# Springtails & shrooms



## Drew (Nov 9, 2006)

I've heard about the booms you get when feeding with mushrooms. I don't know if I'd say boom, but production is definitely up. Also, I am amazed at how quick they make work of the mushrooms. A day or two an d they are all gone.


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## gretchenellie (Aug 7, 2007)

this is interesting, what type of mushrooms are you feeding them?


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## nawth21 (Apr 17, 2008)

gretchenellie said:


> this is interesting, what type of mushrooms are you feeding them?


normal grocery store shrooms, buttom shrooms i think theyre called?


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## IndianaJosh (Jun 20, 2008)

How are you feeding them the mushroom?

Cut up? Blended? Whole? ...


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## Tuckinrim8 (Jul 26, 2007)

i get good results by adding chopped mushrooms, raw pasta, and tropical fish food flakes- about once a week- i try not to use the culture for a few days after adding the food - and i never really have a crash..


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## housevibe7 (Sep 24, 2006)

I also use mushrooms, fish food, and rice on our springtail cultures. Never had a problem with a crash (until one got taken over by these light gray isos .) I also just use the button mushrooms. Most of the time though I just use the stems, because I get them from work and we use the caps. I have thrown them in whole or cut them up, they eat them both ways in pretty short order.


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## gary1218 (Dec 31, 2005)

I also use just the common white button mushrooms.

How much you use depends on how many springs are in the culture. I put in enough to last about a week, which for me works out to about 1/4 mushroom. If there's a piece of mushrooom still left over after a week I'll skip the culture for a week. I think overfeeding the springs leads to problems of the culture starting to get moldy and crash.

On a previous post about feeding mushrooms to springs somebody mentioned having good success feeding dried mushrooms which he ground up a little bit and then sprinkled over the top of the culture.


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## Kender (Aug 15, 2008)

Eep! I was told to sprinkle activated yeast on my spring cultures.... I've had growth in the two cultures I have so I guess it's working. This is my first time culturing springs so I'm eager to hear what you all think.


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## gretchenellie (Aug 7, 2007)

as far as the rice goes, do you place it in the cultures cooked or uncooked?


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## hexentanz (Sep 18, 2008)

I have noticed this too. I recently switched to a shroom/rice cereal combo and now I will need to separate my cultures up in to 3 more containers!


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## housevibe7 (Sep 24, 2006)

I just throw it in non cooked, it molds soon enough anyway.


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## Drew (Nov 9, 2006)

Plain old white mushrooms. I buy one bigger one and cut it up for the 6 cultures I have. Kind of amazing how quickly they eat them.


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## ggazonas (May 11, 2008)

I also use white button mushrooms and fish food. Never tried pasta, do you put it in uncooked?


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## UmbraSprite (Mar 2, 2007)

They feed on the fungus! Decaying materials....fungus....smorgasbord.

I feel my springs these grocery shrooms exclusively.


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## ggazonas (May 11, 2008)

Do they have to be in bigger containers to culture them. I usually just seed my tanks and they seem to spread like wild fire in the tanks. However now i am feeding froglets and small thumbnails them so I never really cultured them before.
I have been getting mine from Josh and keeping them in those small containers, should I place them in larger containers to get to reproduce faster?


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## housevibe7 (Sep 24, 2006)

I don't think they HAVE to be, but you need to keep a closer eye on them. I believe most people use larger culture containers because it takes a much larger population to crash, thus less maintenance.


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## ggazonas (May 11, 2008)

okay maybe I'll try it and see what happens.


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## clifford (Oct 17, 2008)

How large of a larger container would you recommend? I have springtails hanging out in the floating plants in my fishtanks. It never occured to me to try to actively culture them. 

Now that I know they're useful for darts I'll try the mushroom and rice setup.

Thanks!


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## Tuckinrim8 (Jul 26, 2007)

Sarah, i use just plain old uncooked spagetti- i break about 5 five up per culture every couple weeks.. 
i have been keeping springs going in the small (shoebox size) steralyte containers...i use half cocofiber & half organic cactus potting mix. I add mushrooms, fishfood , and pasta rotating each every couple days once i notice prior feeding is gone.. I try to rotate cultures giving each one 3 weeks or so of letting the springs breed without collecting . when i want to catch them - i take really small deli cups and fill them with a quarter inch of water and place a couple pelets of fish food in the cups as well. I make the cups "ground level" and check back in the morning and each cup is full of the little guys- i simply pour them into the desired vivarium for feeding. i have noticed that if i keep the substrate in the cultures too moist those white worms appear and compete with the springs..


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## Boondoggle (Dec 9, 2007)

I noticed that when I had temperate springs, they ate mushrooms at a CRAZY rate with a resulting population explosion. After I had ants invade my springtale container (plastic shoebox w/charcoal) I purchased tropical springs, and they don't seem to care a thing about mushrooms. Whereas before, the mushroom would be gone before it could begin to rot, now it will just rot in place without being touched.

Has anyone else noticed one type of springs liking the shrooms better than another?


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## housevibe7 (Sep 24, 2006)

I just use a rubbermade 5 quart container... just make sure to ventilate every now and then to let the co2 out, otherwise you will kill your culture if left like that for long enough.


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## Link3898 (Sep 18, 2008)

Tuckinrim8 said:


> Sarah, i use just plain old uncooked spagetti- i break about 5 five up per culture every couple weeks..
> i have been keeping springs going in the small (shoebox size) steralyte containers...i use half cocofiber & half organic cactus potting mix. I add mushrooms, fishfood , and pasta rotating each every couple days once i notice prior feeding is gone.. I try to rotate cultures giving each one 3 weeks or so of letting the springs breed without collecting . when i want to catch them - i take really small deli cups and fill them with a quarter inch of water and place a couple pelets of fish food in the cups as well. I make the cups "ground level" and check back in the morning and each cup is full of the little guys- i simply pour them into the desired vivarium for feeding. i have noticed that if i keep the substrate in the cultures too moist those white worms appear and compete with the springs..



what do you do if your culture is loaded with those small white worms? i recently bought a tropical sprintail starter culture from black jungle and every time i put food of any kind in the cultures i can come back in 30 min and the entire surface of the culture is crawling with those worms? are they a problem at all if they get into the vivarium? or will the frogs eat them as well?

-Thanks
Keith


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## ChrisK (Oct 28, 2008)

Link3898 said:


> what do you do if your culture is loaded with those small white worms? i recently bought a tropical sprintail starter culture from black jungle and every time i put food of any kind in the cultures i can come back in 30 min and the entire surface of the culture is crawling with those worms? are they a problem at all if they get into the vivarium? or will the frogs eat them as well?
> 
> -Thanks
> Keith


I got the exact same and my pumilios LOVE those worms, be glad you got them haha


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## Link3898 (Sep 18, 2008)

alright sweet! i was about to toss the culture


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## Tuckinrim8 (Jul 26, 2007)

Keith- I was unable to rid that culture of the worms so i caught as many springs as possible to seed a new culture and i just tossed the wormy one.. i didnt think to try and feed the worms first :/ I have noticed that the worms have appeared when the cultures get too soggy.. anyone esle noticed the same?

Chris


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## ChrisK (Oct 28, 2008)

no mine were in there when i got them just like keith's


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