# Springtail Breeding



## TDK (Oct 6, 2007)

Would some of you that have been successful breeding Springtails post some photos and a description of your setup with your food and feeding schedules? I had 4 containers going that have survived for a year and all have crashed in the last week. I had some in leaves, some in sphagnum and 2 setup using coco chips. I don't know what happened but all disappeared.


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## TDK (Oct 6, 2007)

Anybody want to pitch in?


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## MichelleSG (May 1, 2010)

The cultures get toxic and will die if left in the same container. I started mine with just charcoal and water. Every once in awhile I'd pour some of the water and springs off into a new container. Eventually I had so many springtails I had to switch from those little Tupperware containers to shoe box sized. I set up the shoe box sized ones with about 1/2 inch if coco fiber in the bottom and then poured all of the water with springs into them. I added more water to the Tupperware container to rinse it out and poured it into the shoebox too. I then added more fresh water to the tupperware container so the left over springs in there could re-bloom. Now I have so many springs I'll be giving them away for the cost of shipping when the weather cools. 
Also, all I feed are store bought mushrooms. I open all of the containers every 3 days minimum for air flow. The CO2 will make them produce slower.
If you are in need of more springs let me know, I can still ship in this weather but it costs more because I send them in a syrofoam shipper with ice pack. I don't charge for the springs or the box, just the cost of shipping.


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

TDK said:


> Would some of you that have been successful breeding Springtails post some photos and a description of your setup with your food and feeding schedules? I had 4 containers going that have survived for a year and all have crashed in the last week. I had some in leaves, some in sphagnum and 2 setup using coco chips. I don't know what happened but all disappeared.


Were these the white Folsomia springtails? These springtails secrete pheremones that over time will cause the cultures to crash. 

Ed


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## TDK (Oct 6, 2007)

I just ordered 4 varieties from Dart Frog Mega Store to try to get things rolling again. I also sifted through my compost pile and found what looks to be gray ones and a larger 1/8" black ones I'm going to try to propagate as well. P.M. what your cost, variety and quantity is because I may need to order from you--and thanks.


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## TDK (Oct 6, 2007)

Ed said:


> Were these the white Folsomia springtails? These springtails secrete pheremones that over time will cause the cultures to crash.
> 
> Ed


Ed to be honest I don't remember. They were white and maybe about 1/16" at largest. I didn't keep the container they were in. I went back to my email and I ordered them from 
J L Exotics back in 11-2008 and didn't see any reference to if they were tropical or temperate. If I had to guess--tropical.


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

They may still have been Folsomia. I know from the literature (and experience that thier cultures need to be restarted every so often (In my experience it depends on the substrate). For me, I've gotten the best production and longevity from a culture using a mixture of charcoal and turface. I'm starting to think that one of the limits in the cultures has to do wiith minerals needed for the exoskeletons which is provided by the ion exchange of the turface. 

Ed


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## TDK (Oct 6, 2007)

I have a bag of Turface. I used it when I set up my tanks for the Melanophryniscus. I mixed it with leaves and peat. At one time the Springtails in those tanks were booming but when I checked earlier this week to see if I could find some "seed stock" I didn't have any luck. I'll include some in a couple of the new containers I setup.


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## Eric Walker (Aug 22, 2009)

I have been useing a compost type for all of my isopods.

firbark oak 
oak leaf 
coco fiber 
milled moss
a bit of peat, not much


I feed mainly mushrooms but found lately my isos LOVE cucumber skins with a bit of the meat on them still. wow they went nutz. 

only springs I have had trouble with were the black, culture never took off and died out. 


all are kepted in steralite or tuperware containers


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## TDK (Oct 6, 2007)

How do you harvest?


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## MichelleSG (May 1, 2010)

When they were kept on charcoal I just poured them off and replaced some of the water. Now that I keep them in coco fiber I just use a spoon and scoop out some coco fiber and plop it in the viv.


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## Lance (Sep 8, 2008)

Ed said:


> They may still have been Folsomia. I know from the literature (and experience that thier cultures need to be restarted every so often (In my experience it depends on the substrate). For me, I've gotten the best production and longevity from a culture using a mixture of charcoal and turface. I'm starting to think that one of the limits in the cultures has to do wiith minerals needed for the exoskeletons which is provided by the ion exchange of the turface.
> 
> Ed


Ed when you say minerals for the exoskeleton I had a thought. What if we were to supplement proteins into there diet? Are bodies need proteins to rebuild damaged tissues/ bone. I can most certainly see proteins needed to build an exoskeleton. Maybe adding a protein additive will produce a better amount of springs? Any thoughts? 
and I think ill try a few batches of test cultures to see if theres a difference.


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

Lance said:


> Ed when you say minerals for the exoskeleton I had a thought. What if we were to supplement proteins into there diet? Are bodies need proteins to rebuild damaged tissues/ bone. I can most certainly see proteins needed to build an exoskeleton. Maybe adding a protein additive will produce a better amount of springs? Any thoughts?
> and I think ill try a few batches of test cultures to see if theres a difference.


Protein is needed to form the structure for the chitin (In fact, chitin of many feeder insects is much more digestiable than what was once thought as the level of protein in the chitin was underestimated. 
As for needing to add more protien it depends on what you are feeding your springtails...

I already offer mine a good source of protein.. I use live yeast as my food source for the springtails.


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## Lance (Sep 8, 2008)

I was thinking adding brewers yeast to blended up mushrooms


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## Eric Walker (Aug 22, 2009)

TDK said:


> How do you harvest?


my white temperate cultures are booming and I have a few much larger ones as well. I never have a problem getting a bunch. but with the cucumber and mellon, leave the rine and skin on and they will not eat that. you can just pick that up as it will most likely be covered in them.

now my dwarf white tropical woodlice works the same but I only can pick out small ones that way. I have to go sifting with a spoon to get to the bigger ones. 


on a side note. I just took about 5 smaller tupperware spring cultures that were in the same substrate that had been booming for some time and dumped them into a much larger tub with 3 times the fresh media to keep them from possibly crashing and they seem to be going well. 





Lance said:


> I was thinking adding brewers yeast to blended up mushrooms


dont blend , just cut into chunks. and I use bakers yeast not brewers
alternate each one every other feeding


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## TDK (Oct 6, 2007)

Since my springtails crashed and I needed an immediate small food item for my Melanophryniscus toadlets I began sifting my compost pile using a window screen and large Tupperware tub. I place the screen on top of 2 tubs and cover the screen with compost and let sit for a few hours and what little compost and bugs that passes through the screen I put into a smaller container and dump that small amount of screened compost into a hand held flour sifter and place over a cup and let the springtails and bugs pass through. After that I place a paper towel inside the toadlet container, with the corners pulled up to form a cup to hold the compost, and dump those contents onto the paper and let the small bugs crawl off the paper so that I'm not adding compost, that sticks to the toadlets, into the tank. Here are photos of some of the springtails. The first photo is of a 1/4" cream colored one and the second photo is of a couple of gray ones on the container. I've taken both varieties of springtails and will try to start new cultures. 

What's in your back yard?


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## TDK (Oct 6, 2007)

I still hope that some of you will post a few photos of the Springtail setups and show how well their system is producing both from coco husk and charcoal or other medium. Thanks


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## MichelleSG (May 1, 2010)

I can't post pictures since I can only upload from my desktop and it has no antivirus protection on it yet. It's my photo storage computer basically so I don't want it jacked by a virus so I stay off of forums with it.
My cultures look like a plastic shoe box with wet coco fiber in them. The springtails are so prevalent you can see the little white things even through the top.
The small ones I have in charcoal look like chunks of charcoal in about 1 inch of water. The springs are again, booming all over the charcoal and floating on the water, easily seen.
I harvest from the charcoal by just pouring them off and replacing the water I've removed. I usually pour off into the coco fiber cultures though, not into my tanks. 
To put them into tanks I take a large spoon and spoon piles of coco fiber infested with springs into the substrate. The springs tend to hop off though so you have to get the container close to the tank or they get everywhere. That can be a side affect of the fact that my cultures grow like mad though, a less prolific batch might be less unwieldy.


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## Zombie Frawg (Aug 31, 2010)

Ed - How much Turface are you putting in with the charcoal? I'm picking up my bag tomorrow (still haven't gotten to the store!) and going to work on some more springtail cultures as well. BTW, bean beetles are absolutely booming, Ken can't believe how noisy they are. 

Lori


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

About 50/50 with the charcoal. Make sure to soak the charcoal first so it is easier to set up. 

Ed


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