Springtail propagation.

[Pepper]

I use charcoal, and i like it more than any substrate bc you can pour water into it then pour that out and the springtails come with it because they float.
I feed them fish food.
I dont vent for like a week sometimes and they dont seem to mind.

 

[Ponerinecat]

For whenever I want to collect I just aspirate them or blow them off of some pieces of wood/stone.

 

[Ben sibley]

My culture on charcoal took ages to get started but now iv got tons of them! Also got loads in my isopod and millipede vivs. I feed them a couple of times a week with yeast and spuralina

 

[Rhino1]

Update from my op - so I ended up trying both the sphagnum and charcoal methods in separate tubs, most of the springtails I had was put into a much larger tub with charcoal and water and there were a few stuck in the original deli cup so I put in some very wet sphagnum. Both tubs were successful and are pumping, I'm now a springtail herder, I didnt have yeast so I put in one or two grains of rice every week or so and that seems to do the job.
Thanks very much for the input everyone

 

[DrippingPopsicle]

Keep them on bonfire coals (coals collected from an extinguished fire that was started without the use of chemicals) or lump wood charcoal NOT BRIQUETTES!! Fill the enclosure about halfway with distilled water and add rice occasionally for food.

 

[radjess331]

I have two species that I actively feed and encourage to reproduce. And several others that just appear.
The larger Sinella needs more surface area to run around on then the smaller springtails. I keep this species on cocopeat and chunks, feeding them only fish flakes and yeast. This sandwhich container produces several thousand a week. I remove 1/3 the substrate and give it to tanks that need more springtails.
I also keep the smaller candida species.
Those are kept on activated carbon and carbon chunks.
They eat yeast mostly and sometimes they get fishflakes. On a much rarer occasion they get actual veggies which are then broken down slowly into just fibers left behind.
All the springtails are in sealed containers.
The only way for me to prevent mites in my springtail enclosures is to keep them air tight. Only downside to this is you must open and vent each container every other day. Or the carbon dioxide from the yeast can kill the colony.

 

[radjess331]

Also. Id recommend making several cultures from your main one. This way if it crashes or gets infected you have another clean one on standby. I have many small colonies going rn, all containers are from the dollar store. Even something as small as this one produces several hundred a week.

 

[Pepper]

Keep them on bonfire coals (coals collected from an extinguished fire that was started without the use of chemicals) or lump wood charcoal NOT BRIQUETTES!! Fill the enclosure about halfway with distilled water and add rice occasionally for food.

yeah dont use like Kingsford(?) brand-style briquettes of charcoal. What i use is named Cowboy Charcoal. I couldnt find it in a size smaller than the largest bag of dog food you can think of, so make sure you have room to store or want to make a whole lot of colonies.
I also made 6-7 different colonies in case one fails, i second that good idea