How to Culture Springtails with Grindal worms on Leaves
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Buy Grindal worms and Springtails locally through Craigslist:
newyork.craigslist.org/search...
Buy Springtails on Amazon (paid link): amzn.to/3wfnfuJ
Buy Grindal worms on Amazon (paid link): amzn.to/3E2BHZV
00:00 How to Culture Springtails with Grindal worms on Leaves
00:05 I got the best results cultivating Springtails with Grindal worms on different mediums.
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.
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.
You can see Springtails on the water surface.
Now let's add dry wilted leaves and that's all.
02:15 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.
Cover the container and let it sit for a day or two.
02:50 In this example I collect some Grindal worms with Springtails.
That amount should be enough for seeding a new culture.
Seed the Grindal worms with Springtails in the prepared container with wilted leaves.
Springtails and Grindal worms like and need moisture more than food.
All is set and ready on February 25th, 2022.
03:44 I checked on the culture 3 days later.
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.
One more week later on March 14th.
I see some worms on the walls and some water on the bottom.
March 28th.
04:30 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.
05:24 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.
Here you can see them on April 25th.
And Springtails are spread around everywhere else.
06:27 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.
Simple care - just add a leaf once a week.
Springtails and Grindal worms spread around on every layer.
07:23 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 :)
07:54 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.
08:43 Here is one example just to give you ideas.
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 :)
Blog: rndmbits.blogspot.com/2023/04...
More fun on my website www.fewdoit.com
Пікірлер: 24
I really like this idea of using leaves as a medium. I'm about to set up an aquarium, so I've been thinking about live food and I think I will try this method! Thank you for documenting this technique and sharing it.
@4me
2 ай бұрын
My pleasure! There are a couple things I want to point your attention to. Wilted leaves are good and so is bark tree. It's easier to collect Springtails and worms from the bark tree. I also have been experimenting with keeping colonies of Springtails, Isopods and Grindal worms on land platforms above the water level. That is the way of doing self-feeding aquariums. It's not a substituted for regular feeding! But it let's me leave my aquariums unattended for 2-3 weeks (up to one month). I have a playlist of videos about it: kzread.info/head/PLM88hGt0AfGvTwxtpc8005q8jwWelt_Yc My fish really enjoy eating scuds. I have them in all aquariums and keep a couple colonies in scuds only tanks. Scuds are very easy to culture and makes great addition I would suggest you to look at as a source of live food for fish and aquatic newts. Have fun and happy aquariums :)
Nice gargantuan grindal worms farm!
@4me
Жыл бұрын
Through the last Winter I've been going with 3 dozens containers of Grindals with Springtails and minimum 2 dozens containers of Isopods. And there are other critters too. Providing live food for newts is challenging, but doable 🙂
@filamas
Жыл бұрын
@@4me Bigger creatures, bigger responsibility! 😁
@filamas
Жыл бұрын
@@4me Also, I hope that the planarian video comes out!
@4me
Жыл бұрын
@@filamas counted on getting one big, but got 3 instead for even more fun 😂
Mr Langerman can u post a update video about your guppies and endlers with their history and parents 😊
@4me
Жыл бұрын
Thank you very much!! I've been working on videos about Endlers and will publish them. You can find all my videos related to Endlers on this playlist: kzread.info/dash/bejne/l5WnsMyjdtKaeKw.html&pp=gAQB I finished all my projects with Guppies about 2 years ago. The last breeding family of my dwarf guppies I gave away the last Summer - to make room for new projects with Endlers and Newts. You can find all my videos about Guppies on this playlist: kzread.info/dash/bejne/aJaKy85pgbnAprA.html&pp=gAQB Happy Easter!
@rogstorm4447
Жыл бұрын
@@4me Thank u 😊
Could you use dried aquarium plants as the leaves? I'm forever Composting floating plants and stem cuttings. I don't have springtails in my culture but have some on a floating plants in one aquarium. Could never get rid of them.... I tried. Lol
@4me
Жыл бұрын
I use dried aquarium plants for feeding my fish - it is an important part of sustainable aquariums I have. Here is one of my videos about making fish food flakes this way: kzread.info/dash/bejne/qGaEuKaBnL2borQ.html I have never tried to culture Springtails or Grindal worms using aquatic plants as medium to tell you for sure. I think it's doable. There is only one sure way to get rid of Springtails - you have to dry the aquarium 🙂 Being real - you should be happy to have Springtails coming to your aquariums. My guppies and Endlers eat Springtails. And you may want to look up where the Springtails coming from - that is a damp spot where the colony of them already live in your house. Drying that spot would chase Springtails away, but more importantly it may save your house thinking about it.
👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
@4me
Жыл бұрын
Thank you very much!
how to make closed jar terrarium and does the terrarium filled with algae turn into moss and what happen when we put nothing in terrarium but dry leaves and tree stem in the terrarium with a live grass
@4me
2 ай бұрын
a completely closed terrarium should include source of light/ energy and should not be made of glass as to prevent outside source of light/energy to interfere. The most realistic "closed" terrariums could be build on asteroids flying through space between stars. Turning live algae into live moss probably possible with use of some very advances magic spells you can learn from Harry Potter. Things go as they should when we put dry leaves and tree stem in terrarium with grass. Setting up this takes approximately 7 days. Giving it enough time after that bacteria and tiny critters hidden on wilting leaves start evolving into more advanced creatures you would be able to observe and even teach them some advanced technologies aka wheels and fire. They would know you as GOD! Eventually you will forget about them which would allow them to do all kind of things in their limited space with limited resources. Just like we do on our planet. Have fun and happy terrariums :)
Does the spiecies of leaves matter?
@4me
Жыл бұрын
I use oak, maple and cherry tree leaves (those grow locally). I don't see any noticeable difference in results to speak of.
@nikdo1911
Жыл бұрын
How about grape leaves?
@4me
Жыл бұрын
@@nikdo1911 grape leaves and mulberry tree leaves are eatable when fresh. Should do for culturing as wilted too - though I did not try them to tell you for sure yet.
Where do I get springtails? Josh’s Frogs springtails is a scam 🤔
@4me
Жыл бұрын
Check your local Craigslist: newyork.craigslist.org/search/sss?userpostingid=7626911172#search=1~gallery~0~0 Also, you may find wild Springtails in your local parks or even in your house - look for them in wet spots.
Food poop. 😳 Not a word combination I hear very often. 🙄
@4me
Жыл бұрын
🙂