# What's this in my Springtail Culture? Look



## Guest (Jun 3, 2007)

*I ran across this maybe a week ago and it puzzles me. I think it's dirt or something but I thought "How could that get in there?" I hope it won't kill my springs or anything, whatever it is.

What do you think?*

*See those dirst specs?*









*Closer*









*Even Closer*


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## UmbraSprite (Mar 2, 2007)

My guess is fungus feeding on whatever you are feeding the springtails...and completely normal.


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## dragonfrog (Feb 16, 2006)

Looks more like mites or eggs to me.
Keep an eye on them. Or better yet, remove them.


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## Guest (Jun 4, 2007)

Do I remove them?


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## OneTwentySix (Nov 11, 2004)

I've got to agree with UmbraSprite. I don't know what they are for sure, but it does look a lot like fungus from what I can see. If it's fungus it should be harmless. I don't believe that that's a mite or mite egg, and even if it is, you'll never be able to remove all of them, and your culture's pretty much done in that case.


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## tyler (Feb 23, 2006)

What are you feeding your springtails? They look like mites of some sort. I know that fishflakes attract tons of these tiny bugs that begin feeding off the food. I got rid of them by using baker's yeast and I'm still getting a "boom" from the the springs. It's kind of hard to tell by the pics because it's burned out - I'll try to get a pic of the mites to compare.


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## tyler (Feb 23, 2006)

I really haven't had them affect the population boom from the springs. They move way too slow and only feed off of the food. Since using baker's yeast, the population of the mites has gone down some. They are a little more peachy than shown - the flash washed them out a bit.

Here they are more individual:









And here they are in the more commonly seen groups:


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## dragonfrog (Feb 16, 2006)

Even though your photo is much better Tyler, close-up, I still think those are mites. They look just like your group shot.


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## Guest (Jun 4, 2007)

I use Collembola food to feed these guys, which are flakes.

What's the best way to get rid of these guys?


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## KeroKero (Jun 13, 2004)

Are the white specks moving? If they are... then the specks are mites. If they aren't, they are probably just fungus.


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## Guest (Jun 4, 2007)

Thanks Kero, I'm pretty sure it's just fungus. I ermoved as much as I could, and hopefully my springs will be thriving again. How can I get my springs thriving by the way?


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## KeroKero (Jun 13, 2004)

I've had fungus totally take over a culture it seems... and it would just go away again... after a massive boom of springtails! Remember these guys eat fungus... you don't want to overload the food and have fungus everywhere, but you don't need a perfectly clean culture either... just hold off feeding until the fungus disapears. Everytime I add new leaves, cardboard, paper towels, the like, I stop feeding the cultures. They will have plenty of eat when the fungus blooms on those things  paper towel = springtail vacation feeder!


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## Guest (Jun 4, 2007)

:x :x :x :x I'm so stupid. As in the last post, I tried to remove any I could :? :lol: . People were debating if they were mites or not, so I went the safe way and removed it all, oh well.

What kinds of food do you guys give your cultures to promote pop. explosions?


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## rbrightstone (Apr 14, 2004)

I use couscous and brewers yeast. Once a month I add some crushed pesticide free leaves from my oak and maple trees in my back yard. I have also used very small portions from beer mash (the remains from brewing beer), and they go crazy for the next week or 2. Use only very small amounts of the beer mash though.


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## Guest (Jun 5, 2007)

I feed them every other day, is this ok?


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## themann42 (Apr 12, 2005)

i get that stuff quite often, and i feed mostly fish flakes and lettuce. it just comes and goes, and it seems like i see it more when i feed more, so i think it's just a fungus. my springs still produce great so i wouldn't worry about it. from the looks of it, it's the same exact stuff i get.


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## stchupa (Apr 25, 2006)

The more often you feed them better. Feed them very little as often as you can. You'll get to the point where you can tell how much they will eat each day once the population steadies.


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## Guest (Jun 7, 2007)

Thanks for the suggestions!


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