Subtrate constantly wet

[andry]

Hi, I need help... I built a tank 2 months ago. I've noticed the substrate is soaked all the time. Like mud. At first I thought it was because of the water fall feature that comes down a piece of mopani wood and drips into the pool area. I thought the wood was soaking up water and dripping it all around the wood. But I have since stopped the waterfall, drained all the water out from the bottom, left the tank open on top to get some air in there....and a week later and the substrate is still soaked. Of course, there is some moss over parts of it, but still, even the parts with nothing on top is still wet. If you see in the pictures, even on the top left corner where the brom is, the dirt is soaked. I do mist every 2-3 days, not light, but not too heavy. Could this be maintaining the dirt wet?

Also, it created all sorts of itty bitty almost microscopic critters in there and last week before I took the water out and all. I thought they might be mites because the substrate was so wet, so, I put some dry ice in the tank and just let it sit until the dry ice was completely melted. I couldn't really see the smoke above a few inches, so I was worried it wasn't getting to the top. The bugs have died.

A couple of things to add, the water on the bottom does not reach the dirt in any way. There is about an inch gap in between the top of the water and the start of the egg crate.

I'm thought it would be ready to add a couple of darts in there by now, but I'm thinking my tank is not working somehow. What am I doing wrong?

Here are some build pics and the final tank....

[frogface]

It looks ok by the pics. The LECA will wick up moisture, but, it doesn't appear to be in direct contact with the water. How wet is it? A moist substrate is good. Soggy is not so good. To me, it looks ok. Are the plants growing ok in it?

[andry]

I think my substrate it soggy. Well, I mean I stick my finger in it and I come back with a lot of wet muddy dirt, not sure if that means it is soggy. It is definetely wet. I don't really have plants in it other than the one brom in the corner and a pothos on the right behind the wood. The rest is moss. The moss I find outside does well, but the moss I buy dried in a bag does horrible and it turns yellow. I took it out.

Should I just leave the leca and put moss over the leca and grow my plants in the leca so that I don't have to worry about soggy substrate? The tank gets very humid with the lid is closed. Thanks.

[frogface]

What is your substrate made of besides the leca?

I think LECA with moss and leaf litter would work, but, might not be optimal. Maybe wait for some of the plant experts to weigh in on this. My experience with it is:

In my tanks, I find that moss holds a lot of water. I have one tank that is just LECA with moss on top (temporary tank for my foster frogs), and the moss stays rather wet, even though the water level is low. That's because the LECA stays wet from the water and transfers the water up. This tank doesn't have an eggcrate false bottom, though. Just the LECA. A fern and another plant (forget what, at the moment) have rotted in my LECA/moss tank, as it stays to damp for them. Pothos has done well (is there anything that can kill that stuff?)

In other tanks, I have LECA as the drainage bottom, and then substrate above that, consisting of various mixtures of bark, peat moss, coco fiber, coco chips, and then leaf litter on top of that. It does stay damp but the plants grow and the frogs eat.

In one tank, I have made a clay substrate. Got the clay cat litter, added peat, coco fiber, calcium. Mushed it together in water and laid it out in a thin layer to dry. Smashed it up when dry, into small pieces like small gravel sized. I put this over LECA in my Luec tank and added springs and isopods. On top is leaf litter. This does not stay too wet and the springs and isopods are going nuts.

Anyway, getting long winded. Back to work!

[andry]

Well, it's LECA, then some orchid bark, then a mix of coco fiber with orchid potting soil. That's all. Then some of the moss you saw on top of that. But it's not the stringy moss, it's the moss that's like pillow moss.

[GregF]

I had a setup similar to yours. Is there any ventilation in the tank? It looks like the temperature is 79F. Is the water on the glass from misting, or just condensation?

I had to add ventilation to the top of my viv. And I was glad I did...for one, the "sogginess" went away. And the evaporation lowered the internal temperature by about 2 degrees.

It's probably also way too warm/humid for that pillow moss. I know that mine didn't last long in those conditions.

[andry]

Thank you, good to know about the pillow moss. It did have 2 inches of ventilation for the most part. But I think I did have a plastic laying over that part for the last few weeks so maybe that's why it got so wet. The water is from misting. It doesn't have condensation at any time. What I don't get is why it won't dry even with the top open for 5 days. It's still as wet as it was last week. I might bring a fan in to dry it.

[GregF]

I'm assuming the substrate is coco husk? That stuff holds water really well. I live in South Texas, and I've tried to dry that stuff out. I pulled it all out of the viv, and placed it in a tray in direct sunlight on a 103 degree day. It took several days, and I had to mix it around a few times before it was dry.

Is the viv occupied? Can you open it up completely, and maybe aerate the substrate?

[andry]

I've checked it again this evening and it is not as wet anymore. It's only moist but not soaked. I think I'm happy with it now, but should I knead in some Orchid bark to make sure it doesn't happen again? But that's too hard on the frogs, so it would have to be really under the dirt and not showing on the top. Nah, I think with time it might poke out. Not a good idea huh?

[frogface]

I have my substrate all mixed together. The bark isn't that sharp and gets softer with the moisture in the tank. Leaf litter will also act as a nice floor above the bark, for the frogs. Also good for the microfauna.