# springtails in isopod culture?



## serial hobbiest (Mar 5, 2017)

Hey everyone. A patch of mold has just sprung up in my starter culture of dwarf white isopods, and I'm wondering (hoping) if it's a good idea to put a few springtails in there to clean it up. 

In case it matters, the culture consists of mostly ficus leaves on top of coconut coir. There's a slice of potato and a piece of cardboard in there too. I was adding a little boiled eggshell to it when I made the discovery. It's the ficus leaves & cardboard that seem to be molding.

Is there any reason not to introduce springtails to it? What other options do I have?

-Thanks!


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## serial hobbiest (Mar 5, 2017)

Really? No one?


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## erikm (Oct 1, 2015)

You can.. but I would instead try to clean the area where you have mold. Introducing springtails is just adding competition for food.


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

You would have to add a lot of springtails to actually make any dent in the mold. 

some comments 

Ed


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## Andrew Lee (Jan 21, 2014)

Ed said:


> You would have to add a lot of springtails to actually make any dent in the mold.
> 
> some comments
> 
> Ed


Just curious Ed, do you think that we have been a little too caught up in the springtail idea because if I do recall correctly, you might have said that springtails aren't even proven to really eat mold and I thought that was pretty interesting. Maybe it was just a wild theory and while we think the mold goes away because of the springtails, in truth it only has to do with the life cycle of the mold which isn't too long. Just a random thought(TBH, I could be blabbing nonsense but I just wanted to give it a shot).


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

Andrew Lee said:


> Just curious Ed, do you think that we have been a little too caught up in the springtail idea because if I do recall correctly, you might have said that springtails aren't even proven to really eat mold and I thought that was pretty interesting. Maybe it was just a wild theory and while we think the mold goes away because of the springtails, in truth it only has to do with the life cycle of the mold which isn't too long. Just a random thought(TBH, I could be blabbing nonsense but I just wanted to give it a shot).


There is literature to show that they do consume fungi, but there has been a bigger assumption that this means that they will feed on all fungi but this isn't the case. As with many other organisms there are feeding preferences and some foods are unpalatable. Much of what is used to feed them isn't consumed directly by the springtails, instead they feed on the bacteria (and some fungi) that are involved in the breakdown of the food item. There is second problem with the assumption is the number of springtails needed to actually consume a set amount of fungi... consider as a rough estimate the tropic webs, basically to significantly reduce the fungi, you need an approximate mass of springtails for the same mass of fungi and as a guess, it would have to be somewhere between 5 and 10%. 

see for example (and associated bibliography) 
Reproductive significance of feeding on saprobic and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi by the collembolan, Folsomia candida - Klironomos - 1999 - Functional Ecology - Wiley Online Library
Klironomos, J. N., E. M. Bednarczuk, and J. Neville. "Reproductive significance of feeding on saprobic and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi by the collembolan, Folsomia candida." Functional Ecology 13.6 (1999): 756-761.

https://www.researchgate.net/profil...ve_enzymes/links/0deec515abc1957375000000.pdf
Berg, Matty P., Mirjam Stoffer, and Harry H. van den Heuvel. "Feeding guilds in Collembola based on digestive enzymes." Pedobiologia 48.5 (2004): 589-601.

Single and mixed diets in Collembola: effects on reproduction and stable isotope fractionation - Scheu - 2004 - Functional Ecology - Wiley Online Library

Scheu, S., and M. Folger. "Single and mixed diets in Collembola: effects on reproduction and stable isotope fractionation." Functional Ecology 18.1 (2004): 94-102.

some comments 

Ed


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## serial hobbiest (Mar 5, 2017)

Ed said:


> You would have to add a lot of springtails to actually make any dent in the mold.
> 
> some comments
> 
> Ed


Well it's working so far. The culture is really small, however- like a tablespoon of coir and a few torn up leaves.
I'm concerned the springtails might outcompete any baby isopods in there, however. Interestingly, the springtails in there remain tiny and attack all the best food. They seemed to devour fresh spinach, although I could have it backwards. A day after putting some spinach in, I checked on it, and saw a swarm of springtails all over some "powdered" spinach. I didn't think springtails could do this- and maybe they didn't- hopefully it was the isopods, and the springtails were just lovin' their poop. I'm pretty sure it's the springtails devouring the fish flake before the isopods get much of a chance, unfortunately.


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## S2G (Jul 5, 2016)

Ed said:


> There is literature to show that they do consume fungi, but there has been a bigger assumption that this means that they will feed on all fungi but this isn't the case. As with many other organisms there are feeding preferences and some foods are unpalatable. Much of what is used to feed them isn't consumed directly by the springtails, instead they feed on the bacteria (and some fungi) that are involved in the breakdown of the food item. There is second problem with the assumption is the number of springtails needed to actually consume a set amount of fungi... consider as a rough estimate the tropic webs, basically to significantly reduce the fungi, you need an approximate mass of springtails for the same mass of fungi and as a guess, it would have to be somewhere between 5 and 10%.
> 
> see for example (and associated bibliography)
> Reproductive significance of feeding on saprobic and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi by the collembolan, Folsomia candida - Klironomos - 1999 - Functional Ecology - Wiley Online Library
> ...


Interesting Info. Thanks for posting


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## S2G (Jul 5, 2016)

serial hobbiest said:


> Well it's working so far. The culture is really small, however- like a tablespoon of coir and a few torn up leaves.
> I'm concerned the springtails might outcompete any baby isopods in there, however. Interestingly, the springtails in there remain tiny and attack all the best food. They seemed to devour fresh spinach, although I could have it backwards. A day after putting some spinach in, I checked on it, and saw a swarm of springtails all over some "powdered" spinach. I didn't think springtails could do this- and maybe they didn't- hopefully it was the isopods, and the springtails were just lovin' their poop. I'm pretty sure it's the springtails devouring the fish flake before the isopods get much of a chance, unfortunately.


It would of been easier just to remove the moldy items, but I don't think it's a huge deal if there's enough space for both. Now your stuck though. Iso cultures have a lot higher chance of mites which iso can handle springtails can't. I wouldn't risk starting a spring culture with any of those. So now there roomates forever more...from my experiences of course.


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## serial hobbiest (Mar 5, 2017)

S2G said:


> It would of been easier just to remove the moldy items, but I don't think it's a huge deal if there's enough space for both. Now your stuck though. Iso cultures have a lot higher chance of mites which iso can handle springtails can't. I wouldn't risk starting a spring culture with any of those. So now there roomates forever more...from my experiences of course.


Well the whole culture was a moldy item. It doesn't take much for mold to spread across a 3" container. It only took a day to spread across my tiny culture, so it was apparent to me I would never win by removing moldy stuff, only to be replaced with fresh stuff which would obviously mold over in a day. I was apprehensive of throwing springtails in at first, but when my breeder informed me she could supply me a culture of purples, I figured, "What have I got to lose?" so I went ahead.

Now I guess it's a game of providing isopod food that the springtails won't touch.


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