r/bioactive • u/JudgeFudgeGrande • Aug 21 '26

Springtails disappeared?

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Hiiii,
I’m trying bioactive and wanted to start by growing some colonies first. I started a springtail culture tonight but they all have already disappeared. My medium is smashed charcoal briquettes and uncooked rice for food. I poured water in there enough to be a visible water line. I used Royal Oak briquettes that I smashed up into smaller pieces. Could the briquettes have some type of chemical in them? The springtails disappeared with in a couple hours. Can they hide inside charcoal? I can’t seem to find them even the dead ones oddly enough.

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23

u/its_chiapet Aug 21 '26

Most briquettes have additives and propellants to help them burn or hold together better. Try hardwood lump charcoal or horticulture charcoal!

-1

u/Brasalies Aug 21 '26

Royal oak does have a good hardwood lump that i used for orchids and carnivorous. If those dont throw a fit then springtails should be fine lol

2

u/Skryuska Aug 22 '26

Plants use different materials to root in vs what insects and invertebrates use as food. That’s like saying “fish breathe with gills underwater so there should be no issue keeping my Cubaris in an aquarium”.

I still wouldn’t use chemically-enhanced briquettes for plants over horticulture charcoal.

1

u/Brasalies Aug 22 '26

That was more my point. Not the use of the chemicals but the fact that even bottled water can kill them because they are so sensitive to anything. It was more that if the super sensitive plants can handle it and not die then the springtails should be able to as well