# How to remove springtails from culture?



## Cornish-J (Sep 4, 2011)

Anyone got any tips for removing then without tipping the whole tub in the tank?


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## Wolfenrook (Jul 2, 2010)

Put some dead dried leaves on the top, then you can just transfer the leaves to the viv and replace them. Other folks use charcoal, and drop this into water to get the springs off, but then you are left trying to separate the floating springs from the water. 

Ade


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## Ron Magpie (Oct 11, 2009)

Ha! I misunderstood the thread title! I was about to say 'why would you want to?' :lol2: I don't have an actual springtail culture, just itinerant springs that have arrived from somewhere. I generally chack a handful of leaves or moss or a bit of wood and soil from established tanks into new ones- seems to spread them. how do you culture yours, Ade?


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## REDDEV1L (Nov 27, 2008)

Try popping in a piece of fruit or veg. I find it soon gets covered when I put some in my tanks for rogue crickets (Yes, I've started leaving crickets in some of my tanks!!!)

I cultured mine, so to speak, in a cricket tub. A cm or 2 of damp cocofibre in the bottom, piece of cardboard ontop. Feeding fishflake sparingly.
Not as complicated as the dart frog lot with their charcoal etc, but it worked for me and i've got more springs than I need in 7 tanks from the one original bought culture.
Ended up chucking my culture a few weeks ago as it became overrun with what I think were nematodes (They came with the original culture) so ill have to steal from other tanks for my next species :lol2:


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## Spikebrit (Oct 23, 2006)

my method is simular to ade's, i either add leaf litter to the top wait untill it's full of springtails and move it, or I just scope a handful of the medium up and put it in the new viv, then just refill the culture with more soil/leaf litter. 

jay


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## Wolfenrook (Jul 2, 2010)

I culture mine in 'sandwich boxes' mostly. I've found the most effective culture media to be mainly orchid bark, but with a bit of peat or eco earth mixed into it. They seem to prefer 'peaty' substrates, and breed much faster for me than using purely orchid bark.

I then put dead dried oak leaves on the surface of this, and feed with fish flak on top of the leaves. Then when I want to put some in as feeders in a viv (all my vivs are already seeded with springtails, even my White's, so I culture them as a food source only) I simply remove a few leaves and pop em in the viv on top of the leaf litter in there, and replace the removed leaves. Or as Jay says, you can tap them off the leaf, however I find it helps to replenish my leaf litter to just chuck it in. lol

I have also used the spoon out the substrate into the viv method.

REDDEV1L, sounds like microworms, they occur in springtail cultures that are too moist. You were right to bin em though, I find they pretty quickly die once they have microworms in them. Try keeping your cultures a tiny bit less moist.

Works a treat.


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## Ron Magpie (Oct 11, 2009)

Since the mini woodlouse culture is going so well, I'm thinking about culturing springs, as well- less for food than for clean-up. Although most of my tanks seem to have them, they appear to be in very small numbers. But then, I myself said (to Hong Kong Stewie, I think), I'm not likely to see them, most of the time.


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## frogman955 (Feb 7, 2010)

I have peat plates which I got from Dartfrog 100mm square which I sit on the medium and when required I lift the peat out and use a 1 inch paint brush to gently brush them off into the viv.
I also use charcoal and do the same, just lift it out and brush them off.
Simples.

Mike


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## Cornish-J (Sep 4, 2011)

all the springtails just sit on the peat plates rather than the soil? or there is no soil? What do you use as medium?


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## fardilis (Mar 22, 2011)

Cornish-J said:


> all the springtails just sit on the peat plates rather than the soil? or there is no soil? What do you use as medium?



bark

i use a pise of bananna to get all teh springs on

before i learnt this i would actually pic them off by hand or sive them out threw a few layers of fine mesh:bash:


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## soundstounite (Sep 6, 2009)

we just use bits of cork or oak bark sat on top of the culture,simply tad them off 
Stu


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## frogman955 (Feb 7, 2010)

Hi Cornish.
I just use coco humus or theres orchid bark, I also have charcoal..
There are several things which can be used, just whatever suits your own requirements.

Mike


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## berksmike (Jan 2, 2008)

Im the same as Frogman - use lumpwood charcoal on top of the coir/orchid bark and tap them off that


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## Cornish-J (Sep 4, 2011)

Thanks guys


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## Ron Magpie (Oct 11, 2009)

I was watching the soil in my cane toad tank last night (exciting life I lead!:lol2 and I saw: Couple of species of native woodlice; two very small tropical woodlice (yay, they're taking!); a few native springtails; a whole bunch of tropical springtails (answers *that* question!) some compost worms; a small snail and somewhat to my surprise, some minute baby crickets- I assume one of the adults dropped in as food managed to lay eggs before she got eaten. It's a bizarre ecology, but it seems to work.:2thumb:


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## beaniebopps (Oct 4, 2009)

Ron Magpie said:


> I was watching the soil in my cane toad tank last night (exciting life I lead!:lol2 and I saw: Couple of species of native woodlice; two very small tropical woodlice (yay, they're taking!); a few native springtails; a whole bunch of tropical springtails (answers *that* question!) some compost worms; a small snail and somewhat to my surprise, some minute baby crickets- I assume one of the adults dropped in as food managed to lay eggs before she got eaten. It's a bizarre ecology, but it seems to work.:2thumb:


I love watching the variety of life in my viv too lol - In fact I'm so pathetic that I took a photo of the springtails:


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