# Springtail safe haven in viv?



## mattmcf (Sep 24, 2006)

Im about to setup a new viv and was wondering if anyone has ever tried to make a section in the false bottom a safe haven for spring tails? my idea is to create a box out of glass with a removable screen top. the box (more of a rectangle) would run the length of the tank on one side and would be completely sealed off except for the top. the screen top would be removable and covered with leaves so it is not visible. It would sit even with the substrate so not to be too obvious. The idea is to have the spring tails breed in this container and be able to escape through the screen and into the viv. But be small enough that the frogs cannot get in. The top of the container will be removable to reseed and feed the culture. Anyone ever done this? Anyone see any problems with this? I have done something similar in a reef tank for pods and it was successful... Feel free to add/change/comment on my ideas =)


----------



## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

There have been several discussion on ideas similar to this here and elsewhere, I think Mark has summed them up best here 
http://www.dendroboard.com/forum/general-discussion/25846-self-sustaining-terrariums-depth.html

Ed


----------



## Scott (Feb 17, 2004)

Without reading Ed's link... here's what I do.

I take a Film Canister and make an indentation in the soil.

I think fill up the indentation with leaf cuttings - up to the top.

Whenever I add springs to a tank - I add them to this area. Some inevitably end up down at the bottom of the hole. 

You'll often find the frogs gathered around the hole - looking for springs to pop out.

s


----------



## fraser2009 (Jan 4, 2009)

i have orderd a small exo and am considering something of this nature, first i was gona have a bit glass cut so the there is a section the frogs can not enter giving me an are about 30 cm by 30 by 5 deep so basicly id have a wall open at top and bottom with the false bottom letting me pile the hole area with something not sure yet woodchip/leaf litter carcoal or all three not sure then just pile food ontop and the springs should move to the food and be able to breed in the area so they are protected with a large surface area to breed in .


----------



## earthfrog (May 18, 2008)

Something I do is sprinkle a tiny bit, so little as to be unnoticable, of cornmeal into dark corners of the viv or lift up a bit of tank furniture and sprinkle it there. This seems to help the springtail population stay up and running.


----------



## georgiekittie (Jan 27, 2009)

My springtails actually are living, and possibly breeding, in my false bottom. They are living on the surface tension of the water.


----------



## georgiekittie (Jan 27, 2009)

I'd just like to give a quick update.

My springtails are no longer living in my false bottom. Somehow the frogs managed to eat them all (which is a surprising feat, as I had a huge overpopulation). I tried the film canister method, and it works somewhat. I dug around in it today and I do still have springs in there, but apparently they aren't getting anywhere else in my viv because they're not keeping it very clean. I might try the cornmeal thing next.


----------



## Dancing frogs (Feb 20, 2004)

In my experience, nothing works better than a rotting log.
Find a piece of driftwood that doesn't have much weight left to it (which indicates it will rot fairly easy) and put it in the viv...best if you also have woodlice in there.


----------



## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

georgiekittie said:


> I'd just like to give a quick update.
> 
> My springtails are no longer living in my false bottom. Somehow the frogs managed to eat them all (which is a surprising feat, as I had a huge overpopulation). I tried the film canister method, and it works somewhat. I dug around in it today and I do still have springs in there, but apparently they aren't getting anywhere else in my viv because they're not keeping it very clean. I might try the cornmeal thing next.


Springtails will help somewhat with janitor duties but are not going to be very efficient in keeping it clean. You will probably have some better luck with one of the faster breeding isopods.. 

If you still have springtails in the substrate and not visible on the surface then the predation levels are high enough that the springtails can't fully colonize the surface. This is one of the problems that can occur with smaller enclosures. 

Ed


----------



## Boondoggle (Dec 9, 2007)

Ed said:


> If you still have springtails in the substrate and not visible on the surface then the predation levels are high enough that the springtails can't fully colonize the surface. This is one of the problems that can occur with smaller enclosures.
> 
> Ed


I have yet to keep a springtail population going in anything under a 40 gallon tank, and that one is heavily planted. PDF's are pretty efficient hunters.


----------



## jgibeau (Aug 19, 2008)

I saw the best dartfrog viv at IAD, and they had an attached springtail breeding area, full of rotting leaves and grass and dirt and what have you. It was kept from the frogs by way of a large piece of impassable tree fern panel.

The spring tails bred at an incredible rate, and inevitably came through the panel, and the imitator that were in the viv went after them with a relish, slowly moving over the panel constantly looking for the insects. All it would take is a little imagination to come up with a variation of this to adapt to your vivarium. Maybe silicone it or prop it up diagonally in the back, with a large amount of dead leaves under it, mixed with cous cous, or fish food. This always produced so many springtails, I used to worry that there were too many, and they could post a danger to the froglets. I doubt it, but I worried, that was how many there were.


----------



## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

jgibeau said:


> I saw the best dartfrog viv at IAD, and they had an attached springtail breeding area, full of rotting leaves and grass and dirt and what have you. It was kept from the frogs by way of a large piece of impassable tree fern panel.
> 
> The spring tails bred at an incredible rate, and inevitably came through the panel, and the imitator that were in the viv went after them with a relish, slowly moving over the panel constantly looking for the insects. All it would take is a little imagination to come up with a variation of this to adapt to your vivarium. Maybe silicone it or prop it up diagonally in the back, with a large amount of dead leaves under it, mixed with cous cous, or fish food. This always produced so many springtails, I used to worry that there were too many, and they could post a danger to the froglets. I doubt it, but I worried, that was how many there were.


That was the famous Ben Eiben's compost tank. There are a lot of different methods for variations on that theme.. if you search the frognet archives, you can find comments by Lars on using plastic baskets (the ones used to grow aquatic plants) filled with leaf compost. 

Predation density is still going to have an effect on the population because if the rate of flow out of the refugia is too high the population in the refugia will still crash. 


Ed


----------

