# How you know if you have a vibrant microfauna population.....



## stemcellular (Jun 26, 2008)

You don't feed your pumilio for over two weeks and come back to them even fatter than before....seriously.


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## Philsuma (Jul 18, 2006)

I know!

There's almost no such thing as "too much" bugs


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## Scott (Feb 17, 2004)

Ray - they were just less stressed out without your face around. 

s


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## stemcellular (Jun 26, 2008)

Probably, they are all huge, froglets included....I started tossing bananas in tanks a few months ago and I've noticed that the microfauna has stayed incredibly high, and the frogs have gotten incredibly fat...


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## Philsuma (Jul 18, 2006)

Scott said:


> Ray - they were just less stressed out without your face around.
> 
> s


Oh snap...no he did't


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## JimO (May 14, 2010)

While you were gone they brought out the chips, dip and beer and had themselves a party.

Seriously, though, since seeing your posts from the trip to Peru, I've been adding a lot more leaf litter and the springtails are thriving. I also took Phil's advice and still add some every day in my Cristobal viv with the froglets. I think I lost one of the froglets - he was having trouble with one of his front legs and couldn't move around very well. The others are all fat and happy at 6-8 weeks OOTW.


stemcellular said:


> You don't feed your pumilio for over two weeks and come back to them even fatter than before....seriously.


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## skylsdale (Sep 16, 2007)

Bananas and orange peel work wonders. Then you get nemerteans and it blows the entire thing to crap.


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## Scott (Feb 17, 2004)

nemerteans: those things are nasty. First time I saw one it reminded me of a miniature sand worm (from Dune).


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## skylsdale (Sep 16, 2007)

They are totally harmless to frogs and eggs...but creepy as all getout, and they decimate the microfauna population in a tank.


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## Scott (Feb 17, 2004)

I saw one rear up (no kidding) and nail a pinhead cricket one time.

s


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## Philsuma (Jul 18, 2006)

I think Scott had "Qhat worms"


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## packer43064 (Nov 30, 2010)

A Dune reference!!!! Oh yeah!!!!!


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## JimO (May 14, 2010)

Will the frogs eat them? Otherwise, the only alternative is CO2 treatment and starting over.


skylsdale said:


> They are totally harmless to frogs and eggs...but creepy as all getout, and they decimate the microfauna population in a tank.


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## skylsdale (Sep 16, 2007)

JimO said:


> Will the frogs eat them? Otherwise, the only alternative is CO2 treatment and starting over.


Nope, the frogs do not eat them.

I have yet to find a case where someone has successfully exterminated them using CO2--the eggs seem to be able to outlast the treatment. There are some possible ways to fight them using predatory nematodes, but not enough has been done yet. Certain isopods seem to reduce (but not decimate) populations: Nemerteans

The only method that seems to completely work is dismantling the enclosure, cleaning it very thoroughly, and either completely sanitizing all materials or using brand new ones to set it back up.


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## stemcellular (Jun 26, 2008)

I've seen a few different species eat them off the glass. I had a few in my mantella laevigata tank until the isopod population exploded....no more predatory worms, just an ungodly amount of isopods.


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## JimO (May 14, 2010)

I've been trying to get a variety of springs established in my pumilio vivs. The problem I have (actually it's not a bad problem) is that the tropical white springs produce probably 100 to 1 when compared with globular blues, pinks, and blacks. I've seeded my tanks with two types of glob blues, pinks, and blacks, in addition to the whites, but it seems that they can't possibly compete for food with the whites. I haven't looked too closely, but it seems that I only find the white springs in the leaf litter.

I've been trying to get some isos going, but I've tried three times and the cultures didn't survive shipping. I'm frog sitting for someone who has a small starter culture of dwarf whites and he has graciously offerred to split it with me, but there aren't many in there and I don't know how fast they reproduce.

All this talk about predatory worm, millipede, and other infestations, I've gotten a bit paranoid about putting anything in my vivs without boiling/bleaching/baking it first.


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## oddlot (Jun 28, 2010)

JimO said:


> I've been trying to get a variety of springs established in my pumilio vivs. The problem I have (actually it's not a bad problem) is that the tropical white springs produce probably 100 to 1 when compared with globular blues, pinks, and blacks. I've seeded my tanks with two types of glob blues, pinks, and blacks, in addition to the whites, but it seems that they can't possibly compete for food with the whites. I haven't looked too closely, but it seems that I only find the white springs in the leaf litter.
> 
> I've been trying to get some isos going, but I've tried three times and the cultures didn't survive shipping. I'm frog sitting for someone who has a small starter culture of dwarf whites and he has graciously offerred to split it with me, but there aren't many in there and I don't know how fast they reproduce.
> 
> All this talk about predatory worm, millipede, and other infestations, I've gotten a bit paranoid about putting anything in my vivs without boiling/bleaching/baking it first.


Isos are great to have.They do take a bit of time to establish but are really easy!Sometimes after they are shipped they don't look alive but you would be surprised.My first starter culture that was shipped to me I had thought they were dead,but I let them sit for a couple days and noticed some life. There is a sticky in the feeder section that is very helpful.

Lou


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