How to Culture Springtails with Grindal Worms on Leaves

I got the best results cultivating Springtails with Grindal worms on different mediums.

Buy Grindal worms and Springtails locally through Craigslist: 

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

Buy Springtails on Amazon (paid link): 

https://amzn.to/3wfnfuJ

Buy Grindal worms on Amazon (paid link): 

https://amzn.to/3E2BHZV

Very simple care with daily feeding.

But daily feeding means living life without taking vacations.

To free myself from feeding Springtails and Grindal worms daily I start using wilted leaves.

Here you can see well established cultures on wilted leaves with live moss.

Cultures of Springtails with Grindal worms on wilted leaves stay alive without feeding for weeks!

Wilted leaves turn out to be one of the best moisture retaining mediums.

And wilted leaves serve as food.

Basically the whole setup is a tiny composting bin - very natural setup thinking about it.

There are too many Grindal worms in this culture.

I have to collect Grindal worms from this culture to prevent the culture from collapsing.

And sure enough, I pick some Springtails along with Grindal worms.

Too many Grindal worms on the walls is one sign to watch before culture collapses.

It's like Grindal worms spreading away in a spider web pattern away from the toxic medium.

Bad odor is an even more certain indicator of imminent collapse of the culture.

And this stands true for any medium I cultured Grindal worms on.

So, any time the culture smells bad or looks unhealthy I take out as many worms as I can.

You can see Springtails on the water surface.

Now let's add dry wilted leaves and that's all.

This culture will keep going just fine.

I feed Grindal worms and Springtails to my fish (Guppies and Endlers) at least once a week.

Fish love live food!

Also, it is easy to make frozen Grindal worms or dry pallets.

Check my previous videos for details.

Let's set up a new culture of Grindal worms with Springtails on wilted leaves.

Poke needle sized holes in the cover of the container for air circulation.

Put some dry wilted leaves in the container.

You can crush the large dry leaves on small pieces.

I actually prefer to use larger pieces of leaves or small enough leaves that fit in the container.

Add dechlorinated water.

Cover the container and let it sit for a day or two.

We can split the well established culture into two - it is the best way to make new cultures.

In this example I collect some Grindal worms with Springtails.

That amount should be enough for seeding a new culture.

The same amount is enough for one feeding of half a dozen fish or so.

Seed the Grindal worms with Springtails in the prepared container with wilted leaves.

It's okay to have some water on the bottom of the container at the beginning.

Springtails and Grindal worms like and need moisture more than food.

Cover the container to reduce water evaporation.

All is set and ready on February 25th, 2022.

I checked on the culture 3 days later.

The leaves are damp.

All looks good.

The next week on March 7th I add a wilted leaf.

Also, I like to cover the medium with a piece of plastic.

It's easier to collect worms and Springtails from the plastic.

And let's add some water to keep the culture moist.

One more week later on March 14th.

I see some worms on the walls and some water on the bottom.

All looks good.

March 28th.

It's been a month since I set up this culture on wilted leaves.

Springtails and Grindal worms are alive without me feeding them for the whole month :)

Let's add a wilted leaf.

In the Nature Grindal worms feed on wilted leaves.

I actually found Grindal worms in the local park while picking wilted leaves for my Isopods.

And Springtails also feed on detritus - preferably poop.

That is the main reason to keep Springtails with Grindal worms on leaves.

Grindal worms feeding on wilted leaves provide food (poop) for Springtails to feed on.

And wilted leaves provide surface for Springtails and Grindal worms to breed on.

April 4th.

It takes 6-8 weeks for new babies to hatch.

You can see some young Springtails here already.

April 13th.

As the culture keeps growing we have to provide more food.

And we want an easy way to collect Grindal worms.

Let's add a cereal flake.

Five days later on April 18th.

The cereal flake remain untouched.

Okay...let's add more leaves, if that's what worms prefer.

It took about two weeks for Grindal worms to gather around the cereal flake.

Here you can see them on April 25th.

And Springtails are spread around everywhere else.

I add a cereal flake 2-3 times a week for keeping Grindal worms on the surface.

May 9th.

I also tried feeding culture with different cereal, dry dog food, oatmeal and yeast.

Feeding culture with cheerios cereal works the best for me as it has no odor.

May 16th.

It's about a 4 months old well established culture.

Let's harvest Springtails by shaking them off of the plastic.

And so it goes week after week.

Simple care - just add a leaf once a week.

Springtails and Grindal worms spread around on every layer.

Add cereal flakes on the top for worms to gather on the surface before the day you want to collect them.

Harvest Grindal worms once a month for feeding your fish and to keep your culture from collapsing.

I keep a couple dozen cultures of Springtails with Grindal worms in 16oz containers.

It allows me to feed live food to my fish every week all year around.

And I've been taking weeks-long vacations throughout the year without losing a single culture :)

Here you can see about one year old cultures in February 2023.

All healthy and going strong!

Nothing stinky in healthy cultures.

I keep more than two dozen cultures on a shelf with aquariums in my living room.

You can see a lot of Springtails and Grindal worms on the top.

And there are even more under the leaves.

The leaves on the bottom have been composted.

I am sure every one of you growing plants knows very well what to do with compost :)

I may share with you more details about composting at home in future videos.

Here is one example just to give you ideas.

Yes, Grindal worms feed on banana peels too.

Though, Springtails seem not to like bananas that much.

A year-long experiment convinced me that wilting leaves are the best medium for culturing Springtails with Grindal worms.

Have fun and a lot of Springtails and Worms :)