# springtail food



## Dye-Lohn (Aug 27, 2006)

what is best to feed springtail cultures?
-dylan


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## Blort (Feb 5, 2005)

Some suggestions here:

http://www.dendroboard.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=324

I use uncooked rice, cooked leftover rice, and cooked left over pasta. Be sure you have your cultures ventilated or they will die and leave a stinky mess.


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## Dye-Lohn (Aug 27, 2006)

ty


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## sports_doc (Nov 15, 2004)

few sprinkles of ordinary bakers yeast ever day/ other day dep upon the production of springs in your culture.

keep them damp but not wet, in a loose straight coco media or similar and they should do well.

Shawn


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## bluedart (Sep 5, 2005)

sports_doc said:


> few sprinkles of ordinary bakers yeast ever day/ other day dep upon the production of springs in your culture.
> 
> keep them damp but not wet, in a loose straight coco media or similar and they should do well.
> 
> Shawn


I find that bakers yeast has similar/greater production than rice for me, and it also eliminates a food source that grain mites can consume (pasta). Therefore I think it's safe to say that it is quite effective. 
Additionally, I use crushed up leaves in a coco fiber medium for the springtails. It seems to give them more surface area, helps keep the coco loose, and gives them something to feed on inbetween feedings if they need it.


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## back2eight (Dec 19, 2005)

fish flakes works as well.

And I don't keep mine ventillated. I've never had a culture crash yet. I feed mainly fish flakes and rice, keep it very wet, and a tight lid.


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## josh raysin (Nov 28, 2005)

i noticed a 10x better production with tropical fish flakes over rice and pasta.


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## bluedart (Sep 5, 2005)

Last time I used fish flakes I had grain mites out the wazoo.


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## Roadrunner (Mar 6, 2004)

using sealed disposable tupperware(the kind for soup or liquids) will keep the mites out. open every day or 2 to ventilate and feed. there are 2 types of tropicals and one common and others out there. not all of them like it soaked. i find the smaller tropicals like it wetter than the large tropicals and the commons can take it pretty wet. i use leca for the commons and small tropicalsw/ a 1/2 inch of water standing at the bottom and coco peat strait or over leca to keep the water out of contact w/ the coco peat for the large tropical springs, they like it moist but not wet. bakers yeast works great for the large tropicals and the others take it but i find better production from the small tropicals and commons from nutritional yeast which is pulverized and has bromelian and papayan in it and chromium etc.


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## topaz017 (Jul 30, 2006)

My cultures I started explode when I use cucumber peals. I open and they are all over it. I never see them on rice, and the yeast is to small for me to find too.


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## Dancing frogs (Feb 20, 2004)

frogfarm said:


> using sealed disposable tupperware(the kind for soup or liquids) will keep the mites out.


Yeah, if you keep the cultures on a surface where mites cant survive, and feed the springtails absolutly mite free food.

Sealed containers will help some, but are most definatly not a cure all...I know that first hand.


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## topaz017 (Jul 30, 2006)

Dancing frogs said:


> Sealed containers will help some, but are most definatly not a cure all...I know that first hand.


Whats wrong with sealed containers?


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## Dancing frogs (Feb 20, 2004)

I have started using oatmeal baby cereal for a staple.
I have found that cricket gutload will provide a boom, but does not work as a staple...
I also feed them cyclopeez once in a while, when I want pink springtails


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## Dancing frogs (Feb 20, 2004)

topaz017 said:


> Dancing frogs said:
> 
> 
> > Sealed containers will help some, but are most definatly not a cure all...I know that first hand.
> ...


Nothing, I was just saying they aren't a sure stop to mite infestations.

But as long as you asked the question, one of my better producing cultures right now has a pretty loose fitting lid...perhaps a little ventilaton wouldn't hurt :?:


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## Roadrunner (Mar 6, 2004)

are you sure you werent strating w/ contaminated medium or food? since i switched to the glad tupperware and generic food industry soup containers i havent had mites show up in ANY of my cultures, even the ones fed fishfood. i think containers that keep out liquids will also keep out mites if you dont otherwise give them an in. like setting the lid down on a terrarium top. i could be wrong though.


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## Dancing frogs (Feb 20, 2004)

Giving them the in is too easy (like you mention, putting the lid on a terrarium top), I would imagine even feeding from culture to culture without wasing hands could be a problem, as could opening the culture when mites are on it.

Don't know why, but every time I get more than say 4 cultures going good, some or all of them will come down with mites.

I pressure cook my media (currently using coco-and oak leaf), bleach my gladware, so I would imagine the mites are coming in with the food, or just hanging out on the container when I open it.

Would storing the springtail food in the freezer help?


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## Roadrunner (Mar 6, 2004)

i dunno. i dont think it would hurt but i imagine they overwinter in northern climates. i just dont know enough about them to say.


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## stchupa (Apr 25, 2006)

Dye-Lohn said:


> what is best to feed springtail cultures?
> -dylan


It's not soley a matter of what to feed, but rather when and how.

Consistant and sparse feeding is the key. Small daily feedings are ideal to keep cultures healthy. Ventilation is uneccessary if maintained properly. Ambient light will increase production.


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

I haven't had an issue with mites since I began using yeast as my food source. 

Ed


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## Dancing frogs (Feb 20, 2004)

Bumping this up...
Starting to get tads from my retics...so I will be needing springs!

Ed, what is it about feeding yeast that makes the cultures more mite resistant?
Is it something the springs can eat, that the mites can't? 
Or is that just an observation, on what works for you?

I'm trying to figure it out, because when I feed live bakers yeast, the cultures seem to survive, but they don't produce the way they do when I feed rice or oat baby cereal.
From what I've noticed, the yeast works better on the temperate variety springs, but hardly at all for the tropicals, I'm wondering if the tropical cultures are just too dry for the yeast to become food easily.

Others have noticed fish food will invite mites like mad...I have noticed this as well...are the mites in the food, or is the food just what mites thrive on?


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## gary1218 (Dec 31, 2005)

Dancing frogs said:


> Others have noticed fish food will invite mites like mad...I have noticed this as well...are the mites in the food, or is the food just what mites thrive on?


Hmmmmmmmm.....................fish flake is all I feed mine and I don't have any mite problems.


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## dragonfrog (Feb 16, 2006)

Now that I think about it, I stopped feeding fish flake and started using yeast and I have not seen mites since. And I was having them a lot!!!


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## _Enix_ (Jul 31, 2005)

I'll throw my vote in for yeast.

I used cucumber peel for a while with great results.
They would devour them within a couple days.

I switched to yeast and had the same production.

The yeast is much easier to work with and there is no mite issues. 

Also, I sprinkle yeast on the colony every 3 days or so.



Edit: Forgot to specify that I keep the temperate springs.


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## KeroKero (Jun 13, 2004)

I've had mite issues before with my springs... the box that I keep the various cultures in now is lined with mite paper. Even in gladware containers with no air holes they were becoming an issue... the ones with air holes just developed the problem faster. I feed primarily fish flakes, and have a variety of species kept a couple different ways. Mites were just everywhere until I put them on mite paper and keep them like my FFs. I no longer live in mite paradise, but I still keep up with the mite paper. Now one of my "springtail" cultures is actually culturing compost mites... LOL. Yummy bugs. I keep that culture in a different box...

My fish flakes *could* be a source for mites to be introduced... when I went hard core anti-mites, I bought a brand new canister of fish flakes (still sealed) and it is kept on the mite paper with the springtail cultures that are mite free. 

The different responses to food are likely due to the differences in what the food competing mites and springtails are eating... the mites may very well be eating the direct food product, where the springtails are eating the fungus/mold that the food grows when it decomposes...


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## dragonfrog (Feb 16, 2006)

I experimented last week and made two new springtail cutures and feed one fish food flakes and the other yeast and in 4 days the fish flake one was full of mites and the yeast one was not.
I am convinced now to stay away from flakes as food for sprintails. At least the brand that I am using.


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## kleinhanz (Oct 18, 2004)

I feed my tropical springtails yeast, old mixed salad greens (will not eat until it breaks down) and bananna peels

I feed temperates yeast, spirallina flakes and dried rice baby cereal


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## tyler (Feb 23, 2006)

I started mine on fish flakes and continued this for about a week. Now I'm loaded with springs, as well as mites and tiny little worms (look like tiny earthworms). I'm switching over to yeast to see what happens... currently using peat moss, decaying leaves, and a a rotting piece of wood.


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## gary1218 (Dec 31, 2005)

One of my concerns is, and maybe it's not a valid one, but what is the nutrional value of springs being fed yeast? Many use springs as almost an exclusive diet for newly morphed thumbs & pums? Are they getting enough nutrition to develop properly from just yeast fed springs? I feed my springs the same high quality flake food I feed my tads and I guess I'm assuming their higher in nutrition.

Also, are the mites necessarily a bad thing? Won't the frogs also eat the mites? Or, once the mites are in your spring culture do they pretty much take over and kill off the springs?


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## 311_dart (May 20, 2006)

mites definitely took over and killed all my springs!


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## dragonfrog (Feb 16, 2006)

Hello mites, goodbye springtails


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## gary1218 (Dec 31, 2005)

dragonfrog said:


> Hello mites, goodbye springtails


Hmmmmm.................I guess that means they're probably a bad thing then


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## 311_dart (May 20, 2006)

mites are usually a bad thing!


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## Dancing frogs (Feb 20, 2004)

Yeah, once you notice mites (IME) you have maybee a week or so left before the culture is basicly worthless.
A fellow MDG member said he had luck getting rid of mites by sticking with an all charcoal medium.

I agree, a rotated, high quality diet would be preferable, though yeast isn't bad nutrition, kind of lopsided maybee, but not like throwing white sugar in...

What I noticed when I was using mainly oat baby cereal is if you used fishflake once in a while (no more than every three weeks) you would get a big boom from it, however a steady diet of fish flake didn't seem to work out, perhaps mites or something you can't see?

Anyone ever try the high buck collemolla diet from Vivaria?


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## rozdaboff (Feb 27, 2005)

I keep a couple varieties of springs. The one variety that enjoys being very wet, I culture on charcoal and keep them very wet. I have yet to have a mite infestation in any of the cultures - although these cultures are prone to "grindal"-like worms. The other that doesn't like to be as wet is cultured on coco-husks/fiber - and those cultures will occasionally get mites.


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## Detrick105 (Apr 16, 2006)

I've been feeding my tropical springs Tetra Min Tropical Granules since 1/07 and haven't had any problems with mites (knock on wood). They seem to be producing very well with it. I keep all my cultures (flies, isopods, RFB's, & springs) on brown paper towel that has been sprayed with Four Paws Mite & Lice / Bird & Cage Spray. So far I haven't had any mite problems. Just giving my two cents.
Steve


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## tyler (Feb 23, 2006)

I was hoping that someone may possibly have an ID for these. 
The mites:









And here they are in the more commonly seen groups:









The worm - about .25 mm wide (also in culture):


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## dragonfrog (Feb 16, 2006)

Well, what ever they are, they aren't food for springtails!!!

Tyler, you sure have some nasty stuff in your cultures!!


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## defaced (May 23, 2005)

I just discovered there are mites in my culture  I swear, if springs aren't in tanks, I can't keep them alive.


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## KeroKero (Jun 13, 2004)

I keep my springtails on mite paper to keep from having this issue. The mites will go into the culture and actually out compete the springtails. Mites can be good frog food - note the recent article in the science section talking about mites being the primary diet for pumilio - but when you're trying to culture something ELSE, they are bad news. The mite culture I have goint is in it's own little container with mite paper... this time to keep them in  They are compost mites (brown) that actually can do decently with mites depending on what I feed them... different foods would cause different booms in the different species, and if one got a boom, the other would crash.

Note about foods... springtails are eating the fungus that grows on the various foods we give them (well, except for yeast). The mites might actually be eating the food itself... eating it before it can break down and become springtail food, and outcompeting them. If you skip a step and feed them yeast, which is straight up springtail food lol, they are less likely to get established since the springs can eat right off.


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## gary1218 (Dec 31, 2005)

You know, I'll bet if you were trying to culture the mites to feed your frogs the spreingtails would get in and take over


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## stchupa (Apr 25, 2006)

Yeast is no doubt relished by all springs, and probably the most preferred since it is alive (if using bakers'), thus not losing/degrading it's energy content, which is the higher end composition of it. It's comparable to what ice cream is to people. You eat it, you love it, you could likely survive on it and even reproduce (if not more so, more energy to do the work). 

Mites could be eating it (to some extent) probably are, but being less of a generalist than springs tend to be, it may not be complete enough to maintain/continue a life cycle. Keep in mind, again, it is a live organism and the mites people are seeing/having problems w/ feeding are ones (mostly) feeding off that which is already dead. 

Springs aren't just eating yeast (if your only feeding yeast), unless you have no other substrate. Just as mammals in the wild that may be receiving a less than optimal diet (hollow) they will suppliment themselves and substitute for any 'lack' by scrounging for mineral/salt/spring deposites and even things such as bones and stones to help balance any mineral nutrient deprivation. Something most mites don't really have an option w/. Things such as coco, bark, moss etc. may not have the minerality concentration as soil, but it is still available to them, time/reliance limited. 

When a culture becomes exhausted it is usually due to (for older cultures, not always, but if it has been kept well and producing for a few years) these substrates being used and all of the very little mineral content has been extracted and never being replaced/added. Cultures w/ a charcoal, soil or pumice/lava stone substrate very likely could out live your frogs/you (while feeding a diverse diet), since minerals are only needed very sparingly and these tend to be very heavy/well balanced in that, while degrading releasing minerals very slowly.
Also the water you add to your culture must be 'pure' for this to work long term, no heavy metals or salts building up in the substrate over time. Though starting of w/ some salts (from spirulina, kelp etc.) will benefit the culture as long as it stays w/in range as to not become toxic.

I used to grind up various grains/seeds for spring cultures which they produces quickly on, but yes the mites will eventually follow and you must let your springs either go hungry for a while (not very helpful in production) or switch to another diet (yeast, algae, green plants, whole grains/sprouts) until the mites subside. The effort in this method is simply not worth it. I found in the long run the production is about the same as feeding them the whole seed, but takes time to get up to speed because you have wait tilll the seeds sprout in the culture, slowly die (unless you bother to pinch/dry them) and then become available to the springs. But w/ this method no mites what so ever, no matter what grain seed you use as long as the seed is whole and living. This method is less practicle w/ smaller cultures but can be done w/ either. My favorite (or should I say theirs) to use is flax or hempseed. the flax is great because the springs start feeding of the oils immediately after its introduced to the culture. You can also speed up the process a bit by sprouting the seeds and then letting them dry out (not completely dry) right after they begin to pop, but if your inconsistant w/ the feeding you give chance to mites.

Alfalfa and kelp is a great mix to introduced to older cultures that seem to be slowing down, BADABOOM, and the mites don't seem to really go after it, one reason might be because the springs eat it up so fast they don't give a chance. Very high mineral content plants. Anything w/ roots like that are heavy mineral feeders. The list of things you can choose in this area would be much longer than this entire post. Plants that are considered weeds by people are often very nutrient dense plants. The list of those is nearly endless and not often thought of as a commodity in modern society.

There is so many choices on what you can feed springs, they literally eat anything compostable. Rice is a addition I use often w/ out mites but fed consistantly. As long as you have no heavy feeding of anything mites shouldn't be of concern. If you can find rice still in the hull and alive you can feed it just as any other whole grain, heavy or consistant.

Another thing to remember is if you do get mites it does not neccessarily mean the end of a culture. It's up to you and how you continue to care for it. All of my cultures have had some mites at one point or another and none have ever failed due to that. One tropical culture I've had 5+ years, been through everything, fed everything and is continuing to produce better than most of the newly set up cultures.


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## Guest (Jun 9, 2007)

I tossed a banana peal in the other day; opened it this morning and the springs were all over it! I move the container throughout the house so no mites chase it down. I also use cucumber peals, uncooked rice, triscuit crackers, and fish flakes.


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