Since my last post about my terrarium the mould on the log has cleared up and my isopods have stopped dying for no apparent reason which is fantastic! But probably close to a week ago I noticed these very small white dots in the substrate I didn’t think much of it then. But over the past two days they have started getting very big which is concerning. I’m not sure if they are possibly mushrooms or some type of fungus. I know mushrooms can be beneficial. But I figured some more opinions would be helpful.
Some things to note I did change out 2 plants in the tank almost a week ago but both were cleaned and the soil removed before being planted and are not close the the substrate. And my gecko Jupiter has been spending an unusual amount of time in the substrate so I just don’t want whatever’s growing to be harmful to him.
I have some mold outbreaks that look similar to this. I added springtails but they don’t seem to help, I’m just going to let them grow and hopefully outcompete theirself.
Ok thank you that’s what I was thinking of doing!
Drying out the substrate might help reduce their growth.
Something that is not very well explained to people that are setting up bioactive/naturalistic vivs is that, like salt and fresh water aquaria, they need time to season and cycle before they reach equilibrium. Part of that cycling is fungal blooms. They happen. They are normal. Unless you have managed to get something like death caps or destroying angels or Amanita, they are harmless. Just leave them to do their thing. You will likely see a couple different “flushes” as the hyphae spread and flux through the encolsure
Yeah you always hear about cycling fish tanks. But that makes since that setting up a mini ecosystem would have to cycle as well! I researched bioactives for almost a year before setting up mine and never heard it mentioned once. So thank you for the info! I’ll keep an eye on the growth and see what happens, And watch out for the ones you mentioned!
Unless you were harvesting your decor from outside, and those are native to your region, and growing in the specific area you harvested, I would not stress it overly much. In all my years, I have never managed to get them
It’s funny I don’t typically spray the sections where the growths are it’s in the front corner, and I usually spray the top and the upper side walls. It usually stays somewhat dry in that spot. But it is the spot I most see isopods so maybe that has something to do with it.
Ok I didn’t get anything from outside. Pretty much everything came from joshes frogs or my local plant and reptile shops.
It’s all normal.
I’ve had all sorts of kinds in most of mine!
I like when the mushrooms grow 
Did you remove all compost the original plants came with?
I have to agree there isn’t enough info about fungus in bio-active terrariums.
I love a mushroom or two in the enclosures. But I wouldn’t know which ones are poisonous etc, they all look the same to me. All soil is prepared by me and the plants are thoroughly washed, then placed on display for several weeks before going into an enclosure, this is more to make sure I can keep it alive lol
It looks like normal fungus and your cleanup crew should help clear it up in due time.
Yes before I put any plants in the tank I make sure to thoroughly clean them and get all the old soil out.
Great, then hopefully nothing to worry about 