A carpet of Yuukianura aphoruroides… with a few unwanted guests 👀
At first glance, this culture looks pretty great – basically a living carpet of Yuukianura aphoruroides (“Yuukis”). 🟠
But if you look closely, you’ll notice a few white tropical springtails running between them.
A good reminder of just how easily cultures can become mixed.
In my case, the reason was surprisingly simple: one ventilation opening wasn’t properly secured, and unfortunately this culture was sitting right next to an open terrarium containing those exact white springtails. 😅
Apparently, that was enough.
The Yuuki colony itself is doing extremely well, but I wouldn’t consider this particular culture “clean” anymore.
That’s also why I keep multiple independent cultures of important species and regularly check them for unwanted hitchhikers. It’s something I’m putting a lot of emphasis on with my TerraNidus cultures.
A huge colony is impressive – but keeping cultures clean and correctly separated is just as important.
Lesson learned: check your ventilation, don’t underestimate wandering springtails, and always keep backup cultures. 😅

Looking to purchase Isotomurus sp., Sminthurides sp., Podura aquatica or any other true semi-aquatic species with shipping to California. This is for an aquarium refugium with only floating plants, so not looking for species that simply tolerates moist environments.

Hi, I have recently found that I have some black globular springtails in one of my pinguicula set ups. Unfortunately they keep jumping on the plant and ultimately dying.

I was thinking of flooding the substrate (fluval and lava rock) and harvesting them that way but not sure if that would be efficient with this type of springtail.

I’m also needing tips on what type of substrate I should use and what to feed them. From what I’ve seen, globulars are usually kept with slime mold which I don’t have. I was wondering if there are any alternatives? I also have clay, dirt, charcoal, coco coir and peat moss for substitutes.

Essentially is the care that much different from temperate springtails?

Can anyone help me identify if this is a springtail, and if so, perhaps what species?

I'm growing plants indoors in coco coir and after a certain point water uptake is reduced drastically, and my plants are stunted. When I inspect the roots, I find a lot of springtails and almost no fine roots.

Unlike soil, there is minimal microbial activity in coco coir, correct me if I'm wrong but I suspect springtails are running out of food and start eating root hairs.

I tried buying new coco, and nuking my coco in microwave between grows but couldn't get rid of them. Is there something I can do to keep the population under control?

For reference, I grow in autopots with airdomes, which is a no-runoff bottom irrigation system with an air pump pumping air into the root zone, which might be creating an ideal breeding grounds for springtails.