Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

hi all,

the other day i converted my system from continual flow to flood and drain.

when i first flooded my gravel beds i noticed that springtails and worms were coming up the beds to avoid flooding. when the bed drained a number of the springtails were flooded into the fish tank. the goldies love these suckers. heres a link to a site that recommend feeding them to ornamentals.

http://www.livefoodcultures.com/springtails.html

i then found a little info from this site:

http://www.whatsthatbug.com/springtails.html

"Feeding on mold, decaying vegetation and algae. Algae feeders are often found in pools. Though they aren't harmful, they might be symptomatic of a mold problem."

"abundant and primarily limited to the upper intertidal zone. It can be found in large clusters of 20-100's wandering over rocks in search of food or floating on the surface film of upper shore rock pools (only when the water is still). This species retreats into rocky crevices, or shelters under weeds during high tide: retreating one hour before the tide begins to rise"

so by the sounds of it the gravel bed is the ideal environment. they could also provide the fish with a supplementary food source. they will also help to control algae and break down rotting matter in the bed. i feel they have a place in my system.

what are you thoughts?

Thanks for the info BF, I had been wondering what these little dark bugs were in my gravel beds!

http://backyardaquaponics.com/forum/vie ... &start=285 (see halfway down)

dave do the bugs in your bed spring like made when disturbed? hence springtails.

Dave, if you click on the page symbol next to "Posted" top left of each post , then paste the link, when opening the link it will go straight to the point you are referring too...like this

http://backyardaquaponics.com/forum/vie ... 4205#54205

Hey Les, you're an old nerd. Thanks for the tip!

BF, They are pretty energetic from what I remember.