jkinsey said:
Very true about the fungus being prevelant in nature, the only problem is my frogs are not in nature. They are in a 40gallon tank. So there is no way they can get away from the fungus like they can in nature. In nature they are also very toxic, which is said to help with battling certain infections and fungus. Just my 2 cents on the deal. I appreciate the help though. Thanks, Josh
The fact of the matter is that they can't get away from fungus in nature either, none of us can. You are breathing in fungus spores right now. Most fungi are beneficial. They are an important part of the nutrient cycling process. If you don't have fungus and bacteria in your vivaria, then you have big trouble. Think of it this way, if you throw a box full of cornflakes out your back door,
something is going to eat those cornflakes. Some of the things that come to eat the flakes may not be desireable. Some things might be okay except the cornflakes have attracted too many of them and they become a nuisance. But when the corn flakes are gone, all those critters will go away, either starve themselves out or just leave looking for food elsewhere. When you set up a new vivarium, it is like dumping a box of corn flakes in a glass box. You have to let the fungi, bacteria, and invertebrate populations adjust to the levels of nutrients that are available so they can settle down into a stable system. Removing the fungus only means that bacteria populations will have to grow even more to take up the slack. If you have nutrients available, something is going to eat them. By allowing the fungi and bacteria to reach a "balance" (it's not really a balance), you create a population of hungry decomposers that are ready to rapidly break down frog poop and dead insects before they have a chance to build up toxic nitrogen levels in the vivarium.