# Culturing Isopods & Springtails together?



## Kali (May 19, 2019)

Is there a reason to not add springtails to an isopod culture?

As a newbie, they seem to need/want/require similar conditions...please correct me if I'm wrong or what I'm missing.

Will one predate or totally out compete the other?


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## Socratic Monologue (Apr 7, 2018)

I culture springs in charcoal and water, so it wouldn't work for me.

One reason: you may want to remove either springs or isos (but not both) for feeding to something/adding to a certain viv. Co-culturing would make that very difficult.


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## fishingguy12345 (Apr 7, 2019)

Kali said:


> Is there a reason to not add springtails to an isopod culture?
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Many people culture them together. The springtails are great for eating mold that grows in Isopod cultures.


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## PhylloBro (Sep 21, 2018)

All of my isopod cultures have springtails by accident so it isnt much of an issue at all but they will compete for the same food sources so theres that. For me its fish pellets the springs attack them just as quick as the isos sometimes completely covering the pellet. The purpose of a culture is to produce more of whatever it is you are culturing. To give the best chance at that you may want to reduce competition for all critters involved. It may seem like the isopods wouldnt have a problem dealing with springtails but the baby isopods are so tiny they may potentially have issues. I would recommend culturing them separately unless you are working with limited space.


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## Kali (May 19, 2019)

Space isn't an issue...yet.

It seems like keeping them separate is ideal. I'll stop stressing over "ruining" the iso culture if I accidentally contaminate it with springtails.


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## Encyclia (Aug 23, 2013)

I culture them separately for control of production of both, but I don't know that it's bad to have them together. I have never had any trouble with cross contamination between any isos or springtails, but I have had trouble with cross contamination between iso species. Somehow (I assume because I used a spoon or something in both containers) my dwarf whites got in with my giant oranges one time. The dwarf whites completely outcompeted the oranges over time and I had to buy the oranges again and start over. So, I would not assume that a stable equilibrium in culture conditions can be maintained over long periods of time when multiple species are involved. That hasn't always been the case for me 

Mark


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## David Kurn (Aug 26, 2019)

I also am careless and contaminated my Iso cultures with springs. I used the same paint brush in my cultures


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