# How to clean your mite-contaminated springtails



## Pumilo

It doesn't take much for your springtail culture to become contaminated with mites. Mites are everywhere. Mites can be attracted to your cultures and hang out under the lip of the lid just waiting for a feeding. You pop off the top, and inside they drop. You probably won't even notice for a couple of months until they are well established in your culture. This thread will detail ways to clean a culture.
Shown here is an unknown artist's depiction of your typical, invading mite.
*Muh-Ha-ha-haaa!*


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## frogparty

From your pic it seems the way to banish them is to return the one ring to the fires of mount doom from whence it came


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## Pumilo

We are going to start with the following supplies.
1) A clean, sterile culture container and sterile media. I am using a 24 cup Rubbermaid container because it seals very tightly and will help keep our new culture clean. Because it seals tightly, suffocation will eventually occur if we don't ventilate it. I use .3 micron filters, hot glued into the lid for a filter. You can get your .3 micron filter disks here Fungi Perfecti: micron air filters I use hot glue because silicone does not stick well to the rubbermaid container.
2) A large pan with high sides
3) A standard cereal bowl
4) 2 straws, taped end to end
5) rubbing alcohol
6) a couple paper towels
7) whatever you need for your chosen method of harvesting springtails

Thanks to Frogparty for the idea and link for the .3 micron filter disks.


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## Pumilo

Clean your tabletop thoroughly. Clean all your supplies thoroughly. A couple of mites on your supplies or on your table can ruin your efforts.
Fill your cereal bowl about 2/3 to 3/4 full of water. Harvest a large portion of springtails via your chosen method. Here, you can see how I sometimes harvest. I keep a piece a sterile tree fern panel on top of a coco fiber and peat, springtail culture. I hold the tree fern over the bowl of water and tap it rather aggressively with a spoon, or something. In the picture on the last post, you can see the pestle, from a mortar and pestle, that I sometimes use to tap it with. Thanks to James67 and Michael for sharing this method with us.


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## motydesign

what is this un prepared nonsense!?! i am sitting here anxiously awaiting info.... come on doug get it together! its like christmas!

this is my mite cleaning device 









happy friday guys!


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## Pumilo

Here's my harvest. I want to point out the minimum of dirt in our cereal bowl. Dirt means mites and mite eggs. I also want to remind you that if you collected your springtails in your clean area, it is no longer clean. Get a paper towel wet with rubbing alcohol and clean the table again. This part is crucial to success! Clean the outside of the cereal bowl thoroughly with rubbing alcohol. I also carefully clean the inside lip of the cereal bowl. We have to make sure that any mites transferred are IN THE WATER and nowhere else!


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## Pumilo

Carefully set the cereal bowl into the large pan. If you spill a single drop of water you have to stop and clean up the large pan and the cereal bowl with rubbing alcohol again.


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## Pumilo

motydesign said:


> what is this un prepared nonsense!?! i am sitting here anxiously awaiting info.... come on doug get it together! its like christmas!
> 
> this is my mite cleaning device
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> happy friday guys!


Now I'm going to take a break for several hours just to spite Moty! Everybody thank him.


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## Pumilo

Take your straw and blow gently on your springtails. Blowing across at an angle is helpful. What we are doing here is separating the clean springtails from the mites. Springtails are masters of walking on water, while mites seem to get stuck in the top film of the water. 
Remember, you want to blow as gently as possible to facilitate the transfer. If you blow hard enough to transfer any dirt at all, or even the tiniest bit of water, your efforts are in vain.


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## Pumilo

Now you see why we wanted a tall pot to do this in. If you don't have a big enough stew pot, a bucket would suffice. 
Pull the cereal bowl out and set it aside. You can see why we had to be careful that the outside of the cereal bowl was mite-free. If it wasn't, you have already contaminated your culture before you even finished.
Here is a shot of my nice, fully cleaned, harvest of white temperate springtails.


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## Pumilo

Here I've tipped the pot to the side and tapped them down into one pile for you to see.
This is the harvest that I tapped out of ONE 4" x 4" tree fern panel square. Just throwing that in for anybody wondering how well the tree fern panel harvest works.


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## Pumilo

Dump them into your new, sterile culture and feed 100% active bakers yeast. I dumped 2 harvests into this culture so it is started with many thousands of springtails. I fully cleaned the bowl between harvests.
Using the tree fern harvest leaves plenty of springtails behind in the old cultures so I will probably do this a few more times, giving me a new, master culture in no time.
Of course you can continue to harvest out of your old cultures until your new one is producing.
Put your new culture AWAY from your old ones and on a piece of mite paper.

For further information on culturing springtails and isopods, please check out my culturing thread. http://www.dendroboard.com/forum/food-feeding/66991-how-culture-isopods-woodlice-springtails.html

As you may have guessed, I am gearing back up to supply you with some fresh, clean cultures. I want to be ready for when this horrid, cold, wintery crap goes away!


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## Pumilo

Next, let's take a quick look back at how I have cleaned large springtails (Giant Black Tomocerus) in the past. If it seems familiar, I've posted this method before but thought it should go here.
For a large springtail like a Tomocerus, here is what I do. Collect a small amount from your contaminated culture. This will obviously have to include some of the target critters, Tomocerus in this case. It can also include media and the contaminant (springtails, mites, or whatever). Put a lid on it and put it in the fridge for a while. It may take an hour or so before they get sluggish. Now take off the lid and put in the freezer for about 30 seconds to a minute. At this point they will look dead. Quickly pour them onto a refrigerated kitchen plate. You may want to get your wife/girlfriend out of the house for a while before pouring bugs all over her kitchen plates!! Refrigerating the plate gives you longer working time before they "wake up" and start jumping around. I also like to put a couple of refrigerated gel paks under the plate. Using a tiny modelers paintbrush, quickly seperate about 30 of the largest ones. Make sure there are no contaminants in your separated sample. Brush them into your new, sterilized, media. Feed em and close them up tight. You should make several small cultures in case you messed one up and got a few whites in the mix. As you are starting with a small sample, it will show up quickly if you messed one up. Good thing you made 3 or 4!
IMPORTANT Work with only a small portion of the master culture at once! If you get distracted and leave it in the fridge or freezer too long, they will die. You don't want to risk your entire culture.
Once they are producing well and you know they are clean, Dump your old contaminated culture into one of your vivs.
For obvious reasons, this method works best with large springtails like Tomocerus.

A second method I have done with Tomocerus is to harvest some onto a small, clean plate, and put it into my tall stew pot. Wait about one minute till some jump off the plate. If you wait too long, mites can crawl off the plate into your pan so you are only going to harvest a very small percentage this way. Dump your plate back into your old culture and dump the pot into your new, sterile culture. Clean the plate well and repeat.


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## Pumilo

*How to clean your Isopod cultures*

This is a little more time consuming. Put a small pile of flake fish food or whatever food your isopods can't get enough of on top of the culture. Give them overnight to be attracted to it. 
Get a pint sized deli container or some other container and put a damp paper towel on the bottom.
Pull a handful of isopods and media out and put it on the center of a dinner plate.
Using a small modelers paintbrush you can carefully brush your isopods across to the edge of the plate where you will knock them off into the deli cup. This is going to take some time. Don't worry about the babies, just get as many adults as you feel like taking the time to get.
Dump the rest of the plate back into your old culture. You will continue to feed out of the old one until your new one is producing well.
Now put a lid on the deli cup and shake it up a bit. You are trying to knock loose any clinging mites or springtails off of the mites.
Dump the deli cup onto a CLEAN plate. You will have to use your CLEAN modelers paintbrush to knock them off of the paper towel and onto the plate. 
Now prepare another CLEAN deli cup with a CLEAN, damp paper towel. 
Repeat the process. Doing it twice like this just helps to remove any clinging mites or springtails.
When you are done, transfer the cleaned isopods into your new, sterile container. Don't forget to make sure it is tightly sealed and ventilated.


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## 1963 Falcon Hardtop

Doug,

Could you dust the Isopods when in the deli cup to help with removing the mites? Would this be a bad idea?

Bo


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## Pumilo

1963 Falcon Hardtop said:


> Doug,
> 
> Could you dust the Isopods when in the deli cup to help with removing the mites? Would this be a bad idea?
> 
> Bo


That sounds like it would be worth a trial run. Don't do them all at once because I really don't know if it would interfere with their breathing in any way.


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## frogparty

Nice method. What about mites attached to the springtails?


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## Pumilo

frogparty said:


> Nice method. What about mites attached to the springtails?


I would think that whacking the tree fern panel during the initial harvest would knock them loose.


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## beatusb

I pulled giant oranges from a mite infested culture and dusted them with Reptical before putting them in an new clean culture. Its been a few weeks so far and no signs of mites yet.


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## Pumilo

frogparty said:


> Nice method. What about mites attached to the springtails?


OK, I've been thinking about this and an extra couple steps could be even safer and take only a few more minutes.
After the initial cleaning, before you sprinkle the springtails into the new culture, pour them into a clean deli container half filled with water. Put a lid on it and give it a few shakes. Pour it into a second, clean bowl. Give your large pot a quick HOT water rinse or alcohol wipe. Set the bowl inside the pot and use your straw to blow the springtails off again. Now sprinkle them over your new, sterile culture.


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## Ed

Pumilo said:


> I would think that whacking the tree fern panel during the initial harvest would knock them loose.


 
???????????? Why are you assuming the force that the springtail experiences from the whacking is going to be greater than when they jump? And if a mite can cling through a jump why would we expect them to be dislodged from the whacking? 

Ed


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## Pumilo

Ed said:


> ???????????? Why are you assuming the force that the springtail experiences from the whacking is going to be greater than when they jump? And if a mite can cling through a jump why would we expect them to be dislodged from the whacking?
> 
> Ed


I don't think that detritus mites or grain mites would be deliberately clinging to springtails anyway. I would not try to salvage a culture infested with predator mites. Would a grain or detritus mite even have the means to cling onto a springtail through a jump or from whacking the tree fern? I doesn't seem like they would be designed for this. Also, after further thought, I have addressed this concern in my last post. Do you think that shaking them in the water bath and blowing them off again is still not enough?

I know that there are some that say it is very difficult to clean a culture once it has mites but it has to be possible. Aren't springtails generally found in areas that are also perfect conditions for mites to thrive? It stands to reason that wherever original cultures came from, there must have been some cleaning that had to be done. Do you have any better methods that you use Ed? 
I have concerns about buying cultures elsewhere as many of the cultures I've purchased elsewhere were contaminated with other mites, springtails, worms, and even phorrid flies so I am looking into methods of cleaning a culture.


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## james67

excellent write-up doug.

james


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## Pumilo

Pumilo said:


> I don't think that detritus mites or grain mites would be deliberately clinging to springtails anyway. I would not try to salvage a culture infested with predator mites. Would a grain or detritus mite even have the means to cling onto a springtail through a jump or from whacking the tree fern? I doesn't seem like they would be designed for this. Also, after further thought, I have addressed this concern in my last post. Do you think that shaking them in the water bath and blowing them off again is still not enough?
> 
> I know that there are some that say it is very difficult to clean a culture once it has mites but it has to be possible. Aren't springtails generally found in areas that are also perfect conditions for mites to thrive? It stands to reason that wherever original cultures came from, there must have been some cleaning that had to be done. Do you have any better methods that you use Ed?
> I have concerns about buying cultures elsewhere as many of the cultures I've purchased elsewhere were contaminated with other mites, springtails, worms, and even phorrid flies so I am looking into methods of cleaning a culture.


Additionally, the pink springtails I originally got were contaminated with both nematodes and mites. I cleaned them with a simple float and blow. They stayed clean for many months, maybe 6 to 8, before I got careless and they got mites again. If your typical mite's breeding cycle is 30 days, they would not have stayed clean for that long if there were mites clinging to them. I'm trying to provide extra precautions with this method.


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## Brian317

awesome ! Great method, thanks for posting ! hopefully I will never have to use it  (knock on wood)


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## curlykid

wow, this is cool, i may just do this for fun!


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## Ed

Pumilo said:


> Additionally, the pink springtails I originally got were contaminated with both nematodes and mites. I cleaned them with a simple float and blow. They stayed clean for many months, maybe 6 to 8, before I got careless and they got mites again. If your typical mite's breeding cycle is 30 days, they would not have stayed clean for that long if there were mites clinging to them. I'm trying to provide extra precautions with this method.


Depending on the mite species involved, the life cycle can be much shorter (and the population doubling time can be astoundingly short) see http://www.entsociran.org.ir/pdf/jesi/26(2)/Bahrami et al.-388.pdf


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## Ed

Pumilo said:


> I don't think that detritus mites or grain mites would be deliberately clinging to springtails anyway. I would not try to salvage a culture infested with predator mites. Would a grain or detritus mite even have the means to cling onto a springtail through a jump or from whacking the tree fern? I doesn't seem like they would be designed for this. Also, after further thought, I have addressed this concern in my last post. Do you think that shaking them in the water bath and blowing them off again is still not enough?
> 
> I know that there are some that say it is very difficult to clean a culture once it has mites but it has to be possible. Aren't springtails generally found in areas that are also perfect conditions for mites to thrive? It stands to reason that wherever original cultures came from, there must have been some cleaning that had to be done. Do you have any better methods that you use Ed?
> I have concerns about buying cultures elsewhere as many of the cultures I've purchased elsewhere were contaminated with other mites, springtails, worms, and even phorrid flies so I am looking into methods of cleaning a culture.


Hi Doug,

I think we don't have any evidence that they can't cling to the springtails. I would be very hesitent to compare the ecology of what is in effect a monoculture to that of a functioning ecosystem. Keep in mind that the conditions in the culture are probably not quite the same as a selected niche so we don't see the same population dynamics. 

I think the sterile surface tactic is what is going to allow you the best method to get the clean cultures particularly in combination with the alcohol wipedowns. Years ago, I was given some Folsomia cultures that were heavily infested with nematodes. I simply set-up new cultures and seeded them by flooding the container and blowing the springtails off the surface into the new container. I need to dig around and see if I can find my pictures of shelves covered with mite sheds and mites that originated from old cultures. 

Ed


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## Pumilo

As an additional precaution I have begun taking the initial harvest (uncleaned) and dumping it through a funnel, into a Gatorade bottle half full of water. You can shake this up pretty good with no apparent harm to the springtails. The springtails pop right back up to the surface.
I pour this into the cereal bowl, set it in the pot, and blow the springtails off. 
Clean and alcohol wipe the funnel and pour the cleaned springtail harvest into a second, clean, Gatorade bottle to repeat the process so they are double washed, and double blown off.

If anyone has any other other, possibly better methods, please feel free to post them here.


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## Dane

Pumilo said:


> I don't think that detritus mites or grain mites would be deliberately clinging to springtails anyway. I would not try to salvage a culture infested with predator mites. Would a grain or detritus mite even have the means to cling onto a springtail through a jump or from whacking the tree fern? I doesn't seem like they would be designed for this. Also, after further thought, I have addressed this concern in my last post. Do you think that shaking them in the water bath and blowing them off again is still not enough?


If the mites aren't parasitizing the springs, why go to so much trouble to remove them? Wouldn't they be acting as a secondary feeder item (in minute numbers) within a single culture space?


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## Pumilo

Dane said:


> If the mites aren't parasitizing the springs, why go to so much trouble to remove them? Wouldn't they be acting as a secondary feeder item (in minute numbers) within a single culture space?


While they don't seem to become a pest in isopod cultures, some types can eventually out-compete the springtails for food. I've seen and heard many people's stories about mites eventually almost completely taking over springtail cultures.
Since I have supplied more than a few cultures to the hobby, and will be offering cultures again soon, I do everything I can to make sure you are getting clean monocultures.

You can continue to feed out of mite contaminated cultures. I find Pumilio seem to especially relish mites. But because they can overrun a culture, I feel it is best to try to start your new cultures with as clean a culture as you can possibly get.


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## eldalote2

motydesign said:


> what is this un prepared nonsense!?! i am sitting here anxiously awaiting info.... come on doug get it together! its like christmas!
> 
> this is my mite cleaning device
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> happy friday guys!


Doug,

I posted this on my animals facebook page and this picture was the first thing to come up as the articles thumbnail. I definitely left it, as it is epic. 

Thanks for the great tutorial "bug man"!


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## Pumilo

Update: The "float and blow" method I used on the Pinks has produced clean cultures with no signs of mites. 
This method, A second method I have done with Tomocerus is to harvest some onto a small, clean plate, and put it into my tall stew pot. Wait about one minute till some jump off the plate. If you wait too long, mites can crawl off the plate into your pan so you are only going to harvest a very small percentage this way. Dump your plate back into your old culture and dump the pot into your new, sterile culture. Clean the plate well and repeat. was a complete failure.


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## hypostatic

I've cleaned a pink springtail culture that was CX with folsoma by picking up the charcoal pieces from the culture, shaking it a bit, and then blowing the pinks into the new culture. The folsoma seem much more ready to jump I've noticed (which is why they CX other cultures so easily), so most of them will jump off when you pick up a charcoal piece, and the rest will do it when you shake or tap it a bit. The pinks hold onto the substrate more readily, so most of them will still be on the charcoal, and they can be blown onto the new culture.

For best results the new culture should be set up some distance from the CX so the folsoma don't have a chance to jump into the new culture.


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## JPccusa

*Summary*

I created this summary for myself and thought "why not share it?" 
Please read carefully through this entire thread in order to understand this summary. I hope Pumilo does not mind me summarizing his well written procedure.


> Materials:
> 1) A 24 cup Rubbermaid container with .3 micron filters, hot glued into the lid.
> 2) A cereal bowl
> 3) An empty Gatorade bottle (or similar)
> 4) A large pan with high sides or bucket
> 5) 2 straws, taped end to end
> 6) Rubbing alcohol
> 7) Paper towels
> 8) Whatever you need for your chosen method of harvesting springtails
> 
> Procedure:
> 1) Clean your tabletop thoroughly. Clean all your supplies thoroughly.
> 2) Harvest a large portion of springtails via your chosen method.
> 3) Dump the harvest through a funnel into a Gatorade bottle half full of water.
> 4) Shake well! (no harm to the springtails, which pop right back up to the surface)
> 5) Pour this into a cereal bowl
> 6) Clean everything again, including all parts of the cereal bowl not occupied by water + springtails
> 7) Place cereal bowl inside the pot
> 8) Gently blow the springtails off on a 45 degrees angle
> 9) Clean the funnel and Gatorade bottle with boiling water
> 10) Repeat steps 3 to 8 (for extra safety)
> 11) Dump them into a new, sterile culture and feed 100% active baker’s yeast.
> 12) Put the new culture away from your old ones, preferably on mite paper.


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## Pumilo

I don't mind at all, nice summary. The only thing I would change is step number 9. I'm not sure a Gatorade bottle will survive boiling. I just use really hot tap water. It's only a "surface kill" we need, there is nothing it has to penetrate.


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## goof901

and also, make sure you have a pot/bucket that is at least 18" tall because i tried it with my 12" pot and ended up losing half my springs cuz they all jumped out...


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## Pumilo

goof901 said:


> and also, make sure you have a pot/bucket that is at least 18" tall because i tried it with my 12" pot and ended up losing half my springs cuz they all jumped out...


The pot I use is only 9.5 inches tall and I lose virtually zero springtails in the process. The only ones lost are still left in the cereal bowl, because if you blow hard enough to get every last one, you may be blowing hard enough to lose some water. Mites could be in a single droplet. I use a cereal bowl to hold the water and springs while I GENTLY blow them off. If you have to blow that hard, you are doing something wrong. Is your cereal bowl almost completely filled with water? If not, I can see how you would have to blow that hard.


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## goof901

Pumilo said:


> The pot I use is only 9.5 inches tall and I lose virtually zero springtails in the process. The only ones lost are still left in the cereal bowl, because if you blow hard enough to get every last one, you may be blowing hard enough to lose some water. Mites could be in a single droplet. I use a cereal bowl to hold the water and springs while I GENTLY blow them off. If you have to blow that hard, you are doing something wrong. Is your cereal bowl almost completely filled with water? If not, I can see how you would have to blow that hard.


I had the bowl filled all the way up. I think I was just blowing too hard. Half is an overstatement... Maybe 100-200 springs lost... And I did not have any straws at home... That could have been the reason for my loss of springtails...


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## Pumilo

goof901 said:


> I had the bowl filled all the way up. I think I was just blowing too hard. Half is an overstatement... Maybe 100-200 springs lost... And I did not have any straws at home... That could have been the reason for my loss of springtails...


Try the straw next time. I use two, taped together so I can get it right down in there. It allows you to blow very gently and very controlled, because it is "focused" so well, and you can put it half an inch away from the group of springs you are blowing towards.


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## dartfanatic

So this all makes perfect sense to me, and seems to be a very effective way of ridding your culture of mites. But in the beginning you said that mites will get in almost inevitably anyways. So is this a temporary solution? Or is there a method in which to prevent the problem?

I generally do not stack my cultures, line the container or shelving with felt sprayed with either prevent o mite, jurraso mite, and some other store bought pet safe mite killer. Somehow they still get in no matter how careful I am. Does this mean we just have to do both (your method and spraying the shelving with mite spray)?

I generally put the media in the container first, microwave it , let it sit, then fill it with springtails by picking up small amounts of springs at a time. 

I just wonder if there's a way to rid your cultures of mites forever?


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## goof901

mites will eventually get in. Three things are certain in life... Mites, death, and taxes


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## Ed

dartfanatic said:


> Somehow they still get in no matter how careful I am. Does this mean we just have to do both (your method and spraying the shelving with mite spray)?


The food you feed them is also often a source of mites.. 




dartfanatic said:


> I just wonder if there's a way to rid your cultures of mites forever?


Unless you are fanatical about cleanliness then no.. 

Ed


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## JPccusa

Pumilo said:


> The only ones lost are still left in the cereal bowl, because if you blow hard enough to get every last one, you may be blowing hard enough to lose some water. Mites could be in a single droplet. I use a cereal bowl to hold the water and springs while I GENTLY blow them off. If you have to blow that hard, you are doing something wrong.


Ha! Good to know. I was trying to save every single one, but some would just swirl around and around, stuck to the water film I guess. I seriously tried for over 2 hours (in each step). 



Pumilo said:


> Try the straw next time. I use two, taped together so I can get it right down in there. It allows you to blow very gently and very controlled, because it is "focused" so well, and you can put it half an inch away from the group of springs you are blowing towards.


May I add bendable straws? That way you can control the angle of air impact (sounds so scientific!), and you have to move your head much less. 

Well, I gotta say my first mite-cleanup was fun. I will keep harvesting daily and adding to the clean culture. 

By the way, I bought some scouring sponges made out of plastic (see here). Could those be used to harvest? The tree fern flat looses some pieces in the process. I imagine those would be cleaner. Some comments (Ed style ).


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## Pumilo

Yes, I do use bendable straws.
Instead of adding your next harvest to the same, new culture, consider starting a second culture. Multiple cultures are always safer in case of a crash, or mites getting in. It's easier to throw out a bad culture and restart from your other, clean culture, than to do the whole cleaning process.

As far as the cleaning sponges go, make sure they are not pre-soaped. Give them a try and let us know. It may be more difficult to get a really big harvest. A 4" square piece of tree fern can hold thousands of springtails and it is firm so you can whack it pretty hard to get the springs to let go.
Still worth a try, though. Let us know how they work.


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## JPccusa

Pumilo said:


> As far as the cleaning sponges go, make sure they are not pre-soaped. Give them a try and let us know. It may be more difficult to get a really big harvest. A 4" square piece of tree fern can hold thousands of springtails and it is firm so you can whack it pretty hard to get the springs to let go.
> Still worth a try, though. Let us know how they work.


Tried the sponge method... as you foresaw, not as good. Springs were either skeptical or unable to really get into the sponge fibers. Was able to collect a few dozen, but nothing compared to the tree fern method.


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## Pumilo

Ahh, well, worth a try. Thanks for reporting back on it.


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## pdfCrazy

There is always a way. I was thinking of using a small minifridge to keep my springtail cultures in. Remove the cooling/chilling equipment and just seal off ventilation/cooling vents. The only requirement would be a good quality door seal. It dosnt have to be 100%, but I would think this would go a LONG way to making sure mites cannot even get close to your cultures.


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## Athena

pdfCrazy said:


> There is always a way. I was thinking of using a small minifridge to keep my springtail cultures in. Remove the cooling/chilling equipment and just seal off ventilation/cooling vents. The only requirement would be a good quality door seal. It dosnt have to be 100%, but I would think this would go a LONG way to making sure mites cannot even get close to your cultures.


You might be able to use this method to "incubate" your cultures so that they produce a little more quickly for you. You could use lots of things as a heat source. A UTH might work nicely. Just a thought


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