# White worm / Grindal worm in Spring culture



## Philsuma (Jul 18, 2006)

What can be done to cull the numbers of these worms? They are out competing my large sweater box size springtail culture. 

I recently went to a soild based substrate (almost ABG) with a lot of cowboy charcaol on top and some flourite undeneath in hopes of better results than with straight cowboy charcoal, which always seemed to peter out. Everything seemed ok for a month or two and then the worms showed up and gained the upper hand. They are all through the soil and often on the top charcoal snacking on baby cereal, yeast and dried mushroom powder....

I've tried adding more spring cultures in hopes of using sheer numbers against the worms but they seem to multiply much faster than the springtails (parthenogenetic).

Would isopods added to the mix help? Would something else eat the worm eggs?

Should I just start over?

I need a LOT of springtails...quickly.


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## ChrisK (Oct 28, 2008)

Just let it dry out a little, those worms are all about the water it seems


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## Philsuma (Jul 18, 2006)

yeah....next step is turning a small fan on to the box and really drying them out.

So....you think the springs will be ok with it being drier? They will "bounce back" ?

F'ing wurms


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## ChrisK (Oct 28, 2008)

Yeah, but my frogs like those worms too........


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## zBrinks (Jul 16, 2006)

Let it turn into a grindal worm culture, and use it to feed your tadpoles. 

Since I've switched to feeding just uncooked white rice, I no longer have any issues with grindal worms popping up.


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## Philsuma (Jul 18, 2006)

zBrinks said:


> Let it turn into a grindal worm culture, and use it to feed your tadpoles.
> 
> Since I've switched to feeding just uncooked white rice, I no longer have any issues with grindal worms popping up.


 
hmmmm....I like that idea.....make lemonade.

would you place a cowboy chunck laden with worms directly into a tad cup?

I'll try the uncooked rice. Forget about pasta and powdered stuff....the worms love all that.


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## zBrinks (Jul 16, 2006)

Easiest way I've found to harvest them is to use a panel of that plastic needlepoint grid stuff. Lay it flat on the culture, then sprinkle a bit of food on top (I used fish flake with color enhancers), then let it be for a few days. Pick up the grid (should be covered in worms), submerge it in a cup of water and shake to dislodge the worms, and use a turkey baster to feed out to tadpoles.


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

If you blow across a container of the springtails you can seed the springtails into the new culture without any worms.. 

Ed


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## Philsuma (Jul 18, 2006)

Ed,

Just _how_ dry can a springtail culture be??


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

Production seems to drop as the culture gets drier but I haven't done any experiments to see just how much stress it can take... You could always try the plaster of paris and charcoal method of culture see Wiley InterScience :: Session Cookies for an example. 

Ed


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## pl259 (Feb 27, 2006)

I'd go back and start a couple charcoal based cultures before working the new ones. They may be slower to produce but they're generally not subject to the mite/worm issues.


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## Philsuma (Jul 18, 2006)

pl259 said:


> I'd go back and start a couple charcoal based cultures before working the new ones. They may be slower to produce but they're generally not subject to the mite/worm issues.


yep...just when I was so convinced that soil and charcoal was better than straight charcoal....

btw....I had _mad_ grain or soil mites on straight char.....

I disregarded the cardinal rule of feeder insect propogation - "Thou shall not make only one (or 2 even) cultures...... or..... put all your springs in one basket"

<sigh>


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

Philsuma said:


> yep...just when I was so convinced that soil and charcoal was better than straight charcoal....
> 
> btw....I had _mad_ grain or soil mites on straight char.....
> 
> ...


I want to say 5 years and no mites since I switched over to nothing but yeast..


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## carola1155 (Sep 10, 2007)

Ed, what kind of yeast are you using? does it matter?

and are you using it on charcoal?


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

carola1155 said:


> Ed, what kind of yeast are you using? does it matter?
> 
> and are you using it on charcoal?


At home I'm using it on charcoal (mainly because I had an outbreak of fungus gnats in a culture when using coconut fiber), at work it is on peat moss. 
And I'm using live yeast (baker's yeast) as it seems to be a better food source for the springtails than nutritional yeast or brewer's yeast. 
Ed


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## pl259 (Feb 27, 2006)

Philsuma said:


> btw....I had _mad_ grain or soil mites on straight char.....


Interesting. I feed with ground up dried mushrooms and a big pinch of baker's yeast. I also need to change out the charcoal a couple times a year when the production drops. 

Mine have all converted to temperate springs! Need to get some others and do a better job keeping them seperate.


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

pl259 said:


> Interesting. I feed with ground up dried mushrooms and a big pinch of baker's yeast. I also need to change out the charcoal a couple times a year when the production drops.
> 
> Mine have all converted to temperate springs! Need to get some others and do a better job keeping them seperate.


The only way I can keep them from converting to temperates is to keep them in a seperate room. The temperates seem to be very adept at colonizing other colonies. I even had them show up in isopod cultures where they were not present to begin with.. 

I have a couple of charcoal cultrures that are still heavily producing after two years. 

Ed


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## DannyMeister (Sep 30, 2010)

Regarding the dryness question... I had a forgotten batch of springtails in the back of a drawer for 2 months that were on bone dry coco fiber. Fortunately a fairly prolific mold had sprung up on the food from 2 months prior and gave them enough to eat to at least sustain their population. That poor culture was neglected even before then... the only moisture they had prior to that was a once every other week quick mist. As that culture is just a back-up and in a different room, I tend to forget about it . I may have been just lucky, but I don't doubt that they can survive a while at a humidity too dry for the worms.

Edit: whoa, didn't realize this was a necro-bump.


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