All About Springtails - Care, Culturing, Seeding & More

Springtails (collembolla) are tiny white arthropods that are often incorporated into terrariums and vivariums. They are one of the key components to creating a bioactive setup. They also help combat and eliminate common terrarium problems such as mold and algae.

Springtails are extremely easy to keep and culture. Although they are not necessary for terrariums, anyone who wants to get serious with their hobby should really consider culturing these little critters.

[hypersapien]

It's weird to think that an hour ago I had never heard of springtails, and now I'm really fascinated by them. Thanks for introducing me to this interesting topic, and great work on the video =)

[Will_theIV]

Can I just say how awesome it is to get step-by-step tutorials on terrariums from someone who really knows what they're doing. I've been considering trying out terrariums for a while but I haven't really been able to find high quality, informative, and easy to understand tutorials until now. Excellent work and please keep it up.

[antoniovinzani]

I love how he recorded himself cooking on the grill, the editing on this channel is great.

[gabumonboys]

Congratulations on being the best terrarium designer on YouTube! Almost every terrarium video I see is people adding plants small enough to fit the container but will soon outgrow the container. None of them seem to know about what moss to use, and when they do, they don't leave space for moss to grow, they simply fill the entire area with moss. And of course, they don't ever show an update on the terrariums because people will see their heinous coalition of life.

[DannyTillotson]

You saved me from panic mode thinking my indoor houseplants were infested to feeling very relaxed and happy about God's free mold and fungus cleanups. Springtails for the win! 🥰

[SerpaDesign]

The purpose of this presentation is to show you the benefit of Springtails and to show you how to culture them for yourself. As stated in the video though, if you want to get serious about this hobby you really should consider it. However, I canceled the listing for the springtails as they basically got sold out! To provide you guys with the best product at the best prices and with good customer service I won't be selling them again until April. Thank you!

[geovaughan]

I recently found a snail in my home and spontaneously decided to keep it as a pet. It’s been a little more than a week and I started seeing these little things scurrying around. Thanks to this video I can now confirm I have a wild colony of springtails in my snail tank. Apparently they are good to have in snail tanks so I’m not alarmed, but if anyone here has additional expertise on these little guys I’d appreciate it.

[thejawe]

Last night maybe at 3am, I was watching some of your vids and thought of starting my own terrarium making hobby. My first question and problem was where can I get these springtails? 🤔 So I kept watching some vids and there I heard the magic word “decompose”. I instantly thought of my diy mini compost pit for my plants and I remember I see these small white critters roaming within the compost whenver I check it! And voila! My problem was solved! Little did I know that I already had a whole mini farm of springtails for months now! All I need to do now it to trap some of them and put then in a cultivating tray. I am sooo exited!! 😂

[jeffjohnson]

First time ever heard of this, just living in isolation I guess, after 60 years one can still learn!

[Midnight_Rein]

I've been seriously thinking about starting to build terrariums again, and having these resources available from a trusted source is super helpful, so thanks, six years later, for leaving these up Tanner! I've appreciated your content over the years!

[davidvento]

I’ve always had springtails appear in my terrariums and vivariums naturally. They arrived hitchhiking on mosses, bark and/or other natural organic elements I added. In the beginning I wasn’t sure what these little arthropods were called but they never appeared to be hurting the plants or animals. I soon learned they were actually very beneficial & desirable “housekeepers” in bio-active enclosures. I’ve also had “pill bug” (aka; roley-poley) colonies occasionally “appear” in enclosures. I knew they were benign critters and now I know they also help keep bio-active enclosures clean & tidy. You do a great job of informing & educating your community Tanner and you have an amazing sense of aesthetics. Good luck with your move and all future endeavors.

[nairb]

I’ve known about springtails for years and seen them in the wild but I had no idea they were this useful and easy to manage.

[emmitstewart]

I've had springtails in my houseplants for as long as I can remember. You could probably start a culture of springtails from any well established house plant. Just make sure that you are getting springtails, not thrip. Thrip are about the same size as springtails, but they will destroy your plants. If you could see them clearly thrip have iridescent shells, while springtails are translucent. The easiest way to tell them apart is that springtails crawl and jump, while thrip fly or crawl.

[paulbob]

I just shaved off charcoal from a charred pieces of fire wood. Used a bag from the store. Smash with a rock. Transfer the charcoal an throw out the bag. I've learned so much from you. This is the most relaxing and cheap hobby. I'm hooked.

[honeycombkisses]

I had heard of springtails but didn't know much about them apart from being funky little decomposers, I found a swarm had grown in the substrate of my enclosure and started to panic because I thought I did something wrong or wasn't keeping it clean enough- but now I hope my snail enjoys their new roommates. Great video ☀️

[korthosen]

i´d love to see an updated version
Thanks to u i decided after following ur channel for 3+ years now to get back into Terrariums & Paludariums & soon into aquatics (will take 3-4 months thou )
i know u made some videos about isopods nd springtails
but i´d figure u have way more to tell us now as u had 1 year / 2 year /4year / 6 years ago! :)

[philconti]

amazing video. this is truly one of the highest quality videos on springtails. know you are helping alot of new keepers

[Mycenaean]

This is such a well made video! I had only a basic understanding of how to cultivate springtails before watching, now I feel confident in raising my own and getting the right products the first time. The text overlay with the methods and details is great.

[michellechee]

I filled my indoor plant with too much water and when I saw them floating in the pot i was shocked, didnt know what they were. So happy to know now that its nothing to worry about.

[aarongeorge]

The thoroughness of your tutorials is astounding. I’ve built my vivarium based on your videos and I’m working on assembling my cleanup crew. I was confused on some aspects of it but of course, you have another video explaining everything. Thank you sir!