# What are these tiny black bugs???



## dnxtvet (Nov 28, 2009)

Saw these my terribilis in two different tanks any idea what they are? If I need to get rid of them and how? They seem to annoy the frogs... they would annoy me!
Thanks for your help


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## dnxtvet (Nov 28, 2009)

Sorry here it is.... http://www.dendroboard.com/forum/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=35282&cat=500


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## Julio (Oct 8, 2007)

Spring tails!


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## james67 (Jun 28, 2008)

i posted the image so people dont have to navigate away 

IME not a lot you can do for springtails in a permanent tank, in temps i would just trash the substrate, and that would be enough, but im not sure that is possible in a permanent enclosure.

james


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## tclipse (Sep 19, 2009)

Assuming those are fully grown, you could try breeding up a ton of a larger, faster breeding species (i.e. pink tropical springtails) and dumping them in there to see if they could outcompete the smaller ones. If it doesn't work, the worst that could happen is that you have an extra food source... the ones you pictured seem too small for the frogs to thin the population themselves. 

Adding more leaf litter could help, theoretically (or, it could totally backfire due to more space & food for the little critters ), by providing more of a buffer between the frogs and the soil. Springs usually chill under leaves instead of on top IME so it might be worth a try?


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## Dendro Dave (Aug 2, 2005)

james67 said:


> i posted the image so people dont have to navigate away
> 
> IME not a lot you can do for springtails in a permanent tank, in temps i would just trash the substrate, and that would be enough, but im not sure that is possible in a permanent enclosure.
> 
> james


I know they seemed to be bothering the frog but generally springs are a good thing. If they are springs when you blow on them they should just start flinging themselves everywhere...Mites and most other stuff I think will huddle down and weather the wind if not actually blown so hard they can't...springs voluntarily jump away even if blown on very lightly (hence the name). 

If the tank is new you might just be experiencing a temporary boom...the frogs will probably take care of them or the population will level off and reach an equilibrium once the excess food supply is gone and they have to rely on the normal influx of new decaying matter/mold/fungus. 

If they don't spring away you may have an unknown infestation of something potentially harmful and will probably have to remove the frogs...and possibly break down the whole viv if you can't use CO2 to kill them or something. If they are springs but still look to be constantly stressing the frogs heavily it may be safest to remove the frogs temporarily until the spring population levels off.


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