 25, 2006
Messages
100
I have also used bricks but i noticed that the substrate would be way to soggy so my solution was to wet the bricks until moist enough to split then crumple it up as fine as possible then spread it out all over an old newspaper as thin as ic ould so it would dry faster then put it in the tank for use.
 

Sarah.S

Arachnosquire
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Sep 14, 2006
Messages
129
Thats why I dont use this stuff to much trouble when it goes wrong. I use normal compost without any fertilizers or plant additives at all plus it is also much cheeper than these bricks. I guess oven baking your eco earth would be the best way to put things right though after you have taken all the mould out. You could also put drainage holes in your tank to allow any extra mosture to drain out so that in future you keep the stuff moist but not soggy and water logged. The lid of the kk has loads of little holes in it for ventalition anyways so you should be ok there. Putting your heat mat on the back may also help with ventilation and air flow and thus help keep mould at bay.
 

Steven.WK

Arachnoknight
Old Timer
Joined
Apr 26, 2006
Messages
168
The proper way to use these brick type substrate is to soak them with a little water at a time so they won't become soggy. I place one brick into a 5 gallon kritter keeper and put maybe 2 inches of water into it. Once it has soaked up all the water, I start to break off the moisten parts and crumble them a fine moist substrate. Keep doing that until you break off all the "wet" parts and resoak the dry brick in another container or bag it up and save for future use. Another tip is to not break off any parts of the brick while it is soaking. Just let it soak up all the water and the top dry part will pull off easily.
 

elyanalyous

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
Joined
Mar 23, 2006
Messages
484
ok. i had some of the eco earth left over, so i microwaved it and then ran a fan on it...i have redone the cages and everyone seems happy...hopefully this works
 

NixHexDude

Arachnoknight
Old Timer
Joined
Apr 20, 2006
Messages
298
I mix the stuff with moss and soil. I like the consistency of all three way more than any of them individually.
 

Taceas

Arachnolord
Old Timer
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May 12, 2006
Messages
658
I've just been following the directions, with slightly less water. So far I've never had it to mold. The only mold I've ever seen is on pieces of food particles I've missed when spot cleaning.

If I need it instantly, I spread it out on a baking sheet and bake it in a low-heat oven, stirring occasionally till its dry. Then once it's cool, I add it to the spider's containers.

If I don't need it right then, I just leave it in an open topped bucket. The top dries out and the bottom stuff stays somewhat moist. Before I use it, I'll stir and mix it around and then use it, making sure to get some dry and some slightly damp. It seems to even itself out in a day or so.
 
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