# Convinced you have the best springtail culture method?



## npaull

Sometimes it seems there are as many ways to culture springtails as there are springtails in a culture.

If you're convinced that your way is truly awesome, post it here... because I'm not convinced that mine is.


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## npaull

Allright, so how about just very happy with your culturing methods?


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## defaced

Patience grasshopper. Five hours not long enough to invoke the genius of the dendroboard.


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## bbrock

I haven't tried it yet but get a copy of Live Foods by Bruse et al. in the Professional Breeders Series. They describe a springtail culture method that is a bit complicated to set up, but the photo of the culture is amazing. It is basically a chamber with many shallow trays and the springtails migrate to the bottom where they are collected in jars.


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## crb_22601

Not that it is a great method but it works for me. I just use peat substrate mixed with wood chips, moisten it and some mushrooms and then the springs wait a week. and I have a booming culture. when I need to feed I just pick up a mushroom and shake it in the tank and it works fine for me.


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## thumbnail

*springtail*

I use sterilite sweater boxes/32 quart I believe. I add 2 inches of bed-a-beast and a layer of magnolia leaves. I then add springtails. I sometimes add some coco-huts on occassion. I keep the cultures at room temp. and collecting from these cultures is very easy. I just sprinkle bakers yeast on top of the leaves and they swarm everywhere. I keep my cultures just moist enough to keep the bed-a-beast a darker color, but not sopping by no means. These are from the same tropical springtails that I bought a couple of years back. I have yet to need to purchase any extras. I literally have thousands in these springtails in each container. I use the coco-huts and leaves to seed tanks and just replace leaves and huts as needed.I am adding some pics of the cultures.


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## flyangler18

I wouldn't say that my method is awesome, but it is producing consistently. I use Sterlite shoeboxes for my springtail cultures. Substrate is a mix of coco-fiber, charcoal, orchid bark and some leaf litter (so the mix is nice and airy) I usually add a good layer of magnolia or oak leaves, sprinkle with yeast and moisten lightly. The substrate is moist and damp, but not flooded.


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## Ed

A lot of the issues with the culture are limited by food.. If you are feeding the culture sufficiently then it will boom and there can be variations between cultures set up the same way. I have a stack of small rubbermaid containers that are all set up the same way and in two of them the bottom of the container is literally white with springtails. The others have a high density but not to the same level. 

Ed


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## Android1313

defaced said:


> Patience grasshopper. Five hours not long enough to invoke the genius of the dendroboard.


LOL! Mike, Hilarious!
Sounds like another instant classic to me! :lol:


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## Roadrunner

Strait coco chips work best for MOST. There are a lot of different types and some are specialists. For the ones that can be mass cultured such as tropicals common silver etc. because it`s like a high rise apt. Lots of surface area stable enough to be covered on all sides w/ springs. the fungus feeders seem to turn mushrooms into there own substrate and burrow thru the dark organic " soils" they make. I rarely see these springs distributed througout the coco chips, they congrgate around this black top layer most of the time. these are the white and blues that look segmented kinda like worms and are longer than the trop springs. the blues(blacks) can be small or med size. This" group" of springs can be recognized by their ability to bbend their bodies when they turn, similar to a millipede.
The nice thing about the coco chips is that you can make a dump pile in the corner for then to feed off and you don`t have to worry about dryer coco peat being ingested en mass. Just dump a portion of the culture in the tank and add more coco chips to keep the culture going. no trying to transfer them off anything or getting them to congrgate in one area to remove for feeding.


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## MJ

I culture my springs in 600ml take out containers..

half filled with peat spray it down then compress and drain off excess water.
I add a teaspoon full of an existing culture then feed with m own mixture of dehydrated and powdered food.

I feed every week and with in 2-3 weeks the cultures are jam packed with spring tails 8) I make about 30 cultures a week and never have a failure with this method.


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## joshsfrogs

> A lot of the issues with the culture are limited by food


I'd also add humidity. In dry cultures the springtails stay towards the bottom of the culture instead of at the top where the food is. In addition, ventilation is also a key component.

I use straight charcoal and feed Collembola food (tiny bit does magic) and white rice (that expired 2 years ago).


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## sports_doc

MJ said:


> I make about 30 cultures a week and never have a failure with this method.


OK, did I misread that?

30 springtail cx's a week!! ??

WOW

S


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## MJ

:lol: yeah I feed 60% springtails to the bulk of my thumbs and pumilio..


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## UmbraSprite

Charcoal here.....

Feed mostly mushrooms and just spray the cultures and pour out the goodies!


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## sports_doc

UmbraSprite said:


> Charcoal here.....
> 
> Feed mostly mushrooms and just spray the cultures and pour out the goodies!


Chris, interesting....
I must do that method wrong, b/c of all the methods I've tried, in my hands the water/charcoal has by far been the _least_ productive.

Have you compared the same springtails done side by side with cocohusk/peat/leaves?

S


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## flyangler18

> I must do that method wrong, b/c of all the methods I've tried, in my hands the water/charcoal has by far been the least productive.


Same here, Shawn. My cx's just seem to do better with more organic substrate. 

Side by side, the coco/leaves/bark mix outproduces at least 10:1.


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## UmbraSprite

I have cultured in both substrates however I haven't done so in a method that would allow an objective comparison. 

I have also noticed the temperates are the only ones that really do well in this type of culture. I have switched to all temperates, use a small cup of charcoal with about a half inch of water. I buy mushrooms from the grocery store and they gobble em up. I occasionally supplement the collembola food from Europe. 

Mainly I opted to go this route do to the ease of feeding them out. The cultures usually bounce back from a feeding in 4 weeks or so.

CD


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## sports_doc

'Temperates' may be the key there Chris. 

I use only tropicals. 3-4 kinds.

recently [b/c I had a full can unused] I started feeding mine freeze dried copepods from brineshrimpdirect. Just out of curiosity. Dont know if they will bloom with it or not, too early to tell..

S


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## gary1218

bbrock said:


> I haven't tried it yet but get a copy of Live Foods by Bruse et al. in the Professional Breeders Series. They describe a springtail culture method that is a bit complicated to set up, but the photo of the culture is amazing. It is basically a chamber with many shallow trays and the springtails migrate to the bottom where they are collected in jars.


Anybody have access to this article and could post it?


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## sports_doc

gary1218 said:


> bbrock said:
> 
> 
> 
> I haven't tried it yet but get a copy of Live Foods by Bruse et al. in the Professional Breeders Series. They describe a springtail culture method that is a bit complicated to set up, but the photo of the culture is amazing. It is basically a chamber with many shallow trays and the springtails migrate to the bottom where they are collected in jars.
> 
> 
> 
> Anybody have access to this article and could post it?
Click to expand...

It is from a text/reference book I believe Gary. I think BJ sells it, and I'm sure others do as well...

S


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## flyangler18

> I have also noticed the temperates are the only ones that really do well in this type of culture.


Unusual. I know Josh cultures his _tropicals _on charcoal and _temperates_ on coco/peat, but I've always had the best lucking culturing on coco/peat/leaves.

Hmmm.


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## bbrock

gary1218 said:


> bbrock said:
> 
> 
> 
> I haven't tried it yet but get a copy of Live Foods by Bruse et al. in the Professional Breeders Series. They describe a springtail culture method that is a bit complicated to set up, but the photo of the culture is amazing. It is basically a chamber with many shallow trays and the springtails migrate to the bottom where they are collected in jars.
> 
> 
> 
> Anybody have access to this article and could post it?
Click to expand...

I could scan the photo but not sure how cool that would be to post given that it is copyrighted material. The method is basically a glass cube chamber with multiple, very shallow, glass shelves that slide in like a little glass chest of drawers. The bottom slopes toward a couple of drain openings which have jar lids glued to the underneath (outside the cabinet). Each drawer is filled with media and the box is seeded with springtails. The drains are kept plugged initially but when the culture booms, the drain plugs are removed and replaced by screwing jars with some moist polyester cotton in the bottoms to the lids underneath. Springtails migrate into the jars by the kajillion if the photos are to be believed. They do mention there is a minimum size that will work. I think the secret here is that the cabinet is holding the equivalent of several springtail cultures in a small space, plus the shallow shelves and sealed cabinet create a constantly moist media with lots of surface area.

I actually use the charcoal method myself and have cultures that boom for over a year. White mist when you open the lid. I agree that mushrooms work well for food but I also toss in whatever is handy, Naturrose, yeast, dead puppies, etc. Like Chris, the thing I like about the charcoal method is that you can pour off thousands of springtails into a cup for feeding.

I culture mine in sweater boxes, and after reading the Professional Breeders Series book, I think the size of the culture container may be important but don't know for sure.


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## gary1218

bbrock said:


> I could scan the photo but not sure how cool that would be to post given that it is copyrighted material. The method is basically a glass cube chamber with multiple, very shallow, glass shelves that slide in like a little glass chest of drawers. The bottom slopes toward a couple of drain openings which have jar lids glued to the underneath (outside the cabinet). Each drawer is filled with media and the box is seeded with springtails. The drains are kept plugged initially but when the culture booms, the drain plugs are removed and replaced by screwing jars with some moist polyester cotton in the bottoms to the lids underneath. Springtails migrate into the jars by the kajillion if the photos are to be believed. They do mention there is a minimum size that will work. I think the secret here is that the cabinet is holding the equivalent of several springtail cultures in a small space, plus the shallow shelves and sealed cabinet create a constantly moist media with lots of surface area.


Hmmmmmmmm, I guess I'm going to have to buy the book


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## flyangler18

I've gotta see a picture of this setup. Now where to find a copy of the Professional Breeders's Series texts...hmm


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## npaull

Great info everyone. I've heard from several people, in this thread and others, that culture size helps a lot with consistent high-level production.


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## housevibe7

My temperates I keep in charcoal and water. I feed them high quality fish food and rice. They are in a large ziplock plastic container (the ones with the red lids.) I keep the lid on tight and just crack it about once a week to clear CO2 and let air in. WIth the low humidity of MT this seems the best way to do it.

My tropicals I keep on an organic substrate (cocofiber, a tiny bit of orchid bark, broken up leaves, and sphagnum) in shoesboxes. I feed them the same things as the temperates. I also mist them but dont actually water them like the temperates.


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## bbrock

housevibe7 said:


> My temperates I keep in charcoal and water. I feed them high quality fish food and rice. They are in a large ziplock plastic container (the ones with the red lids.) I keep the lid on tight and just crack it about once a week to clear CO2 and let air in. WIth the low humidity of MT this seems the best way to do it.
> 
> My tropicals I keep on an organic substrate (cocofiber, a tiny bit of orchid bark, broken up leaves, and sphagnum) in shoesboxes. I feed them the same things as the temperates. I also mist them but dont actually water them like the temperates.


Hey Sarah, do you remember which type you gave me? They are white is all I know.


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## jschroeder

I have seen a lot of great methods on how to culture springs and I have always had success with variations on the ways that people have listed, but it seems like one major problem for me (and I know of quite a few others) has not been brought up. The dreaded mite infestation......

It seems like no matter how I culture or what I culture (tropicals or temperates) I always eventually end up with mites and my production goes way down. 

Any sure fire methods that people have used to mitigate this problem. I know the weekly culture thing works, but I would like to try something less time consuming. 

This could just be a North West thing as most of the froggers up here have had this problem. Any thoughts....


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## Dancing frogs

jschroeder said:


> I have seen a lot of great methods on how to culture springs and I have always had success with variations on the ways that people have listed, but it seems like one major problem for me (and I know of quite a few others) has not been brought up. The dreaded mite infestation......
> 
> It seems like no matter how I culture or what I culture (tropicals or temperates) I always eventually end up with mites and my production goes way down.
> 
> Any sure fire methods that people have used to mitigate this problem. I know the weekly culture thing works, but I would like to try something less time consuming.
> 
> This could just be a North West thing as most of the froggers up here have had this problem. Any thoughts....


Just a NW thing if NW wisconsin counts (I have mite problems as well).

Coco mixes seem to yield better, but also get mite damaged faster.
All charcoal cultures last longer, but produce less, and is more of a pain to harvest the springtails.


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## joshsfrogs

> Unusual. I know Josh cultures his tropicals on charcoal and temperates on coco/peat, but I've always had the best lucking culturing on coco/peat/leaves.


All my springtails are on charcoal no matter what variety they are. Not sure if I'm the Josh you are referring to...



> culture size helps a lot with consistent high-level production.


So true. Much more forgiving also.


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## flyangler18

> All my springtails are on charcoal no matter what variety they are. Not sure if I'm the Josh you are referring to...


Whoops, my mistake. For some reason, I thought that you were culturing temperates on coco/peat. What are your observations on production between temperate and tropical varieties in terms of 'boom', all things equal?




> Any sure fire methods that people have used to mitigate this problem. I know the weekly culture thing works, but I would like to try something less time consuming.


I try to avoid the richer foods- fish flake, vegetable peels, etc and stick to feeding yeast solely.


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## housevibe7

Brent- you have the temperates

The only time I have ever had any problems with mites are with the tropical springs that arent on charcoal.


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## Corpus Callosum

I microwave my media/substrate before I seed it as a mite preventative.


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## CTM75

defaced said:


> Patience grasshopper. Five hours not long enough to invoke the genius of the dendroboard.


LMAO


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## joshsfrogs

> All charcoal cultures last longer, but produce less, and is more of a pain to harvest the springtails.


Harder to harvest? Just add water and pour out the water from the cultures. Couldn't be easier.


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## Drew

joshsfrogs said:


> All charcoal cultures last longer, but produce less, and is more of a pain to harvest the springtails.
> 
> 
> 
> Harder to harvest? Just add water and pour out the water from the cultures. Couldn't be easier.
Click to expand...

I use a turkey baster and just suck the tails off.


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## housevibe7

Same thing here... fill it up with water, they float right to the top... Use a turkey baster to place them in the tank, or if the water level is high enough, just blow them in to the tank. I then use the turkey baster to lower the water back down... probably the easier of the cultures I have had to feed out.


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## NathalieB

Here’s a picture of the “tray-setup” I saw on the Belgian forum.
It is not my set-up but looks very interesting and apparently works great








There is a German website explaining the principle.
http://www.froschkeller.de/spr_schu.htm
I haven’t had time yet to make such a system but I am certainly planning it for the future although it looks rather complicated to make.


Personally I culture different kinds of springs in plastic shoeboxes. Some are on peat, others on charcoal, some on big “wood chips” (it takes a little time to find out which type of springtail prefers which medium).

I have these big cultures for back-up and make very small cultures regularly. They seem to boom easier in small cultures it seems. And I can put the small cultures in the terrarium without a lid for fast feeding when I don’t have much time. Normally I suck the springs out of the cultures with a small device that you can make for catching ants (I think it’s a well-known principle: airtight bottle with two small hoses coming out. One hose covered with some kind of filter on the inside of the bottle. You suck the hose with the filter and hold the other one close to the springtails and they get sucked into the bottle).

The small cultures I try to feed lightly every 2 days. I make a mix of rice, pasta, brewer yeast, spirulina and some dry type of babyfood (you normally have to add milk to the powder) and put it in a coffee-grinder. I then put this mix in a bottle that used to contain herbs so I can fast and easily sprinkle a very small amount of food in all the cultures. Once in a while I feed them some mushrooms or carrot or cucumber peels. After a few weeks these cultures are loaded with springs and they can be usually used for a very long period when they are fed regularly.
The large cultures get fed once or twice a week, whenever I have time.

The small cultures are kept a little bit warmer (room temperature) than the big cultures that are kept in my basement. (I keep all tropical and temperate types at the same temperature).

I get two types of mite in my cultures from time to time: brown/red fast ones and round white ones that look like tiny eggs and move very slowly. I put the infested cultures in my pumilio-tanks and they rapidly take care of the problem. The mites are only on the surface of the cultures and the springtails are hiding deep in the soil, so after all the mites are eaten by the pumilio’s I can start feeding the cultures again and the spingtail-colony will be restored. When I get mites in the big cultures I scoop-off the top layer of the substrate and put it in with the pumilio’s.


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## sbreland

For those interested... here is the above link translated to English. I didn't take the time to go through and correct for sentence structure or tense, so it's not the easiest to read right now but you should be able to get the jist. There is also a few words I wasn't able to translate, but you get the idea...

Spring tails are terrariums for some animals, but also for some of aquarium fish is an important element for the welfare and good nutrition. For one, "only" a welcome change in the dining plan, for the other, especially for the tiny terrariums among the animals, they are for survival. This could, for example, young animals of some poison arrow frog species or genus some chameleons Brookesia without this feed is not fed in the terrarium. For this reason, many Vivarianer deal with the breeding of this for their Pfleglinge important forage species. 
Spring tails (Collembola) form with well over 3000 species zoological seen their own regulations. They come worldwide, even in the most inhospitable habitats such as the glaciers (Isotoma saltans) or on the surface of lakes (Podura aquatica). Most species live, but probably in the soil and humus in the forest and make it an important contribution to the fabric cycle in nature. They are for the crushing of dead animal and plant parts is responsible, they will be for further biodegradation prepare. These were quantities of 2000 Spring cocks in a litre of forest humus. Your name owe the animals jump Fork, about which most species. It will calmly under the body noted with concern, however, clicking the fork back and catapulted the animal often several inches forward. Although the number of species is so immense, terraristisch seen, ie as animal feed, so far only 3-4 types interesting. The most common type is probably bred up to 3 mm wide, snow-white Folsomia candida. This species is often used in flower pots of indoor plants, where it is easy to obtain a breeding approach. These floods is the flower pot with water. Since the Spring tails countless approximately 0.3 μ m wide, unbenetzbare Mikrotuberkel on their body surface, they swim, so that they are easily from the water surface skimming. 
Spring tails are usually always on a humid to haltendem substrate (such as peat, gypsum boards, Mexifarnplatten) in plastic pots and held regularly, usually every 2 to 4 days, with flakes zerriebenem food for aquarium fish, potato slices, soy flour, beer yeast or other Geheimrezepten fed. They repeated the procedure lid on, feed pure, cover, several times, depending on how many farms it operates. Since the removal of the animals feeding on mostly by the Spring Ausklopfen tails from the oblique held containers, must be the breeding and plattenförmig substrate so that this procedure is not in the aquarium or terrarium lands. This disk structure has the disadvantage that the animals only the surface of the substrate settle without loose and porous material to be able to penetrate through the use of the settlement area and the population density could be increased considerably. Another disadvantage is that the choice for Spring tails unnatural substrates: one forgets that the feeding for a few days, or is due to holidays or other circumstances not in a position to supply its Springschwanzzuchten, the population density in the cultures within a few days back very rapidly. 
Due to these considerations, I tried other loose materials from the settlement area of the Spring tails increase in a certain food reservoir should include: peat, bark, beech and oak hardwood forest humus and, in the usual plastic vessels, slightly wetted with breeding animals angeimpft. Before using the leaves and the humus still for about 5 minutes in the microwave heat to possibly existing Asseln, mites and other unwanted guests off. On all substrates were jumping well grow tails. When humus fell while additionally, that the cultures are not too sensitive to light feeding responded. Also in the farms with humus, which intentionally not once fed, increased the Spring tails just as quickly, as in the fed approaches. Logically actually, but it breeds in its natural substrate, in which they-at least in the first few months-enough food. The removal of the animals feeding designed to be very difficult, but came at the usual overturning of tanks and beaten Spring tails of the whole with humus. It was also a breeding method to find the overturning of a breeding animal feed container for removal unnecessary. 
In the construction market, or plants available plant breeding Bowls with the dimensions 22 x 17 x 5 cm (LxWxH) were selected as a breeding tank. Therefore, I stuck to measure a glass cabinet, in which the containers to slide schubfachartig superimposed. The tank has the dimensions 24 x 30 x 51 cm (LxWxH). The front page is divided, the upper part with 48.5 cm height is a door with side silicone hinge and can be pasted into it very tightly. The bottom of the front page consists of a 2.5 cm high, firmly glued glass bridge. The deck to the rear wheel is about 2 cm gap, so that the condensation on the reverse side expires. The plant breeding shells are 15 mm wide strip of glass, the two side windows were stuck in the cupboard inserted. The lower bowl is also on rails, so that at the bottom of the Zuchtschrankes approximately 3 cm. The bottom plate of Glasschrankes is pasted into slanting, so that a gap left front. At this deepest station is the glass bridge the front page a 10 mm bore to the removal of feed animals, with a rubber stopper. The 7 breeding shells were approximately 3 cm high with loose humus from a beech forest filled, and so much water nanašanje that a water level of about 1 mm materialise. Each bowl has been a breeding approach of Spring versehen tails, and so in the glass cupboard inserted that the rear edge of the rear window of the cabinet touched. This has the sense that the Spring tails only at the leading edge of some centimeters distance from the glass door, escaping from the shells. The cabinet has been breeding in my room up terrariums in which the temperature is between 18 and 25 degrees Celsius. It turned in a breeding cabinet humidity of 90 - 100%. Well, it was only waiting. In the first weeks, I have a few Springsteen tails, which is by escaping from the shells collected at the bottom, not feed. I washed it every week, once with water from the extraction bore into a bowl and gave it back to the breeding shells. Only about 3 months after I began to the crowd of about half a teaspoon of the week below. The number of containers on the ground collecting animals grew steadily, so that I, since the culture for half a year in operation, about every 2-3 days a yield of a teaspoon to feeding. The breeding is now already more than 1 ½ years for me. It apparently has a balance between the Spring tails escapes from the breeding shells and their propagation. Although hardly look at the first animals in the breeding shells can be seen, as they for the most part in humus disappeared, the number of individuals is much higher than when my past breedings with the substrate plate was. This, I have reviewed, I have a breeding bowl flooded with water. Amazingly, how many animals because on the surface appeared! The main advantage of this breeding method, however, is that they are almost without sufficient care. Only every 2-3 weeks with something must be pulverized nachgefüttert fish feed. This is the fodder aufgestreut and then with a fork untergemengt the substrate. Additionally, as required fresh humus added, as in the breeding of these shells gradually collapses. As a "long-time fodder" I use the leaves of slightly rotting tree species such as chestnut, cherry, walnut, etc. The foliage will be in the autumn, dried and demand crumbles and in the breeding shells. From the leaves after a few weeks is only the Blattgerippe left, a sign that the Spring tails tasted. After about a year, leaves and humus dismantled extent that it is a pampigen mass compacted. Then, the entire contents of the shell, after separation of Spring tails removed and replaced by fresh substrate. This care is not cost more to the relationship that I once had when I have 20 to 30 individual plastic bowls with lids every 2 days supply. The total yield is about as I do otherwise with about 20 breeding containers the size of 11 x 11 x 5 cm achieved. In order larger quantities of animal feed to have, one would have to breeding cabinet and shells larger dimension. 
In summary, that the described method for breeding from Spring tails at me perfectly well. It has proved to be extremely pflegearm and stable. Also mite infestation and mold growth so far, probably due to the high population density of the Spring tails, not yet occurred. Only the long some of at least 3 months, but you absolutely must comply, a Gedultsprobe for each animal breeders feed dar. 
I hope that this article be a little Spring tail breeders to encourage to glass cutters and silicone syringe to grasp and even take a "mini compost pile for the living room" to stick. It is him permanently save some work!


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## Dancing frogs

joshsfrogs said:


> All charcoal cultures last longer, but produce less, and is more of a pain to harvest the springtails.
> 
> 
> 
> Harder to harvest? Just add water and pour out the water from the cultures. Couldn't be easier.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I'm hip to that method, but I don't like to add a lot of extra water when I feed...so instead I use a piece of coco mat or treefern panel to shake/knock over the enclosure, works well, cept for the mites those products seem to attract.
The cocofiber mat is kind of hit or miss, and even on a "hit" I end up with mites sooner or later...when it works though, it works great...literally snowing springtails!


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## bluedart

This method has always produced GREAT cultures... 

Take a ratio of 1:1:1:3 Wood chips:leaves:LFS:Coco

Keep it fairly moist, but be sure to poke a few holes in the top--air flow really seems to be vital to sustain growth. I feed yeast... I tend to get the best results that way. Other foods lend themselves to mite infestations and those are never okay.


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## nelcadiz

I use a mixture of peat and pine crust, and fishfood to feed


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## bbrock

Dancing frogs said:


> Yeah, I'm hip to that method, but I don't like to add a lot of extra water when I feed...so instead I use a piece of coco mat or treefern panel to shake/knock over the enclosure, works well, cept for the mites those products seem to attract.
> The cocofiber mat is kind of hit or miss, and even on a "hit" I end up with mites sooner or later...when it works though, it works great...literally snowing springtails!


You can pour the water through a clump of sphagnum or similar and just place the now springtail loaded sphagnum in the viv instead of adding the water. I often just pour the water through a little strainer which lets a lot of springtails pass through but still quickly captures a couple thousand for a quick tap into a viv.


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## MonopolyBag

I am just having trouble getting the springtails into the vivs


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## sports_doc

try a moist leaf set on the cx surface with a fine dusting of dry yeast...in 2-3 days it will be covered in springs that you can simply tap into the tank and place the leaf back for round 2.

S


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## IN2DEEP

instead of a leaf try 4 pieces of 3"X4" corrugated cardboard secured by rubberband, get it wet, sprinkle some spring food in the channels and on top, place on culture surface, wait 2-4 days = springtail "salt shaker" or use a straw to blow out the channels into a viv. I pitch the cardboard when it gets black mold or if mites/worms cover the cardboard, blow off the springs, pitch the pests!


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## Nash

housevibe7 said:


> I feed them high quality fish food and rice.


Dry or cooked rice?


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## Frank H

Nash said:


> housevibe7 said:
> 
> 
> 
> I feed them high quality fish food and rice.
> 
> 
> 
> Dry or cooked rice?
Click to expand...

Really,,, it doesnt matter, but I would use uncooked rice.. Usually I just use yeast.


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## dragonfrog

A method I have not tried myself but am going to, is to make a mix of plaster of paris and crushed charcoal for color. This way it is easy to tap the container and the springs go into the viv without all your soil or charcoal going into the viv.
I found this method online a while back when I did research on springtails.


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## Sokretys

Hey i dont think this has been debated enough...wheres bbrock and frye when you need them. :lol:


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## Frognut

here is what I have done in the past for no mess feeding








place the cups level with the substrate add water to just cover the bottom.
and serve'em while there hot!


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## Sokretys

Scott, what are you using for the black cups? also, how much water are we talking...1/8 of an inch? how long can they survive in the water? you just fill it up and they jump in? easy as that? thanks


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## flyangler18

Those look like 2 oz Solo ramekins, am I right?


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## Frognut

film cups are in the pic, I have not tried Solo ramekins but they are black and may work? the water in the bottom is a bit more than a drop, to just cover the bottom. I wouldnt leave them for more than a few days.


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## KeroKero

Kinda have to find this post funny after getting all my springtails back (and then some) at the recent MADS meeting... Recently Oz made a great post with some of his awesome pics and it gave a great break down on how he takes care of his springtails... and the basic part is that there are WAY more varieties in the hobby than a lot of people think!! And with all those varieties... you get a wide variety of preferences. So sure... you're gonna get lots of answers and some are going to be conflicting... I tried to keep all my springs the same way just to have some really suffer (and then when all my cultures dried out at least one type that was suffering had a boom... yeah that kind likes it drier evidently :roll: ).


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## skronkykong

I don't know if this has been mentioned yet but for getting a concentration of springs in one place I have had the best luck with avacodo peels. Plus they are easy to pick up and put in another container without losing many springs.


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## Frognut

for those that have PMed me here is a link on feeding springs, I described what I used for that type of springs which I think I got from Eds
http://www.dendroboard.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=184060&highlight=#184060


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## AaronAcker

Like most, I use a mix variation of other peoples methods. I use the ziploc plastic containers, w/ blue lids, Its a mix of coco fiber, orchid bark, sphagnum, charcoal and peat. Mix really well, add some water than a teaspoon of an existing culture. I think that there should be a sticky to a springtail thread (I dont think I saw one?) if anybody has one that has really good pics of how they do their cultures... Would benefit a lot of members on the site...


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## Sokretys

Hey Scott, 
im trying your method. my substrate looks pretty much identical to yours...coco fiber..and ive used wisconsin sphagnum. its wicked cheap off ebay. i used some heavy duty scissors and cut it up as fine as i could and mixed it in. im not sure what the ratio is. but i tried to get its texture similar to yours. 

How wet do you all keep it for tropicals. i understand they like it as wet as temperates...a bit more clarification there would be much appreciated. 

also...how long does it usually take to get the initial boom? or does it vary from culture to culture? im sure its multi-variable..but im just curious. thanks!


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## Frognut

Hey Nate

you should not have water standing in the bottom. also Ive been adding broken up oak leaves in mine as well. Ive been feeding mushrooms, veg peels and yeast as of late. the trick to feeding is to feed smaller amounts more offten so you dont have a bloom then a crash. or feed alot to a culture that you intend to split or use as substrate in a new viv.


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## flyangler18

I've never had population booms like I do when I feed mushrooms. It's springtail super food! A heavily populated culture will destroy a mushroom slice in near record time :shock:


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## Sokretys

cool, yeah was going to ask how small you cut up the shrooms. right now ive got mushrooms halves small broccoli and yeast. a lot of them seem to be chilling out on the black underside of the muchrooms. as far as the leaf little, my order got held back but hes shipping it today with my leaf litter. there isnt any standing water., ive just been misting daily to keep it moist. that about right? thanks..


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## EDs Fly Meat

> I've never had population booms like I do when I feed mushrooms. It's springtail super food! A heavily populated culture will destroy a mushroom slice in near record time


Here is another person thinking outside of the box, and one with a really good idea. Springtails eat rotting fungus so it makes perfect sense that they would find these worthy. I'll have to try that one out.


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## flyangler18

> I'll have to try that one out.


Definitely. Always makes it super easy to harvest springs out for feeding. Skewer the mushroom with a toothpick and leave it in the culture. Springs will begin devouring the mushroom, and you pick up the toothpick and shake the springs off the mushroom into viv. Can't say it's an idea of my own creation...picked it up somewhere here on DB. 



> right now ive got mushrooms halves small broccoli and yeast


Be careful with feeding anything too rich- seems to bring on mites strong. Yeast and mushrooms do well for me, and that's what I feed exclusively.


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## markbudde

I came across this website tonight. It basically describes how temperate whites have been cultured for the last 50+ years! Apparently they were collected in U. Kansas greenhouse in prior to 1951. I propose, to clarify which springs people are talking about, we refer to these hereafter as _Sinella curviseta_. Yes, I am serious.









Credit to M. Khadavi for the pic.


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## gary1218

markbudde said:


> I came across this website tonight.


That is pretty interesting AND simple. I'm surprised they do best when set up in small 4oz containers. That seems pretty small to me. Worth giving a try.


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## Corpus Callosum

Mark, so the springs in that pic are _Sinella curviseta_?


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## frog_dude

Mine's pretty basic. I have a plastic storage box with about 3 inches of coco soil, pretty damp. I feed them with ready brek cereal, as it's fortified with vits and minerals. I have about half a dozen small peices of cork bark in the tub, and a couple in each of my thumbnail vivs. At feeding time i just swap the peices of cork bark over. I harvest every other day, and they've been going strong for over a year.


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## dylanserbin

would Leca clay balls work well for a medium for Springtail cultures to live in?


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## Estrato

Mine have absolutely exploded when i used dried mushrooms, crumbled into a powder, and mix it in with a charcoal substrate.


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## TDK

I set up 2 jars of LECA just this week because I had that on hand and no charcoal and was curious. I've been using leaf litter/peat with some success and I used old coco panels that work as well. I've used potato flakes, mushrooms and am trying fish food right now. Looks like the fish food may be working well by the number of small sprintails I'm seeing. Will try to post in a couple of weeks about the LECA.


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## beachbabe18509

Well of what I've tried this has worked the best for me especially when it comes time to feed the springs out or when I set up a grow out tank (so maybe I just set up my first one.. put it totally worked like a charm)

quarter of an inch layer of charcoal with a small amount of water topped with wet sphagnum.

When I lift up the sphagnum they are EVERYWHERE in the water and on the charcoal and to feed out I just pull out a clump of sphagnum and toss it in the tank. I'll occasionally sprinkle some food in the or even toss in some old veggies (usually mushrooms they LOVE mushrooms). When I set up my grow out I used wet sphagnum then just a little bit of the sphagnum from my culture and they are now every where in there, and let me tell you that is one happy little froglet!


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## Ed

The calcined clay used for infield conditioner along with the crushed up wood charcoal works at least as well as LECA in my experience. once the charcoal is saturated, you can flood the containers and simply pour off the springtails into a large cup. The excess water can be removed and then springs then poured into the enclosure. 

Ed


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## JustinF

I would love to hear some feedback on how well LECA vs Charcoal did, I have a lot more uses for the former then the later!


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## flybuster

I use coco chips and feed mushrooms, cultures are always booming. The best way i found to feed them off is to add a small peice of cardboard to the culture with the shroom on top. when i open the culture they run into the cardboard , tap it and it snows springs. I have about 40 16 oz cultures, after i feed them off i rotate my cultures let them start breeding again and by the time they come back around they are booming again. No need to split cultures or anything anymore.


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## DCreptiles

i use all cocofiber sometimes a soil mix if i have some jungle bed and spag left over or laying around. i keep one mag leaf in every culture thats what i use to sprinkle the yeast on twice a month and mist it to a paste they go nuts on it. and i only feed them twice a month so when the yeast is all gone they feed on the mushroom caps in the culture potato edges and cuecumber skins ect.. i also throw in left over fish flakes from what i dont use in fruit fly cultures and what not i sprinkle it on the leave not the soil. and my cultures are at a constant boom their never low or anything i have about 7 of them and one large master culture. i seed all my vivs every other week or so but i seed a large amount but it seems a few days later its sworming again. i believe there are many ways to culture them im going to try some other peoples methodes and see how well it works for me.
-Derek


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## TDK

TDK said:


> I set up 2 jars of LECA just this week because I had that on hand and no charcoal and was curious. I've been using leaf litter/peat with some success and I used old coco panels that work as well. I've used potato flakes, mushrooms and am trying fish food right now. Looks like the fish food may be working well by the number of small sprintails I'm seeing. Will try to post in a couple of weeks about the LECA.


I never di re-post my findings on LECA but it didn't work very well and now I have swithced to Coco chips. I also used leaves on top on some with food inbetween so you could pick up the leaf and shke into your tank.


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## Txlady15

MonopolyBag said:


> I am just having trouble getting the springtails into the vivs


I tried a new method today that works great. I used just enough water so they would float. Then I used a turkey baster to suck up some springtails then just squirted the water in my vivs.


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## Darmon

Holy resurrected threads. I throw a piece of old fruit in my tanks under some leaf litter. I dont culture any outside of my tanks.


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## ridinshotgun

Has anyone ever tried the zoomed excavator clay substrate to culture springtails on? I just got some cultures and they are on some type of clay soil and my thinking was that it is the zoomed soil. They stay damp and if the soil is clay based I would think they are also absorbing minerals in that clay.


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## mikouba

ridinshotgun said:


> Has anyone ever tried the zoomed excavator clay substrate to culture springtails on? I just got some cultures and they are on some type of clay soil and my thinking was that it is the zoomed soil. They stay damp and if the soil is clay based I would think they are also absorbing minerals in that clay.


Since it is hard for me to get the right ingredients I just tried to make a culture on excavator clay/calcium carbonate/vita-sand (zoomed brand).

Time will tell if the culture booms. The other question is - will it even accomplish what I am trying to achieve with the mineral transfer?


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