# Springtails for mold control in terrarium - noob



## flyingSquirrel

Currently I only have terrariums (no animals).

I've had some mold breakouts lately and it's been a huge pain and is killing my moss and small plants. Since the tanks are nano (8x12"), I don't have room for fans in them and I can't open them up too much or the plants dry up (I already nearly killed my Asplenium holophlebium this way)

I've heard about springtails / microfauna, but it's all new to me. Hope you don't mind the questions...I want to make sure I know what I'm getting into here...


Do springtails only eat mold or will they eat dead vegetation, wood, etc?
Will they eat tender plants?
Will they die if I don't put in some kind of food?
Do they need leaf litter or can they just live in cracks, moss, etc?
Will they escape a tank with a front glass door and crawl around my room?
I know there are tiny ones and giant ones..what would be the best species / size of fauna for an 8x12" nano tank?
Do they crawl upward or only stay in the substrate?

Thanks a ton, you guys are the greatest!


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## Scott Lantz

Most tropical are small, white or pink. They mostly just eat mold and decomposing matter. They don't stray far from the substrate, die outside of the tank quickly, and don't need additional food if you have mold or decomposing matter to consume.

That said, you should not have out of control mold in a vivarium. It usually clears up after a few weeks in a new terrarium. If it doesn't, you likely have too much moisture in your substrate. When you squeeze the substrate, does water wring out? Can you provide specific details on the composition of your substrate? Do you have a drainage layer?


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## Entomologist210

You could also get some isopods as well. They come in a variety of aesthetically pleasing colors and patterns, and will also help eat up unwanted fungus and detritus.


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## serial hobbiest

flyingSquirrel said:


> Currently I only have terrariums (no animals).
> 
> Do springtails only eat mold or will they eat dead vegetation, wood, etc?


Springtails commonly consume fungal hyphae and spores, but also have been found to consume plant material and pollen, animal remains, colloidal materials, minerals and bacteria.
http://www.nhm.ac.uk/resources-rx/files/35feat_springtails_most_abundent-3056.pdf


> Will they eat tender plants?


To my knowledge, no, at least not living plant tissue. I have springtails in my isopod culture, & whenever I feed spinach, the springtails quickly devour much of it.


> Will they die if I don't put in some kind of food?


Highly unlikely. The population should be self regulating. For instance, if you introduce some to your moldy terrariums, the population will likely grow over time. As the population grows, and your mold is consumed, the food becomes scarce, so the population dies back, then as any mold recovers, so will the springtail population. This is only my take on their use, I'm no expert, but we continually culture them outside the vivarium to grow high populations, which we continually add to the vivarium, because we want to keep food scarce for them- that means things stay as clean as possible as the springtails will gobble up anything they can.


> Do they need leaf litter or can they just live in cracks, moss, etc?


No, although the leaf litter is good for providing them a continual food source. As long as there's food & moisture, they're good. Sounds like there's no shortage of either in your terrariums.



> Will they escape a tank with a front glass door and crawl around my room?


Only if the humidity in your room is somehow higher than in your terrarium. Otherwise, they'll absolutely stay put where all the food and moisture is. Any escapees will quickly dry up and die.


> I know there are tiny ones and giant ones..what would be the best species


The best species are the ones you can get your hands on  


> Do they crawl upward or only stay in the substrate?


When climbing upward suits them, they will. When my springtails cultures were still clean & fresh, they never climbed the sides of the containers. But after pouring water out of the culture, it leaves some scum behind on the sides of the containers, and it's not long before they're climbing up there. 


> Thanks a ton, you guys are the greatest!


You're welcome. If/ when you acquire some, do be sure to grow & maintain a culture. It's super easy to do; just charcoal and water in a container, and feed them yeast. To move them from the culture to the terrarium, just flood the culture- they'll all float, and you can pour them in, or blow them off the surface, or slurp them up in a turkey baster...


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## Pumilo

I love most of Serial Hobbiest's answer. I'd like to simplify one point. As far as what springtails eat, they eat anything organic that is beyond "decomposing". I'm talking about beyond decomposition, and rotting to the point of liquefying. 

Isopods, on the other hand, can eat solid foods, like fruits and veggies. They don't have to wait for it to rot. Toss a chunk of banana squash in your viv or culture, and they will begin eating as soon as they find it. *I believe* that when decomp starts, it may trigger more of a feeding response. Understand that last sentence is based on observation alone, but I've grown a bug or two in the past.
Even in a perfectly healthy vivarium or terrarium, there is always a fallen leaf, or something decomposing in your viv. Your isopods, as I've observed, would prefer to eat decomposing materials. 
Therefore, they are totally safe around your plants, right? Wrong. We have also established that isopods are capable of eating fresh, unrotted veggies. If they can eat a live veggie, they can eat live plants. Absolutely, some types will turn on your plants if they are starving to death.
I've heard more than a few reports about giant orange isopods turning on certain plants. I've also witnessed it in my thumbnail vivs. When I say "certain plants", what I mean is they pick the tastiest one, and proceed to wipe out every plant of that style. Be real nice if that happened to be ficus pumila (creeping fig), or something like that. That was never my experience. My isopods used to have expensive tastes. Once they had established in my thumbnail vivs, they ate every jewel orchid in my collection...right down to the ground.

In my opinion, Giant Orange isopods, and quite probably some of the other larger isos, are unsuitable for your viv. You would be creating "the perfect storm". Stock a viv with decomp issues. Population grows to match the available rotting foods. You have zero animals to consume some of the adults and keep them in check. The result is an unchecked population of big, hungry, isopods, and their food supply has just disappeared. They can either drop dead, or turn on your plant collection. It's not a difficult choice for them.


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## flyingSquirrel

@ Doug, thank you

What I gather from your post is that isopods would be a bad choice for my terrarium, especially since I grow only very micro plants which are tender and vulnerable to the slightest damage.

This is good to know, because I was about to order some isopods.

For a long time, I have noticed some extremely small bugs in my tanks, which are silver and shiny. I thought they were springtails, and after close inspection and research, I confirmed they are a Tomocerus species of springtail. They are about 1/32" to 1/16"

I have noticed that they are all over the tank, including the very top, which is where most of the mold is. It's good to know they climb all over and get where I need them. But obviously they are not effective enough at cleaning up the mold, because it does spread still.
*
My next question is this:*

Do you think it's worth putting another different species of springtail in my tanks? Would a species other than Tomocerus help / be more effective? Are there springtails which are larger than the Tomocerus? Will the two species interfere with each other?

I'm trying to determine what my next move should be as far as microfauna.

Thanks again!

p.s. I am planning on creating an external fan chamber to create a closed-system of air circulation, therefore creating air movement to reduce mold, while overcoming the problem of not being able to mount a fan inside the nano tanks. I have ideas already for this and would say I am rather creative and handy at building custom things - should be fun, and hopefully effective.


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## S2G

Some more springs couldn't hurt I think (I only have temperates, but they do nicely). I would wait on Pumilo to reply on this though.

I doubt they're going to accomplish what you're wanting though going off what I've read. It sounds like you have ventilation, but have you thought about running a fan over the top of the vents (passive ventilation)? You may already be doing this, but I figured I would ask. I know your planning the fan build. A passive vent fan running on timed intervals can do wonders. Even with vents my tanks would be stagnant without them. I start at around @15min every 3hrs then adjust from there. I personally don't run internal fans/or equal until tanks get in the 55gal range. 

What does it smell like?


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## serial hobbiest

flyingSquirrel said:


> But obviously they are not effective enough at cleaning up the mold, because it does spread still.
> *
> My next question is this:*
> 
> Do you think it's worth putting another different species of springtail in my tanks? Would a species other than Tomocerus help / be more effective? Are there springtails which are larger than the Tomocerus? Will the two species interfere with each other?


Interesting that springtails showed up on their own. I wonder if you have a temperate species, being from Seattle & all, or a tropical species you moved in with one of your plants. I can't answer your question with any certainty, however, it seems apparent you need a few gajillion more springtails to do the cleanup if mold is growing faster than the springtail population. Why not trap some and start a culture? Just a dish of charcoal and water and moistened yeast on top will do the trick. Once you've got a little swarm all over the yeast, slap a lid on it. Remember that not all molds are consumed directly by the springtails, but in many cases they merely feed on whatever is breaking down the mold as it dies. So if that's why the mold in your terrarium is outgrowing the springtails, then improving ventilation will probably do more for you, but _perhaps_ a different species, or genus even, of springtail may be willing to munch that mold directly. It certainly wouldn't hurt to try a few. I know Doug is/was raising some black species of Tomocerus he described as being eating machines...

I should clarify what I said about feeding my isopods spinach. It _*appears*_ the springtails were devouring it. What I see is like somebody took a sandblaster to a spinach leaf, and a swarm of springtails all over the green mess left behind. I suppose the sandblasting was actually performed by the isopods, and the springtails are just after their droppings. That would be more likely the case.


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## Pumilo

I only meant to warn you off the larger isopods. I've personally never witnessed any live plant eating by dwarf whites, or dwarf purples, and my in-viv isopod populations were very high in numbers.

I mix and match microfauna all the time. In a culture, one will always out-compete the others, but in a properly made viv, there should be enough space, and enough varied conditions and microclimates to support multiple populations. I used to have my silver springtails, along with whites and pinks, in every thumbnail and pum viv. I also had dwarf white isopods, and dwarf purple isopods in every viv.

In reality, neither springtails, nor isopods, eat mold. Some may eat a bit, and only of some types. What we are really doing is trying to eliminate the decomposition. The decomposition brings your mold into play. Isopods will go primarily for dead items starting to decompose, while your springtails want their meals to be rotted to the point of being liquified. Both of them have the potential to out compete the molds, for the available decomposing food. Once your populations get high enough, they can remove decomp before mold has a chance to mar your beautiful jungle.
Theoretically, either springtails, or isopods, should be able to get mold issues under control, unless your viv has serious issues (no airflow, no vents, too much moisture, way too much food input, lots of dying plants...these types of things can make the cycle harder to control).
Springtails have the reputation of doing a better job, and directly eating the mold, because they reproduce many, many times faster than isopods. That gets your population up to the point it can control your mold, much faster than slow breeding isopods. Springtail populations can boom in weeks, or even days, while isopod cultures can take months to start cranking out the bugs. Additionally, isopods like their feed a bit fresher, or NON-liquified. Springtails and mold both feed where it's nastiest. That can make for conditions that APPEAR as if the springtails are eating the mold, while in reality, they are trying to eat up that nastiest line of decomp. 
I mean, if you see cleared, mold free, beautiful vivarium up to a certain line, then you see a field of mold, with hundreds of springtails lined right against that same line, what else are we supposed to think? It looks like they are eating the mold, but they are simply starving it out. 
Neither one eats the mold. It just dies and goes away.


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## Pumilo

Don't forget making sure other means of control are being used properly. More ventilation slows mold. More powered air flow controls mold. If a leaf falls, no biggie, but if you kill a plant and leave it, that's food. That's fuel for more mold. Overfeeding flies to your frogs also leads to a high level of decomp material.


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## flyingSquirrel

*Small update*

In my grow tank, I have some tiny plastic deli cups with moss, filmy ferns, etc. I was looking in the deli cups with a magnifying glass and noticed that I have several other species of springtails in there. One of the cups is really populated.

I decided to try spreading these guys around in my other tanks. So I took some of the wet sphag that has the springtails and put little bits of it here and there in my tanks, trying to place them in spots with conditions that were similar to the delicup.

Guess we'll see if they take hold.

BTW it's pretty amazing (and fun) to look around in tanks and plants with a magnifier. It's incredible what goes on in there beyond the naked eye. I have seen predatory mites, miniature millipedes, and other cool stuff. It's also nice to look at moss, liverwort, flowers, etc with the magnifier.

I am going to have to get out the macro equipment soon...


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