# Springtails... Land or sea?



## tedrock (Jul 11, 2007)

From what i've read here you can start a culture of springtails right in the substrate of your viv and they will reproduce and continuously provide a snack for the inhabitants (or do i need to reintroduce them now and then?). But today I noticed someone added some micro pictures of the vivs water showing springtales in that so I have to ask do they live in the soil or the water or both? Basically I ask this because I am going to have a betta in a pond in my viv and if there are springtails in the water I may need to adjust his feeding so I don't over feed him (bettas eat springtails) and have excess food floating around. I was also going to have a filtering system for the water possibly and I don't want to clog the filter with sprintails as well filter them out of the water thus effecting their life cycle. Should I be filtering the water or will seeping through the substrate do that for me?


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## TropicalJewels (Nov 25, 2006)

TedRock

Yes, I posted the micro springtail pics.

The springtails depicted in the photo were from a springtail culture.
I use small chip dip sized clear plastic containers for the springtail cultures.
I fill them 3/4 full of excelsior or coco fiber shredded. I then flood the container 1/2 way to keep the springtails closer to the surface. Without it, they will burrow. The water, seems to provide an ideal environment for laying. The eggs grow and prosper there. Im not sure if deep water would work though. I also think the springtails would drown if kept in open water only.

I open the containers once a week or so and place a small mound of couscous, fish flakes food, yeast, or whatever I have. Get a culture. Set 6 new ones up and seed them from the starter culture. Place a side for 6 weeks or more. I start new cultures once a month or so.

As per seeding them in a frog tank. I do that as well. I think they do breed in the tank. But probably not enough to outpace the appetite of the frogs. If youre not seeing them visually while misting heavily then add a few more from your backup cultures.

When using them to feed the Betta for instance, I would add them sparingly if the fish needs live food. A few at a time. Springtails are an arthropod and can be high in chilton....Used as a primary food it could cause an intestinal blockage. I would just feed what your fish can eat immediately. This would also eliminate any additional strain on the filters.

Perry


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## KeroKero (Jun 13, 2004)

Springtails are soil invertabrates that have the ability to float on water. Unless your filter is a skimming filter, they shouldn't clog it. 

I add springtails to my tanks when I set them up, and I let the tank grow in for a few months before I add frogs. This allows the plants to root (so they are more resilient when the frogs bash around on them), for me to rearrange as needed for what is not doing well, or doing too well, and for the tank to go thru it's moldy stage before there are frogs in it. Springtails have a hay day, and their population explodes to the point that I will find them in clumps on the water. This high population density does not last, as the fungus gets under control as the tank cycles, and as the frogs reduce their numbers further, to a much smaller population within the soil. After that point, there will not be many making it into the pond of the tank.

As for the betta... all the rules to keeping fish still apply, but when you look at how many gallons of water, calculate how many gallons of open water the fish actually has. If the pond it not separate from the drainage layer, you need to keep an eye on water quality of the frog inhabited tank before you put fish in...


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