How to culture Springtails on polyester foam and moss

Let's set up a container for culturing Springtails. 

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 https://newyork.craigslist.org/search/sss?userpostingid=7391919122 or 

buy Springtails on Amazon (paid link): 

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In this example, I use a food grade 16oz black container with a cover. 

Poke holes in the cover pointing the needle from the top inside of the container. 

The holes in the cover provide air circulation while greatly reducing water evaporation. 

This time I use polyester foam as a medium for culturing Springtails. 

Soak the polyester foam in tap water - I prefer to use aged algae rich water. 

Put the medium in the container and cover it. 

Also, we can use live land moss instead of or with polyester foam. 

Here I have a sample of land moss collected in a local park.

I already soaked the moss overnight to drown unwanted critters it may come with. 

This land moss can also grow underwater - check my videos if you are interested to learn more about it.

 Put the moss on top of polyester foam and cover the container. 

I let the container sit until I collect Springtails from an old well established Springtails culture.

 Originally, I got Springtails in Grindal worms cultures on soil, and later on, Peat moss. 

Here you can see Springtails walking on the water’s surface in a cup. 

Springtails are great jumpers. 

There are different ways to seed a new culture.

 In this example, I pour the water with Springtails on top of the moss and polyester.

Springtails spread around exploring their new home. 

The adult Springtails of the strain I have grow 1-2 mm long. 

It would take about 4-6 weeks for baby Springtails to hatch. 

Crash a half of Cheerios flake for Springtails to feed on. 

All set on October 21st, 2021 

Check on the Springtails culture daily. 

Feed Springtails only if the old food is gone. 

Uneaten food gets spoiled and mold will grow on it. 

Springtails like a moist environment.

 I see them gathering on droplets of water on the walls and the bottom of the container. 

Also, I like to add a second layer of polyester foam. 

Misting the medium works better for culturing Springtails in any medium rather than pouring water on it. 

Here you can see mold growing on the remains of about a week old food. 

Reducing the amount of given food is the best way to prevent mold. 

I see Springtails gathering around water droplets but never around mold.

 So, it is really questionable whether Springtails feed on mold or not.

 I have an idea for an experiment to check on it. 

About 3 weeks later, on November 12th, I added Grindal worms.

 It is optional - you don't have to add Grindal worms into Springtails culture. 

Springtails invade all my Grindal worm cultures in the past. 

Springtails seem to breed proficiently in company with Grindal worms. 

My fish enjoy eating Springtails as much as Grindal worms. 

So, it is beneficial and space-saving to keep both cultures in one container. 

I believe Springtails feed on Grindal worm waste. 

The daily feeding and misting remains all the same for Springtails with or without Grindal worms.

 About 4 weeks since the initial setup, I notice a huge amount of speckle sized baby Springtails on the walls of the container.

 Patches of old mold stay visibly untouched.

 Place new food away from the mold.

 I don't remove mold just to see if Springtails will consume it. 

You can use a pipette to drop some water, but misting works the best for Springtails. 

Springtail males drop pockets of sperm on the surface for females to pick up.

 Adding too much water may wash away the sperm from where females may look for it.

 And as a result it would slow down breeding. 

Noticeably, Springtails don't gather on the cereal flakes the way Grindal worms do. 

There are visibly much more Springtails in the 6 week old culture on December 3rd. 

Again, Springtails gather on water droplets along the walls and the bottom of the container.

 Let's remove the excess of water along with Springtails and Grindal worms caught in it. 

Use it to set up a new culture or to feed fish. 

Covering moss, polyester, or whatever other mediums you may use with a piece of plastic helps to reduce water evaporation. 

And it makes much easier to collect Springtails and Grindal worms. 

You can simply shake Springtails off of the piece of plastic into another container. 

I have great results culturing Springtails in this way on polyester and live moss. 

And most importantly - my top feeding fish, Endlers and Guppies enjoy eating Springtails. 

I give Springtails to my fish about once a week as a regular feeding. 

Here they go. 

Springtails stay on the water surface - they are to light to sink down. 

Adult fish consume a lot of bite sized Springtails in one feeding. 

Big moms and pregnant fish go after Springtails very vigilantly. 

Springtails tiny size makes them one of the best live food for baby fish.

 Springtails are a very healthy protein-rich live fish food. 

And Springtails are simple to culture at home for fish feeding, terrariums, or whatever you need them for. 

As simple as it is...there is even simpler way to culture Springtails and Grindal worms than shown in this video.

 More about it in future videos - stay tuned! 

Have fun and Happy Springtails :)