What's this in my drainage layer? Should I worry?

[LtHoneybun]

Straight forward question. I have a bioactive enclosure. My buggies are dairy cows, powder oranges, and springtails. There's these small fuzzy balls in my drainage layer and I was wondering if it was something I should clear out? My first thought is mold but I mainly just want to know if this is a bad thing. My first attempt at establishing a bioactive enclosure didn't take. This is my second attempt and it was successful, thus I don't want to become vulnerable or hurt my snake.

[Bogertophis]

Be patient for an answer- not so many here doing bioactive.

[LtHoneybun]

Thanks for letting me know. I was hoping there'd be more people into bioactive now that it's getting more accessible.

[Bogertophis]

Some that said they were doing bioactive also don't post much, so?

[Malum Argenteum]

It is a fungus. Dart frog keepers have presumed that it is Leucocoprinus birnbaumii. It won't really hurt anything, and is very common especially in drier enclosures, such as those "bioactive" enclosures that are run dry enough that they do not need a drainage layer (if you're not removing water periodically from the drainage layer, then your enclosure does not need a drainage layer).

There's a fair amount of internet rumor circulating about this fungus, especially in but not limited to its growth on tree fern fiber (especially TF from New Zealand), and I don't find much in those rumors plausible or find them to agree with my experience and informal testing. You could remove the fungus, but there is no reason to do so, and if the species finds conditions there to its liking it will come back.