Coconut Fiber Climbing Background

[sage dragon]

can i silecone some of the coconut fiber sheet to the back of the tank/ or do i need to remove it regularly? i dont mind regluing it every month or so, will that be ok? i plan on stteing it above the sand surface and piling rocks up so the crabs can climb up to it. also should i glue the rocks together so they dont shift? read glue as silecone.

[Alma]

really, mine has never molded I've been using the same pieces for about a yr. I still have some left over that I've never used. I mist it with saltwater, the crabs tear it up so it's becoming part of the substrate now.

[eloise13]

can i silecone some of the coconut fiber sheet to the back of the tank/ or do i need to remove it regularly? i dont mind regluing it every month or so, will that be ok? i plan on stteing it above the sand surface and piling rocks up so the crabs can climb up to it. also should i glue the rocks together so they dont shift? read glue as silecone.

People have had trouble with it developing mold. Even if it didn't start molding, it would eventually rot. Silicone, if done correctly is permanent, so I believe that it would be a bad idea.

[sage dragon]

it would be a few lines of silicone that i could strip off with a razorblade.

[eloise13]

I just think there could be easier ways to attach it. Have you tried 3M hooks?

[wodesorel]

I adopted hermits that came in a 10 gallon where someone had used a very tiny piece of velcro to attach the cocomat to the glass. It seemed like that worked well.

[Alma]

So after reading this thread I'm wondering. Why exactly does the coconut fiber climbing background mold? I've have mine over a year, and nothing. I just want to make sure it doesn't mold now. I don't keep it in the back as a climbing background, I've cut it up and done stuff with it. I check it weekly and there has been no mold.

SO what can be the factors leading up to the molding?

[wodesorel]

No air flow. When you place it against the glass you trap moisture where there is no air movement and it becomes a perfect place for mold to grow. That and having surfaces in your tank just a little too wet all the time. It can be hard in some tanks to get that happy medium of being moist enough for the crabs, but not moist enough for mold to grow.