Springtail

[caseysmith]

I was jsut wondering If anyone out there could tell me what they put their springtails in other then coal. I seem to be having a hard time getting my cultures to grow properly. I heard some were that people have been using peetmoss and other are using other kinds of moss.

[flyangler18]

Coco husk chips mainly, with some coco fiber mixed in. Leaf litter on top (oak).

[Dancing frogs]

Originally Posted by caseysmith

I was jsut wondering If anyone out there could tell me what they put their springtails in other then coal. I seem to be having a hard time getting my cultures to grow properly. I heard some were that people have been using peetmoss and other are using other kinds of moss.

You mean charcoal right? Are you using natural hardwood charcoal (looks like partially burnt wood) or briquets, like kingsford (doensn't work)?

[caseysmith]

Yes I am using charcoal. That was actually quite funny - If I was actually using that I could see why my springs cultures wouldn't go so well. No back to the culture -- Some of you said that cocofiber and peet moss works good, how wet should the area be?

[brettlt]

Are you culturing temperate or tropical?

[joeyo90]

you dont want it very wet at all i just keep mine damp
the only probalem i find is if i dont use mite paper under my coco fiber cultures i get mites but i seem to have better production than with charcoal

[zaroba]

springtails are weird when it comes to substrates. different people use different things and can have mixed results despite having identical cultures. theres dozens of methods that all seem to be mostly hit and miss. this topic has a lot of discussion on various methods: Convinced you have the best springtail culture method?


i bought 2 springtail cultures at a reptile show almost 2 weeks ago, dumped them both into my viv, and then put plain coco fiber into both cups, filling them half way. the coco fiber was very wet since it was recently made and still in the bucket i made it in. i then put a small springtail coated clump of dirt in each container. i let them sit with nothing else added.

its been almost 2 weeks since setting them up, one has loads of springtails, one barely has any.
both were made with the same substrate, both kept in the same place, both are in identical containers.