Im going to be getting a colony of spring tails tonight any tips?

Edan bandoot

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ive been having some mold issues with my arachnids so i figured spring tails would be helpful. i know to keep them with a few inches of water in charcoal and feed brewers yeast, and they are being sold as tropical whites. from the images the seller is providing they seem to have a fairly long body plan.

My question is what genus/species are they suspected and if theres any tricks/warnings i should know about
 

RoachCoach

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OOO boy, this is a juicy one. But on the serious side most of the major ones sold online as temperate or tropical require very little differences in care. They are both Collembola. You may like https://genent.cals.ncsu.edu/insect-identification/class-collembola/
I would say there is some good literature on it but that will cost you like $200 for a physical copy. Tons of info on Dendroboards though.
Edit: A quick start guide is to always use distilled water. They are hydrophobic so they won't drown if you flood the culture. They will however hide in the crevices of the charcoal and drown if you don't jostle the container when filling it. It takes literally about a pinch to feed 50-100 for a day or so. Only feed them brewers yeast and don't leave the top off for more than a minute to swap out the CO2. Keep their container as far from the floor as possible. Mites love the same stuff that sringtails do and will perch on the edge of an uncracked lid for days.
The main thing is just keeping mites out. Other than that it's pretty easy. They are parthenogenic so you can just leave them forever and they will still become a booming culture. Any other questions just holler.
 
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Edan bandoot

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OOO boy, this is a juicy one. But on the serious side most of the major ones sold online as temperate or tropical require very little differences in care. They are both Collembola. You may like https://genent.cals.ncsu.edu/insect-identification/class-collembola/
I would say there is some good literature on it but that will cost you like $200 for a physical copy. Tons of info on Dendroboards though.
Only reason I specified that they were tropical was for Id purposes, but God knows I'm not paying 200 to tell the difference between the pale little pinpricks
 

Edan bandoot

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They are hydrophobic so they won't drown if you flood the culture. They will however hide in the crevices of the charcoal and drown if you don't jostle the container when filling it.

Only feed them brewers yeast and don't leave the top off for more than a minute to swap out the CO2.

Keep their container as far from the floor as possible.
3 questions about your edit.

When you say jostle do you mean to lightly shake before adding water?


What's the importance of co2 and why is taking the top off bad, I Intended to take the lid off every day to add oxygen as they don't have holes in the lid.

And what's the significance of keeping the container off the floor ?
 

Polenth

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ive been having some mold issues with my arachnids so i figured spring tails would be helpful. i know to keep them with a few inches of water in charcoal and feed brewers yeast, and they are being sold as tropical whites. from the images the seller is providing they seem to have a fairly long body plan.

My question is what genus/species are they suspected and if theres any tricks/warnings i should know about
If they look white and long, they are most likely Folsomia candida. This is the most commonly kept one. They're sometimes sold as tropical springtails and sometimes as temperate springtails, so both are likely to be the same species (they might be populations collected from different areas, though I've never seen a confirmation of this). This is a hardy species, so you don't need to worry too much about things like temperature. They'll adapt to whatever your other animals need.
 

Edan bandoot

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If they look white and long, they are most likely Folsomia candida. This is the most commonly kept one. They're sometimes sold as tropical springtails and sometimes as temperate springtails, so both are likely to be the same species (they might be populations collected from different areas, though I've never seen a confirmation of this). This is a hardy species, so you don't need to worry too much about things like temperature. They'll adapt to whatever your other animals need.
do you think they'd be identifiable from a high res picture? I intend to get a camera and macro lens sometime in the next year
 

Tarantuland

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do you think they'd be identifiable from a high res picture? I intend to get a camera and macro lens sometime in the next year
I've seen people take pictures of them with a macro lens so yes. But what difference does it really make?

Even the temperate ones need a bit of water and most T species there's not enough moisture besides around a water dish to keep them alive. But things like Theraphosa, Phormictopus, Xenesthis, etc the big tropical spiders will do well with them. If you have really tiny slings they might eat them, but I mean the tiny 1/8 dwarf species slings
 

Edan bandoot

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I've seen people take pictures of them with a macro lens so yes. But what difference does it really make?

Even the temperate ones need a bit of water and most T species there's not enough moisture besides around a water dish to keep them alive. But things like Theraphosa, Phormictopus, Xenesthis, etc the big tropical spiders will do well with them. If you have really tiny slings they might eat them, but I mean the tiny 1/8 dwarf species slings
I like getting IDs on all sorts of things I own because I think taxonomy is cool.
 

Polenth

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do you think they'd be identifiable from a high res picture? I intend to get a camera and macro lens sometime in the next year
A good photograph might help you narrow it down to genus. Given that I haven't heard of people breeding up and selling others in the same genus, this is likely good enough to be reasonable sure.

To confirm the exact species, you'll need a microscope and access to the right papers that describe them. I know the gist (you'll need to look at the springy bit), but haven't found a free version of the information needed. So it'll require some money to get set up for this. I haven't got much into springtail identification for this reason, as most stuff is behind a paywall.

If you do go for it, it'll be difficult to look at the required areas on a moving springtail, so I'd recommend cooling them and using a microscope that takes video. It's much easier to analyse the images afterwards than to see what's going on in the few seconds you might get of the right areas. I got very lucky when I was looking at dwarf woodlice, as one knocked themselves over and showed their underside, so I was able to get a few good images from the video.
 

Edan bandoot

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A good photograph might help you narrow it down to genus. Given that I haven't heard of people breeding up and selling others in the same genus, this is likely good enough to be reasonable sure.

To confirm the exact species, you'll need a microscope and access to the right papers that describe them. I know the gist (you'll need to look at the springy bit), but haven't found a free version of the information needed. So it'll require some money to get set up for this. I haven't got much into springtail identification for this reason, as most stuff is behind a paywall.

If you do go for it, it'll be difficult to look at the required areas on a moving springtail, so I'd recommend cooling them and using a microscope that takes video. It's much easier to analyse the images afterwards than to see what's going on in the few seconds you might get of the right areas. I got very lucky when I was looking at dwarf woodlice, as one knocked themselves over and showed their underside, so I was able to get a few good images from the video.
Do you know if they will do fine on normal bread yeast?
 

Albireo Wulfbooper

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Do you know if they will do fine on normal bread yeast?
Bread yeast and brewer's yeast are the same species - the main difference is that when they break down sugars, one produces a bit more CO2 and the other a bit more alcohol. They're essentially interchangeable.
 

Frogdaddy

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3 questions about your edit.

When you say jostle do you mean to lightly shake before adding water?


What's the importance of co2 and why is taking the top off bad, I Intended to take the lid off every day to add oxygen as they don't have holes in the lid.

And what's the significance of keeping the container off the floor ?
What Edan is getting at, by shaking the comtainer springs will come oit of the crevices of the charcoal.

A build up of CO2 will kill a springtail culture. Removing the lid every other day will vent off the CO2. Or you can drill some ventilation holes and cover them with 0.3 micron mesh. That will keep the mites out and allow for gas exchange.

Mites, mites, mites. Mites tend to be more plentiful on the floor and im the carpet. Especially if you have cats.

I have always used mite paper and set my cultures on to of it. Or you can purchase some mite spray for birds. Spray a little on some sheets of paper towels and set your cultures on the paper towels.

Bread yeast and brewer's yeast are the same species - the main difference is that when they break down sugars, one produces a bit more CO2 and the other a bit more alcohol. They're essentially interchangeable.
I disagree with this. Why can't you use bread yeast to make beer? Why not use brewers yeast to make sourdough?
Brewers yeast has also been called nutritional yeast. I've never seen anyone recommend bakes yeast, never. Always brewers yeast.
For what it's worth I don't feed my springs yeast, I use mushrooms.
 

Albireo Wulfbooper

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I disagree with this. Why can't you use bread yeast to make beer? Why not use brewers yeast to make sourdough?
Brewers yeast has also been called nutritional yeast. I've never seen anyone recommend bakes yeast, never. Always brewers yeast.
For what it's worth I don't feed my springs yeast, I use mushrooms.
You can use bread yeast to make beer, it's just a bit less flavourful. You can also use brewer's yeast to make bread, it just has a bit of a bitter quality that's not ideal for sweeter breads. If CO2 buildup is a problem, then this is why brewer's yeast is recommended - brewer's yeast produces less CO2 than baker's yeast.
 
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