# Show off your springtail cultures!



## chinoanoah (Mar 9, 2009)

I'm hoping to find out what my springtail culture should look like!

Thanks.


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## frogparty (Dec 27, 2007)

It should look like culture media with a sh*tload of springtails in it


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## chinoanoah (Mar 9, 2009)

Do you have a photo definition of a "sh*tload of springtails"?


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## frogparty (Dec 27, 2007)

I've never taken a pic of them, but I'm talking thousands and thousands for your standard sized culture. You should be able to blow over the top and see hundreds jump


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## gary1218 (Dec 31, 2005)




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## chinoanoah (Mar 9, 2009)

Wow. What do you feed, and how often?


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## frogparty (Dec 27, 2007)

That's a photo of a sh*tload of springtails right there


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## curlykid (Jan 28, 2011)

imagine letting a frog in there!


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## motydesign (Feb 27, 2011)

Currently have six tropicals that are all about equally producing
Then two pink cxs so here they are.

So here is a turface sub I started with








A month or so later








Then tropicals kept on charcoal only fed yeast
















Pinks on leaf litter


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## billschwinn (Dec 17, 2008)

My Springtails look like that only in my dreams! Can you detail your care?


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## motydesign (Feb 27, 2011)

Really bill???? 
Hmmm well I will take that as a compliment, but super simple.
RO water only obviously hard wood charcoal, feed dry active yeast as needed, store at 73F. Then wait 
I see people adding rice and this and that and mushrooms.... All full of mites and junk. Yeast is clean they thrive on it and that's all I need.


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## billschwinn (Dec 17, 2008)

motydesign said:


> Really bill????
> Hmmm well I will take that as a compliment, but super simple.
> RO water only obviously hard wood charcoal, feed dry active yeast as needed, store at 73F. Then wait
> I see people adding rice and this and that and mushrooms.... All full of mites and junk. Yeast is clean they thrive on it and that's all I need.


I always have used tap water and the substrate is coco fiber. Would these facts explain bad production? I do keep at your suggested temps and feed just the yeast. Why only RO water? What bad effects can tap do? Thanks Bill


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## curlykid (Jan 28, 2011)

don't mean to butt in, but tap a lot of times has chlorine added to kill organisms in the water, thus hindering the health of springtails.


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## motydesign (Feb 27, 2011)

curlykid said:


> don't mean to butt in, but tap a lot of times has chlorine added to kill organisms in the water, thus hindering the health of springtails.


Yes chlorine is always added to municiple water. initially the chlorine is bad but that goes away in a few days, how ever it is the mixture of heavy metals that concerns my cxs, Cu and Zn Are not things I enjoy mixed in with the springtails (as you add water and it evaporates concentrations only increase.)
Modeling the effects of binary mixtures - PubMed Mobile


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## yomamafat (Jun 16, 2010)

Here are my cultures - I threw in the isopods just for fun.

I hope you guys enjoy it!

http://youtu.be/K70hiyV2ibg

Happy Frogging!


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## motydesign (Feb 27, 2011)

Now you have to share what a "custom powder mix" consists of? Probably won't use it, but I am curious hahhaha


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## fieldnstream (Sep 11, 2009)

Here is one of mine, ABG with lots of crushed oak leaves, some coco cubes, and a few larger chunks of charcoal. I feed mushrooms (mircowaved), Omega One fishfood (color flakes and veggie), and yeast. I only use spring water. This pic was taken after seeding 6 tanks today (there are usually way more springs).


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## kgb (Aug 2, 2011)

Most tap water also has a PH around 10-12.. which is very alkaline and terrible for insects and amphibians... RO is closer to 7 which is neutral. Even bottled spring water has a pretty high PH.


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## yomamafat (Jun 16, 2010)

Moty: Sorry, I can't give it all away. I'll just say the final product is a sterile dry mix of mushrooms, rice, yeast, vegetables, etc. The same mix is used for all of my isopod or any springtail culture with very good results. The powder mix is 100% natural and almost 95% digestible by the microfauna the remaining 5% acts like a matrix and becomes almost like another substrate layer. Everyone's got their own custom powder mix anyway, and by the looks of the posts, they do just fine with practically anything.


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## vjf000 (Jun 14, 2008)

i have never had a springtail culture look that amazing


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## motydesign (Feb 27, 2011)

yomamafat said:


> Moty: Sorry, I can't give it all away. I'll just say the final product is a sterile dry mix of mushrooms, rice, yeast, vegetables, etc. The same mix is used for all of my isopod or any springtail culture with very good results. The powder mix is 100% natural and almost 95% digestible by the microfauna the remaining 5% acts like a matrix and becomes almost like another substrate layer. Everyone's got their own custom powder mix anyway, and by the looks of the posts, they do just fine with practically anything.


I don't understand what you have to loose by sharing this recipe? You're not a vendor selling a mix , so you have no monatary gain in it. The point of the forum is to share our husbandry skills with fellow froggers. It's a shame you feel you have to keep secrets here.


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## yomamafat (Jun 16, 2010)

Moty, I thought you weren't going to use it anyway...LOL. I'm still tweaking the recipe...I got it mite free and isopods/springtails love it, but I would also like to test the long term stability of the culture being fed just the custom powder mix. 

You'll be one of the first to know. 

Happy frogging!


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## Pumilo (Sep 4, 2010)

motydesign said:


> Really bill????
> Hmmm well I will take that as a compliment, but super simple.
> RO water only obviously hard wood charcoal, feed dry active yeast as needed, store at 73F. Then wait
> I see people adding rice and this and that and mushrooms.... All full of mites and junk. Yeast is clean they thrive on it and that's all I need.


Nicely put Moty. Usually when people are saying that they don't get good production with yeast, it's because they are comparing a tiny pinch of yeast, to a big old hunk of mushroom. Put a .3 micron filter in your lid so your cultures can breath, without the risk of getting mites, and start drastically increasing your yeast feeding. Your culture should have yeast in it at all times. If you feed twice a week and when you open it up for your next feeding, it is out of food, then you are not feeding enough.



yomamafat said:


> Moty: Sorry, I can't give it all away. I'll just say the final product is a sterile dry mix of mushrooms, rice, yeast, vegetables, etc. The same mix is used for all of my isopod or any springtail culture with very good results. The powder mix is 100% natural and almost 95% digestible by the microfauna the remaining 5% acts like a matrix and becomes almost like another substrate layer. Everyone's got their own custom powder mix anyway, and by the looks of the posts, they do just fine with practically anything.





motydesign said:


> I don't understand what you have to loose by sharing this recipe? You're not a vendor selling a mix , so you have no monatary gain in it. The point of the forum is to share our husbandry skills with fellow froggers. It's a shame you feel you have to keep secrets here.


Once again, nicely put. Posting up on here that you have a secret and you are not going to share it is a mistake. DB encourages a free exchange of information. Deliberately announcing that you have secret methods that you will not share is going to spread bad will. Very uncool.


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## yomamafat (Jun 16, 2010)

Wow, by popular demand...it's pretty easy: 1. Dry mushrooms, 2. Dry Rice, 3. Dry yeast, 4. Fish Food, 5. Dehydrated Frozen Suckatash? (Thaw - then put in a dehydrator). Grind up and feed...enjoy!!!

Sorry if I offended anyone. Enjoy my youtube channel...I tend to share a lot there.

Happy Frogging!!!


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## Pumilo (Sep 4, 2010)

yomamafat said:


> Wow, by popular demand...it's pretty easy: 1. Dry mushrooms, 2. Dry Rice, 3. Dry yeast, 4. Fish Food, 5. Dehydrated Frozen Suckatash? (Thaw - then put in a dehydrator). Grind up and feed...enjoy!!!
> 
> Sorry if I offended anyone. Enjoy my youtube channel...I tend to share a lot there.
> 
> Happy Frogging!!!


Cool, thanks! I never thought of using Sucatash. You haven't had any mite problems from the fish food, mushrooms, or rice?


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## zBrinks (Jul 16, 2006)

I've used rice for years, and it does not seem to attract mites like other grains.


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## yomamafat (Jun 16, 2010)

Heat sterilize the whole thing at 170 degrees for 1 hour. 

Happy Frogging!!!


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## Pumilo (Sep 4, 2010)

yomamafat said:


> Heat sterilize the whole thing at 170 degrees for 1 hour.
> 
> Happy Frogging!!!


Ahh, now that I have considered doing. You could also experiment with dry baby rice cereal and dry baby oatmeal cereal if you sterilize. Those have both been used successfully with isopods.


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## billschwinn (Dec 17, 2008)

kgb said:


> Most tap water also has a PH around 10-12.. which is very alkaline and terrible for insects and amphibians... RO is closer to 7 which is neutral. Even bottled spring water has a pretty high PH.


I guess I am lucky, my Tap Ph usually runs 7.5 .


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## frogparty (Dec 27, 2007)

I don't know where you are living where tap water runs that basic. Tap water usually runs between 7 and 8. Ph 12 is extremely basic.


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## kgb (Aug 2, 2011)

Milwaukee WI. It runs basic. Fact.


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## Pumilo (Sep 4, 2010)

kgb said:


> Milwaukee WI. It runs basic. Fact.


OK but that is certainly not the norm. While the Environmental Protection Agency does not actually regulate the PH of drinking water, they recommend that it is between 6.5 to 8.5. You must have an abnormally high amount of Alkaline minerals in your water supply.


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## PeanutbuttER (Jan 1, 2011)

kgb said:


> Milwaukee WI. It runs basic. Fact.


But not *that* basic. Fact.



"pH Median: 7.55 Range: 7.2-7.9"
http://city.milwaukee.gov/ImageLibrary/Groups/WaterWorks/files/2010WaterQualityBasicsforHobby.pdf


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## frogparty (Dec 27, 2007)

Exactly. DRANO has a pH of 12!


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## Pumilo (Sep 4, 2010)

PeanutbuttER said:


> But not *that* basic. Fact.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Yeah, I couldn't help but look that up too. Bleach also has a PH of 12. Throw your PH test kit or probe away. It is waaayyy off!!


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## Raf (Feb 20, 2010)

> Wow, by popular demand...it's pretty easy: 1. Dry mushrooms, 2. Dry Rice, 3. Dry yeast, 4. Fish Food, 5. Dehydrated Frozen Suckatash? (Thaw - then put in a dehydrator). Grind up and feed...enjoy!!!


A lot of ingredients...I keep it simple and feed with premium eggfood. Don't feed too much, don't make it too wet and use bark as substrate. Simple and effective.


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## phytotelmata (Oct 20, 2011)

Where are you guys getting .3 micron filters? Also, how much of the lids should be converted to the filter? Thanks


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## frogparty (Dec 27, 2007)

I was the originator of that tek as far as I know, and I buy 0.2 micron autoclave safe filter disks at Fungi Perfecti: the finest mushroom products for home and garden, farm and forest, people and planet


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## frogparty (Dec 27, 2007)

I usually cut about a 2"x2" hole in whatever lid I'm using and silicone a piece of filter over the hole


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## DragonSpirit1185 (Dec 6, 2010)

frogparty said:


> I was the originator of that tek as far as I know, and I buy 0.2 micron autoclave safe filter disks at Fungi Perfecti: the finest mushroom products for home and garden, farm and forest, people and planet


this would make them easier to find lol. I had to go through the site to find them lulz 
Fungi Perfecti: micron air filters


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## Pumilo (Sep 4, 2010)

I've been telling of the benefits of the .3 micron filters in my springtail/iso thread. That is indeed, an idea I got from Frogparty. I had problems with them sticking to some of my containers using silicone so I switched to hot melt glue gun and had no further issues.
Thanks Frogparty!


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## R1ch13 (Apr 16, 2008)

Hey all, 

Here is a very rough video of what my Springtail cultures typically look like at around a month old. As you can see in the video the Springs are all the way through the substrate to the bottom of the tub but if I keep them on the wetter side or flood the culture I get that lovely mass of white we all look for! 

I personally keep my Springtails in unventilated take away containers, I open the tub to either feed or to feed out of at least every second day so gassing is not an issue.

I feed all of my Springs solely on Readybrek/Instant oats, which I put in a hot oven for as long as I can without burning it in a bid to kill off any possible mite eggs etc

The entire surface of the culture gets a light sprinkle of this every second day, which a well producing population can easily devour.

Springtail Culture - YouTube

Best regards,
Richie


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## chinoanoah (Mar 9, 2009)

Pumilo said:


> I've been telling of the benefits of the .3 micron filters in my springtail/iso thread. That is indeed, an idea I got from Frogparty. I had problems with them sticking to some of my containers using silicone so I switched to hot melt glue gun and had no further issues.
> Thanks Frogparty!



So...Using a .3 micron filter will give 0% chance of suffocating a culture?


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## frogparty (Dec 27, 2007)

Correct.'it allows for gas exchange but no bacteria, spores or mites


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## Pumilo (Sep 4, 2010)

chinoanoah said:


> So...Using a .3 micron filter will give 0% chance of suffocating a culture?





frogparty said:


> Correct.'it allows for gas exchange but no bacteria, spores or mites


When you get your cultures really cranking, they can suffocate, particularly right after a feeding. I lost several springtail cultures overnight before I started using Frogparty's .3 micron filters.


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## frogparty (Dec 27, 2007)

You can use the filter disks for fly culture tops too by the way, as long as you use mason jars for your cultures like I do. The disks are designed to fit wide mouth mason jars


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## frogfreak (Mar 4, 2009)

frogparty said:


> You can use the filter disks for fly culture tops too by the way, as long as you use mason jars for your cultures like I do. The disks are designed to fit wide mouth mason jars


Do you have any pics of them being used with the mason jars. Great idea BTW!


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## frogparty (Dec 27, 2007)

Yeah on my computer...which is dead  I'll try to take some new ones on the iphone


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## frogparty (Dec 27, 2007)

I quit using plastic years ago in favor of dishwashable, reusable, recyclable glass jars. Plastic never held up well enough for me, and I love the glass jars


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## frogfreak (Mar 4, 2009)

frogparty said:


> Yeah on my computer...which is dead  I'll try to take some new ones on the iphone


Cool! Thanks.


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## curlykid (Jan 28, 2011)

so are these the cylinder shaped things used for air filters? or are they similar to coffee filters?


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## Pumilo (Sep 4, 2010)

curlykid said:


> so are these the cylinder shaped things used for air filters? or are they similar to coffee filters?


Fungi Perfecti: micron air filters The white discs labeled synthetic filter discs.


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## curlykid (Jan 28, 2011)

ahh i see. thanks.


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## phytotelmata (Oct 20, 2011)

What size containers are you guys using for these cultures?


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## Pumilo (Sep 4, 2010)

phytotelmata said:


> What size containers are you guys using for these cultures?


http://www.dendroboard.com/forum/food-feeding/66991-how-culture-isopods-woodlice-springtails.html


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## crank68516 (Aug 30, 2010)

I have access to 2.5 micron paper filters at work would these work?


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## Pumilo (Sep 4, 2010)

crank68516 said:


> I have access to 2.5 micron paper filters at work would these work?


If they are just paper, I don't think they would hold up to the high humidity.


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## chinoanoah (Mar 9, 2009)

Pumilo said:


> When you get your cultures really cranking, they can suffocate, particularly right after a feeding. I lost several springtail cultures overnight before I started using Frogparty's .3 micron filters.


CO2 is heavier, so won't it settle on the bottom and eventually suffocate them? (No matter what the ceiling of the container is, open or closed) 

How does that work?


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## Pumilo (Sep 4, 2010)

With a tightly sealed container and no vent, I have lost several cultures. With a tightly sealed container and using a vent, I have never lost a one.


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## frogparty (Dec 27, 2007)

because you allow for the exchange of gas. As long as there is a way for equilibrium to be reached, it will be. Its gas law stuff bro, high school chemistry. you arent going to be creating gas differentials in so small of a space when there is a way for equilibrium to be reached.


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## chinoanoah (Mar 9, 2009)

frogparty said:


> because you allow for the exchange of gas. As long as there is a way for equilibrium to be reached, it will be. Its gas law stuff bro, high school chemistry. you arent going to be creating gas differentials in so small of a space when there is a way for equilibrium to be reached.


You're already over my head, bro  

Thanks for the tips.


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## frogparty (Dec 27, 2007)

NO WORRIES. The filter is able to let gases flow through basically unhindered, while being tight enough to block almost all solid particulate matter. It won't block all viruses, but it does work for all bacteria and spores and definitely multicellular arachnid life foms.


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## R1ch13 (Apr 16, 2008)

I'll admit I've lost 1 or 2 cultures from not using any venting on the tubs.

This was near the beginning of the year when I got lazy and they went days without airing out.

The funny thing is, right now I am bogged down with college work and they are lucky if they get opened and aired out once and week and I am having no problems.

The only significant difference I observed when I lost them was how wet the soil was, now a days I keep them alot drier and am yet to come across gas related crashes.

Saying all this, adding vents is the way to go... I'm just too lazy and dont have the time to cut hole upon hole out of my tubs then silicone mesh etc to them.

Regards,
Richie


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## Froggyplush (Oct 28, 2011)

ive got mine on cowboy charcoal ive got one real good one the other not so much why i dont know any ideas


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