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sharppixy
Stranger
Registered: 02/27/05
Posts: 16
Last seen: 17 years, 2 months
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Confusion regarding terrarium sanitation
#4262264 - 06/05/05 11:48 PM (18 years, 9 months ago) |
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Most of the terrarium guides say that in order to remove CO2 and bring in O2, you "fan" the terrarium. When exposing the inside to the open air though, doesn't that increase the risk for contamination substantially? And if it does, does adding hydrogen peroxide to the moist perilite prevent this contamination? I imagine that the room the terrarium is in should be hosed down with Lysol... One further thing: when prepping a terrarium to have "occupants" (cakes), should it be wiped down with a bleach - water mixture or is just straight hydrogen peroxide from the container fine? Sorry if this has been asked a lot... I couldn't find any definite answer.
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IGnosticAbhorI
Stranger-er
Registered: 11/06/04
Posts: 4,899
Last seen: 10 months, 2 days
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Re: Confusion regarding terrarium sanitation [Re: sharppixy]
#4262283 - 06/05/05 11:54 PM (18 years, 9 months ago) |
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Quote:
I imagine that the room the terrarium is in should be hosed down with Lysol...
THat will cause mutations...don't
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One further thing: when prepping a terrarium to have "occupants" (cakes), should it be wiped down with a bleach - water mixture or is just straight hydrogen peroxide from the container fine?
Alcohol Evaporates....i'd go with it or h202..(hydrogen peroxide)
3mlsof h202 to every 100mls water...
Did I anwser everything...?
-Gnostic
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Quiescence
Intriguer
Registered: 04/25/05
Posts: 315
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Re: Confusion regarding terrarium sanitation [Re: IGnosticAbhorI]
#4262391 - 06/06/05 12:25 AM (18 years, 9 months ago) |
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I second that motion.
No bleach in the tub.. Avoid lysol... just keep the room pretty clean. Clean your hands..
~Quiescence~
-------------------- God raised up the fellow who was relaxed in the company of tax collectors, prostitutes and other outsiders, and went on to say that many of them would be welcomed to God?s banquet table long before those self-righteous people on display at church.
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Chastity_Belt
Unholy livingdead
Registered: 06/03/05
Posts: 188
Last seen: 18 years, 9 months
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Re: Confusion regarding terrarium sanitation [Re: sharppixy]
#4262416 - 06/06/05 12:34 AM (18 years, 9 months ago) |
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Make sure your cakes or jars are fully colonized before you remove them. Once the substrate has been fully colonized, the mycelium is in a pretty good place to be. It secretes enzymes, etc. that hold off other organisms. You can take a cake out and dunk it in a container in the open air. The terrarium doesn't need to be sterile; just keep things clean and you should be okay. But let the cakes/jars fully colonize before you birth them. AFOAF learned this just recently.
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SoopaX
Criminal DrugAnalyst
Registered: 11/12/04
Posts: 1,690
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Re: Confusion regarding terrarium sanitation [Re: sharppixy]
#4262443 - 06/06/05 12:47 AM (18 years, 9 months ago) |
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Quote:
sharppixy said: When exposing the inside to the open air though, doesn't that increase the risk for contamination substantially?
Somewhat, depending on the spore content of the air that you exchange
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And if it does, does adding hydrogen peroxide to the moist perilite prevent this contamination?
Hydrogen peroxide breaks down pretty quickly when warm or exposed to light. Perlite out of the bag has always worked fine.
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I imagine that the room the terrarium is in should be hosed down with Lysol...
Well, yes and no. It's best to keep the room hosting the terrarium as sanitary as possible. This doesn't mean you should spray Lysol and fan the mist into the terrarium. Keep everything clean in the room, mist the air with Lysol or Oust one or two times a day, as general practise. If you keep everything clean in the room, their will be fewer spores or microorganisms in the air. The little bit that do get in should find it hard to set up camp with the air exchange you give it.
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One further thing: when prepping a terrarium to have "occupants" (cakes), should it be wiped down with a bleach - water mixture or is just straight hydrogen peroxide from the container fine?
The worst thing that I can imagine happening to me is a failure due to my lack of preparation, especially when it's just a few minutes of preparation. My general method for cleaning anything (other than objects that require true sterilization, like syringes or scalpels) is to scrub the object with a brush and hot soapy dishwater first. This removes any actual soil, grease, oils, anything nasty like that. Next , use the brush and hot bleach water. You want the bleach to soak for at least 3-4 minutes, so use a rag and keep rubbing all of the surfaces, keeping them wet. After you bleach-sanitize, you can rinse the terrarium out with hot water to get rid of the bleach. I now consider this "sanitized" and almost ready for use. As soon as I'm ready to make it from "empty box" into "terrarium", I spray all surfaces down with rubbing alcohol. I let it sit, wet, as I prepare the stuff that I'll need (wetting the perlite, etc). Then I spray a paper towel with rubbing alcohol and wipe down all surfaces. This should dry pretty quick and you are ready to go.
-------------------- Jackie Treehorn treats objects like women, man
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sharppixy
Stranger
Registered: 02/27/05
Posts: 16
Last seen: 17 years, 2 months
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Re: Confusion regarding terrarium sanitation [Re: SoopaX]
#4265860 - 06/06/05 10:13 PM (18 years, 9 months ago) |
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Thanks for all the responses. I wasn't sure on the peroxide-to-water ratio in the perilte. Most guides reccommend not having cakes in contact with the perilite for at least the first flush, which is a decent idea in case the peroxide level is too high initially and may harm the mycelium. Not that I'm terribly worried about that though; the risk of contamination is more of a concern. The perilite was unfortunately removed from the bag and put in a tupperware container, so it will have to be sterilized I suppose (but by peroxide or baking in an oven?). As for the terrarium, its recently store bought, so it shouldn't need too much sanitation. Bleach water couldnt hurt though. Oh, and there was no intention of dumping jars not 100% colonized in there. I've read up on how that's just asking for horrible contamination.
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SoopaX
Criminal DrugAnalyst
Registered: 11/12/04
Posts: 1,690
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Re: Confusion regarding terrarium sanitation [Re: sharppixy]
#4266072 - 06/06/05 11:04 PM (18 years, 9 months ago) |
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Don't worry about peroxide on the perlite, and don't worry about sterilizing it. Wet it with tap water and you'll be allright.
-------------------- Jackie Treehorn treats objects like women, man
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IGnosticAbhorI
Stranger-er
Registered: 11/06/04
Posts: 4,899
Last seen: 10 months, 2 days
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Re: Confusion regarding terrarium sanitation [Re: SoopaX]
#4266088 - 06/06/05 11:10 PM (18 years, 9 months ago) |
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^ Ditto.
-Gnostic
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