Quick Answer: What Cleanup Crew Do You Need?
A bioactive cleanup crew is isopods and springtails working together in a vivarium or terrarium: isopods break down faeces, shed skin and uneaten food, while springtails graze soft mould and fine debris. Add springtails when you set up the enclosure, before or with the isopods, and give the crew at least a month before the primary inhabitant goes in. As a rough guide, a 40-litre vivarium wants 10-20 isopods and 50+ springtails; a 75-litre wants 20-30 and 100+; a 150-litre wants 30-50 and 200+. Build the substrate on flake soil, white-rotted hardwood and organic topsoil, keep a moisture gradient, and leave them alone. Done right, the enclosure starts maintaining itself.
What Each Species Actually Does
The two groups aren't interchangeable, and that's the point of running both.
Isopods are the primary processors. Their mandibles handle the tough stuff - faeces, shed skin, uneaten prey, leaf litter, rotting wood - breaking it into smaller particles that everything else can then work on.
Springtails are the secondary processors. Far smaller than isopods, they graze soft mould, fungal films and spores. Where mould is concerned they are a help rather than a cure: ventilation and sensible feeding do the heavy lifting.
They feed at different scales and share the same litter and substrate, and we have found no study showing that either holds the other back. If you're wondering whether the isopods will eat the springtails, we have found no record of an isopod catching a healthy one.
Choosing for Your Setup
Tropical (dart frogs, crested geckos, 70-90% humidity)
Dwarf White Isopods (Trichorhina tomentosa) are the standard choice. They're small enough not to trigger a prey response in delicate inhabitants, they reproduce parthenogenetically so a tiny starter culture establishes fast, and they're bulletproof.
Powder Orange and Powder Blue (Porcellionides pruinosus) are the step up - bigger, more visible, and still gentle enough for dart frogs. Pair either with a tropical springtail culture.
Temperate (leopard geckos, bearded dragons, corn snakes, 40-60% humidity)
Porcellio scaber morphs - Dalmatian, Orange, Lava - handle drier, more variable conditions and are forgiving of beginner mistakes. Pair them with temperate white springtails (Folsomia candida), which establish readily at room temperature without needing tropical warmth.
Arid setups
Bioactive works in a desert vivarium, but only if you build moisture refuges rather than relying on ambient humidity. Armadillidium species are the best bet - they conglobate to conserve water and forage at night to avoid drying out. Concentrate the crew around damp hides and substrate gradients.
Several of the isopods we sell suit a drier enclosure. Zebras (Armadillidium maculatum) are happy at the dry end and are a usual pick for drier bioactive setups, given one damp refuge under a hide. Powders (Porcellionides pruinosus) sit towards the cooler, damper end of a warm vivarium and breed fast enough to stay ahead of a reptile that eats a few. Dairy Cows (Porcellio laevis) want a dry, airy end as well, but keep a protein source available at all times: an underfed colony goes looking for it wherever it can, and in a vivarium that can mean the skin of a sleeping reptile.
Build the damp refuge at the cool end, away from the basking spot. Keep one corner there damp with a pad of sphagnum moss, keep the substrate beneath it damper than the surface so the animals can burrow down to moisture, and cover the patch with cork bark or a log, which slows it drying out. Check it every few days and re-wet it before it dries. Springtails cannot do without it: every culture we sell needs damp substrate, so in a dry vivarium the refuge is where they live.
One rule for any arid setup: never use an open water dish. Isopods drown in them. Build a damp zone instead.
Building the Substrate
This is where most cleanup crews are set up to fail before they start. The substrate isn't just a floor - for isopods it's a primary food source, so it needs to be nutritious rather than inert.
A good bioactive mix:
- Flake soil, white-rotted hardwood and organic topsoil - the nutritious base that actually feeds the colony
- Leaf litter - food and cover, and the dietary staple for both groups
- Sphagnum moss - for humid pockets and refuges
- A calcium source - cuttlebone, for moulting
- A drainage layer - clay balls or gravel beneath the substrate, to prevent the waterlogging that kills isopods
Skip coco coir as the base. It holds moisture well, but it's largely inert - and building your substrate around something the isopods can't eat means you've given them a floor rather than a food supply. Our substrate guide covers the full recipe, and our accessories collection has the components.
Seeding the new substrate with a handful from an established enclosure introduces the bacteria and fungi that get decomposition running faster.
Getting the Numbers Right
Population sizing by enclosure volume:
- Small (around 40 litres): 10-20 isopods, 50+ springtails
- Medium (around 75 litres): 20-30 isopods, 100+ springtails
- Large (150 litres and up): 30-50 isopods, 200+ springtails
Prolific breeders like Dairy Cow need fewer starters than slower species like Armadillidium. And if your primary inhabitant is likely to eat the crew - young reptiles and amphibians often will - start with more than you think you need, and add extra cover.
The Timing That Matters
Add the springtails when you set up the enclosure, before or with the isopods. They establish quickly, and having the crew settled before the primary inhabitant starts generating waste gives the whole setup a head start.
Then, at least a month after the crew goes in, the primary inhabitant. Resist the urge to rush it - a cleanup crew introduced at the same time as a bearded dragon will simply be eaten before it can establish.
Keeping It Running
- Feed lightly during establishment. Weekly fish flake, vegetable scraps or a prepared food supports population growth until the enclosure's own waste takes over. Once it's running, you can generally stop.
- Keep calcium available. Cuttlebone scattered through the enclosure. Both groups need it for moulting.
- Don't overfeed. Excess food moulds faster than the crew can clear it, and attracts pests.
- Build a moisture gradient. Sphagnum patches at one end, drier at the other, and let the animals choose.
- Ventilate. Stagnant humid air causes as many problems as dry air.
- Temperature: 18-26°C suits nearly every hobby species.
When Something Goes Wrong
Mould persists despite springtails. Usually too much moisture or too little air. Improve ventilation and lift leftovers sooner.
The substrate smells sour. Anaerobic conditions from overwatering or poor drainage. Reduce moisture, improve the drainage layer.
The crew has vanished. Either the environment turned against them, or the primary inhabitant ate them. Check for pesticide contamination from treated decor first - it's a more common cause than people expect, and it kills the invertebrates long before it affects a vertebrate.
Waste is accumulating. Not enough crew for the bioload, or the wrong species for the waste type. Add more, or add a larger-bodied isopod.
They're out in daylight. Most cleanup species are nocturnal. Daytime surface activity usually means overcrowding or environmental stress.
A Note on Predatory Mites
Predatory mites (Stratiolaelaps scimitus, often sold as Hypoaspis miles) get recommended for fungus gnat control, and they do work. But they'll also eat your springtails, which rather defeats the purpose. Most bioactive setups never need them - substrate kept damp rather than waterlogged, with leftovers lifted, prevents the conditions that make gnats a problem in the first place.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a bioactive cleanup crew?
Isopods and springtails living in the substrate of a vivarium or terrarium, breaking down waste continuously so you don't have to. The isopods process faeces, shed skin and uneaten food; the springtails graze mould and fine debris. Together they turn an enclosure into a largely self-maintaining ecosystem.
How many isopods and springtails do I need?
Roughly: 40 litres wants 10-20 isopods and 50+ springtails; 75 litres wants 20-30 and 100+; 150 litres and up wants 30-50 and 200+. Start higher if your animal is likely to eat them.
Should I add springtails or isopods first?
Springtails first, or both on the same day: add them when you set up the enclosure, before or with the isopods. They establish fast and are settled before waste starts arriving. Give the crew at least a month before the primary inhabitant goes in.
Do I need both isopods and springtails?
For a self-maintaining setup, yes. They do different jobs - isopods handle larger waste, springtails graze soft mould and microscopic debris. Springtails alone won't process faeces, and for mould both groups are a help rather than a cure: ventilation and sensible feeding do the heavy lifting.
Will my reptile eat the cleanup crew?
Possibly - young reptiles and amphibians often do. Give the crew a head start of at least a month, provide plenty of cover (cork bark, deep leaf litter), and start with larger numbers than the sizing guide suggests.
What's the best cleanup crew for a dart frog vivarium?
Dwarf White Isopods with tropical springtails. The isopods are small enough not to trigger a feeding response, reproduce parthenogenetically so they establish fast, and thrive in the high humidity dart frogs need.
Browse our isopods and springtails to build your crew - every livestock order travels under our live arrival guarantee.
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