# Odd charcoal smell....



## Enlightened Rogue (Mar 21, 2006)

So I just received 2 springtails cultures from a vendor here. I seriously did not see one springtail in the first culture and there was about 5 in the other. Now, this is not my first rodeo and I will give them some time, although I`m not getting my hopes up.
My real question is the charcoal has a smokey aroma to it. I`ve gotten plenty of charcoal cultures that had no scent at all. This charcoal smells like a damn campfire. Is the normal, and yes I have contacted the vendor.

John


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## poison beauties (Mar 1, 2010)

Sounds like it may not have been boiled or soaked very long to have that kind of smell.


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## Pumilo (Sep 4, 2010)

I don't ship mine on charcoal as I find it is hard on the springtails during shipping. It shakes around and crushes a bunch of them. Don't throw them out though, as there are likely surviving babies and it should eventually bounce back.


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## frogfreak (Mar 4, 2009)

I can't help but wonder if they are on something like this> | Two Trees Products 100% Natural Mesquite Lump Charcoal

I've never had charcoal that has an odour.


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## BR5 (Dec 7, 2009)

I use cowboy charcoal from Lowe's for springtails and ABG mix, no odor ever noticed.
Brian


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## varanoid (Jan 21, 2011)

Never had any odor to my cultures either. Perhaps they tried to make their own charcoal by putting it in a campfire\bonfire or something?


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## Enlightened Rogue (Mar 21, 2006)

It`s really pretty strange. I`ve gotten charcoal cultures from them before ( I think this will be the last time) with no odor. It seriously smells like the burnt wood in my fireplace.

John


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## Pumilo (Sep 4, 2010)

Enlightened Rogue said:


> It`s really pretty strange. I`ve gotten charcoal cultures from them before ( I think this will be the last time) with no odor. It seriously smells like the burnt wood in my fireplace.
> 
> John


I know who you could try...


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## jacobi (Dec 15, 2010)

Pumilo said:


> I know who you could try...


The Bug God! At this rate you'll have an entire religion in a few years 

Jake


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## goof901 (Jan 9, 2012)

jacobi said:


> The Bug God! At this rate you'll have an entire religion in a few years
> 
> Jake


bug AND glass god


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## suztor (Aug 14, 2011)

I'm pretty new to this buuuut. I've noticed that my cultures boom when I put a 1/2 inch x 1 in diameter broccoli stump in there. 

Might help salvage the smokey springtail culture?

sent from my incredible...mind


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## frogface (Feb 20, 2010)

John, when my Lowe's was out of Cowboy Charcoal, I went to Walmart and got their store brand 100% stuff. It had a *very* strong smell compared to the Cowboy Charcoal. I had to soak it for ages to get the smell to subside. Didn't notice any problems with the bugs, though.

Maybe your seller had to use an 'off brand'?


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## jacobi (Dec 15, 2010)

Unless its a flavoured charcoal, which I doubt if it was from a vendor but who knows, it probably wasnt burned for long enough or at a high enough temperature to completely burn away the "wood". I forget the correct term. Organics? Whatever. If that's the case its fine. 

Jake


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## Enlightened Rogue (Mar 21, 2006)

Well, whatever the reason is I can tell you I will not be buying springtails from this vendor again.
After complaining I received 2 replacement cultures that were EXACTLY like the first 2, about 3 springtails in each one and charcoal that smells like a campfire. In the garbage they went.

John


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## Pumilo (Sep 4, 2010)

Personally, I love charcoal springtail cultures for my own use. I love how easy they are to harvest. If I just need a few, I can grab a couple larger chunks of charcoal and tap the springtails off of them. (tap them off with a spoon or the handle of a butterknife, NOT on the edge of the viv or you are transferring mites from in the viv to your charcoal and then to your culture) Need a big harvest? You can flood the culture and collect a huge amount at once.
Charcoal cultures, however, do NOT ship well. There is nothing you can do about the way our shipping companies treat them. The charcoal shifts around too much and kills many of the springtails. I won't ship any of my cultures on charcoal.


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## Enlightened Rogue (Mar 21, 2006)

Ya know, I don`t ask for much people. When I spend my money to buy springtails I would like to at least see a few of them in the culture.

Doug, I hope you don`t mind me usuing your name.
A few days ago I received 4 cultures from Doug that were shipped on leaf litter. There were so many springtails and isopods they were crawling on my hands when I opened them.
Live and learn.

John


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## Pumilo (Sep 4, 2010)

Enlightened Rogue said:


> Ya know, I don`t ask for much people. When I spend my money to buy springtails I would like to at least see a few of them in the culture.
> 
> Doug, I hope you don`t mind me usuing your name.
> A few days ago I received 4 cultures from Doug that were shipped on leaf litter. There were so many springtails and isopods they were crawling on my hands when I opened them.
> ...


Not a problem John. I wish everybody would put their first name down in their signature.


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## djone2 (Mar 8, 2012)

Random question related to springtails since you are all on the topic. I have been using a mix of hydro balls and coconut chips/cubes for my cultures. I was feeding them fish food and they were doing just fine. I was able to put a great deal of them into my new 65 gallon and they are thriving in there. For the springtails that were left, I put some rice in there and couple of days later the culture pretty much crashed. There are some still in there but very few. I am not sure its is because I overfed them or took too many out for them to be able to restock the container.
So here is the question, should I throw out all of the medium, or would I be okay just getting another container of springtails from somewhere else and reseeding it? can I just wash it? leave it as is? I hate to throw away all the medium as it's already prepped and was doing well before I took them out.

Thanks!


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## frogface (Feb 20, 2010)

If it was me, I wouldn't throw it away. I wouldn't even throw the bugs away. They'll probably come back. Is it possible they were overcome by CO2? Maybe put them into a larger container. But, I'd make 2 or three cultures so there was always backup


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## Enlightened Rogue (Mar 21, 2006)

Kris, I did end up keeping them. I had plenty of booming cultures I got from Doug and Jeremy anyway.
They finally ended up coming around after about 10 days. Too me that is still unacceptable and I won`t buy from that vendor again. (springtails that is)

John


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## misteja (Dec 18, 2009)

I just started some new cultures using the Cowboy Charcoal and have also noticed a slight campfire smell. I've used it before and never noticed anything. I doesn't seem to affect the bugs, though. I'm guessing that some of the larger pieces just didn't burn all the way through.


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## Tomoko Schum (Jan 14, 2012)

I recently purchased a batch of tropical springtail from one of the sponcers here. The culture on charcoal smelled strongly like campfire,too, and I did not see any live springtails at a first glance, either. They looked all dead. However, a label on the original culture container said that this was due to CO2 buildup in transit and that they will come alive within 24 hours after opening/aerating the box. So I waited and, sure enough, I saw a number of them crawling around the charcoal next morning. Two weeks forward, I have a thriving culture now .


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