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 =)

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.

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! 🥰

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

Congratulations on being the best terrarium designer on KZfaq! 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.

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!! 😂

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.

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!

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

I feel like this is your way of making a "mini-earth" and then adding little people over which you control.

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.

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 ☀️

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.

OmG I totally skrewed up. I was totally freaked out when I saw a swarm if these things under the mulch of my potted lemon trees! I was so freaked out I scraped about 2 inches in each of the pot soil. At first I thought they were fungus gnats but they were jumping not flying. Dang it. I shouldve done my research first before I did anything. Now I want them back on my plants LOL :)

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.

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.

now I just want to have springtails .... just to have springtails. They look so cute .....

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.

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! :)

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!

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

Everyone said springtails are good cleanup, so I got some, but I totally didn't know any more about them and did it wrong haha. They were kinda expensive so I was leery. It seemed so weird for them to be living on charcoal. So I poured them all into my small roach enclosure and my big monitor enclosure. And I never saw them again. I guess it must have dried out too much at some point :/ Now I know I should have held some back and learned how to feed them so they could keep cultivating! Next time I know better.

I like how you go about the right care and my springtails just appeared in my pots one day and kinda chill there lol

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.

When I first started getting into bioactive setups I was completely winging it. I bought a starter kit of springs and isopods and dumped the whole things into my new tank. I ended up getting two more tanks to set up just for fun, the first one was for my treefrogs. I accidentally seeded the new tanks by dumping the frogs water dish into them (the springs love to hang out on the water) and now a month later there’s millions of springtails in all three tanks :) In conclusion, it’s worth getting springtails for your tanks because they’re just that easy to culture, you don’t even need to try. I will be trying this soon though :)

Nice thanks for making this video and listening to comments.

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!

I am so glad that I just happened to stumble on this channel. I've always loved watching animals and terrarium videos since I never have had the space or time to do it myself unfortunately. For the moment, I am living my terrarium-reptile enthusiast life vicariously through this channel and your outlook on this hobby makes these videos that much more re watchable, educational, and inspiring. Keep up the good work and hope you are able to accomplish all your goals within this hobby and share them with those that love these videos Take care :)

I'm converting all my reptiles vivs over to bioactive. Love this video as I like growing my own feeder insects and such.

You should make a video aBout good starter animals and Insects. It really hard to decide where to start

Brilliant informative instructional presentation - one of the best I have seen, short and very thorough and to the point. Well done sir - thank you. You will have converted and made a lot of pet keepers happy.

love the level of detail and care that went into this video

Thanks for the clear and informative video. I bought some potting soil that turned out to be infested with them, but now I know I can just leave them be. My plants seem fine, but I wanted to find out what these creatures were. The tiny spider that's living in the pot of green onions on my windowsill also seems thrilled :)

just started my first colony! hopefully it goes well :> thank you for all the great info!

This is super helpful. Thank you so much. Just got my spring tails this past week.

been binge watching your videos for weeks now, as in watching one video more than once! I have loads of houseplants and thought i would get into terrariums for the quarantine that is imminent, so in the last 2 weeks i bought everything i need for making some, except the plants, which i collected locally. I was thinking about buying some springtails to add to my terrariums, but i just went to transfer an ivy to a larger pot, and just noticed i have quite the colony starting up in the pot! Couldnt be happier, and am now watching this video to find out how to propagate them. :) Thankyou so much for your videos.

i didnt know ANYTHING thing about this....i learned alot from this video....and if i learned soemthen you know you made a good video,,,nice job

Very informative, thanks!

After watching so many videos that are terrarium related, this is by far my favorite. Great information. Thanks 🙏

Really useful info. I use springtails in my hobby and this will help me keep their numbers up.

Great video! So many indoor gardeners are afraid of these helpful bugs. I've had so many questions from people that want to spray away the little helpers.

AWW THEY'RE SO CUTE!!

thank you so much for all the videos and information, you've helped me get into this hobby and saved me from making a lot of mistakes.

You are amazingly knowledgable! And good at presenting information. I'll be checking out more of your terrarium videos.Thanks for sharing.

Very inspiring and helpful. Unfortunately, here in Australia, it seems no one is selling the starter cultures, even if they were, I wouldn't be allowed to bring them into my state, we have the most strict quarantine laws in the world here. Anyway, I've set up some traps in my garden and will try and collect some to start my own culture... thank you for the information.

my whole fucking body itches

I really appreciate that you show multiple methods for each step.

Watching you, I learn things I NEVER would have thought of. Thank you so much.

i swear, i was just about to ask you this video than you so much!

Great Video! You really need to create another video on Isopods. =))

love your videos - they are well rounded, well presented, soothing and I learn a lot every time !

This video helped me start my springtail culture and it is doing great so far! It was super affordable; I found a bag of charcoal for around 5 bucks and a small culture online for around 12 dollars. I am super eager to start using them to seed terrariums and vivariums, but I am trying my best to be patient and let them establish a decent population before I start more cultures and use them! Thanks so much!

Hi @serpadesign. I've cultured a batch of springtails from the wild. They have been thriving well but these springtails are very small compared to the ones you've shown in your video. They are very motile too, way more faster than the ones you've shown. I'm from India and can this be a different species of springtail? They look exactly like the ones that you showcase in your video but only smaller. They are about 2mm. Thanks for the great videos!! Joseph

“And you can even do some grilling in the process”

I love how detailed you are in these videos! I was just looking up if i could use the lump wood charcoal in other applications, and then after i gave up so i could focus back on what you were doing, you answered my question lol

Your voice is so soothing you’re like the David Attenborough of bioactives haha your work is amazing!! 🌱

can these little buggies be used in succulent terrariums? i got four little plants im getting ready to move, and would like a way to keep away mold ^^ also; do they like jumping out of open sided terrarium setups? i would prefer not having little critters jumping on my face when i take care of my plants or have them wandering into my food.

Springtails is going to be my next pet.

Thank you so much for your upload. I've been racking my brain to come up with a way to make a healthier, more natural looking praying mantis enclosure, and I never thought to include springtails to clean up the debris. Your video explained the process of keeping springtails perfectly.

Thanks. I have these in my bathroom and I was pretty freaked out because I didn't know what they were. Your video help put my mind at ease that they are not dangerous.

If I were to cultivate springtails from the wild would there be any downsides? I don't have a credit card to buy a starter culture online so I'd prefer to simply catch them myself

I've had the critters in my bonsai soil and they were feeding on the solid plant food, and now I need them and can't find any haha

I just have to say I’ve seen a few of your videos so far and am very impressed. Keep doing great work.

Thank you for this video and love your channel. Creativity at an economical level helps ppl like me on tight budgets

I have wild spring-tails in my terrarium, they ate all the fuzzy mold in it saving my plants, the fuzzy mold killed my first terrarium.

Yeah, but how do they taste?

Tanner, I started my first intentional springtail culture this week! Have had them growing at the surface of some of my planted aquariums for years. After watching your video, I started a culture so I can grow some for future terrariums. Thanks for the great vids and ideas!

Thanks so much for following up in the spring tail cultivation! I hope we have at least something like it in my back yard in Tasmania .. it's gets VERY wet & mossy & toadstool-y here, so I'm thinking carefully peeel back a sheet of moss & they should be jumping around everywhere .. I'm going to start a cultivation for a slightly larger project in the future. I just watched your mini bottle terrarium tutorial & I just happened to have some of those bottles!! So I'm VERY excited to try on such a small scale. And now knowing about these little critters I imagine I'll have much more luck. Thanks ever so much, you are so informative without dragging it on .. perfection basically :) Cheers mate .. I'll let you know here w I go! I may have to wait a month for better climate to get everything from the backyard though. Thanks for your effort & time & sharing your secrets (well some of them) with us 👍🏼😊😇

I can't find anywhere a reason to use charcoal. Why charcoal? What's the reason?

Is overpopulation a common issue with Springtails? If so, what is the best way to combat it?

Well just heard springtails in another video of yours. Googled it, saw this random video title and back at your place lol. Great work man. Keep doing what you do btw. Highly enjoyable, calming and knowledgable content.

Omg I was just researching these critters because I was trying to get rid of them. I thought they were bad! But now I am learning they are good! Thank you so much for the info!

I got a mason jar, some creek gravel, some rich soil from a rotten log, some charcoal from my fire, a bit of window screen, and tons of cool little plants. It looks great, thank you for helping me build my first terrarium!

LOOK HOW CUTE THEY ARE! You have gained yourself a new subbie lol. I am 100% going to culture springtails (I didn't even know this was a thing). Thank you so much for such a comprehensive and complete video

I just wanted to say THANK YOU for your informative videos! I actually attempted to make a couple little terrariums in jars, and to my horror, the beautiful, lichen spotted tree twig I put in one started growing mould! I looked it up and learned SPRINGTAILS eat mould! NOW I know why you would always add them to your terrariums! I just thought you did it to aerate the soil. Anyway, I phoned my local fish and reptile store and found out they had springtails, so after work, I rushed over there to buy some! The guy in charge of livestock was really helpful and since they also sold isopods, I mentioned Rubber Ducky Isopods and he said he could order them in!!!!!!!!! So anyway, I brought home my springtails, put them in a brand new terrarium in a big jar, and I will be taking the others to put in the mouldy branch one at work tomorrow. These ones aren't in charcoal......just wet soil....so I threw in some grains of rice for them.....the ones in the culture container. Anyway, I think I will eventually move up to Isopods in my terrariums soon if I have success with the springtails!!!!!!

Just got my first culture and I'm really excited can't wait to watch them grow :)

Awsome man, thanks a bunch! I'll get started right away in those cultives in addition to the extra charcoal in the substrate as you taught me

I’ve had an old whisky barrel that used to be used as a planter in my backyard for years. Thought it was full of termites the other day. Now realizing they are probably springtails. I just recently got into terrariums and I’m excited to try an get my first culture going

Wow, this was soo informative. I only heard of springtails within the last couple of weeks (frankly it might of even been on your channel I heard of them), but I just took a few minutes finally to find a definition of what they were and lo and behold, this very informative video. Well done. Thanks. And fascinating too.

Man, you really covered EVERYTHING in this video!! I love it!

Wonderful Video! THank you for making one so information-packed!

I’ve found springtails in my home, which does have a moisture problem, and thankfully knew enough to be thankful for their help rather than worry about pests.

02:48 that fadeover was beuatiful and very professional made sir!

One of the best springtail videos I've seen on here, well done :)

Those springtails are so cute! Thanks for the video!!

Super informative. Thanks for taking the time for this very good video. I didn't know anything about them, but now I do.

Thank you! This is a great video. Now I feel confident to start my own culture.

Man, your videos are awesome, I discovered your channel today, and i'm loving it, very didactic, thx for sharing your knowledge!

I know this has been out for a few years, but excellent! Thanks for sharing your knowledge.

I use these in my orchid pots and need to do a bunch of repotting. Thanks for this, now I can build my own culture. :)

WOW.... how cool! Never heard of these before. Thanks.

I've had this in my watch later for quite some time now. I see you're almost at 1,000,000 subscribers, that's awesome Tanner!

Beautiful video and very informative. Thanks so much.

Fantastic video, very informative. I love all your videos🙂

Really informative and visually pleasing video. Thank you.

I love your channel. Thanks for the helpful and informative video.

Nice, hope you'll also have the red Springtails, I often see them in my vertical garden. Thanks for this video I learn more about them.

I started a hobby last year breeding Isopods cause I was bored, that’s how I accidentally discovered springtails. At first I thought they were bad and I cleaned my tank out and did everything I could to get rid of them but they kept coming back. I finally learned what they were and that they are good tank buddies for isopods. Now that I’ve left them alone my tank is COVERED in springtails…It’s not hard to get them for free in your yard. The leaves and stuff I gathered from my yard for my isopod tank is what I believe brought the springtails in to begin with. Im still learning the whole isopod stuff. (I just like watching them.) if you want spring tails go gather leaf litter, bark, I even bring dig up plants and put them in the tank. Get that stuff, put it all in a tank or what ever container (I’ve noticed they really like potatoes to) wait a little while and eventually I bet you you’ll have spring tails in there. They breed fast!

This was very helpful since i'm soon getting some isopods and springtails in my snail box!

Very well done. Straight to the point and very informative. TY