Yellow Springtails (Ceratophysella sp.)

Every bioactive setup runs on springtails; the Yellow just lets you watch them work. This is a bright yellow-to-cream colour form of Ceratophysella, doing exactly the same essential job as any springtail, mopping up mould and decaying matter, but easy to spot against dark substrate instead of vanishing into it. It is the same tiny workhorse with a bit of colour, and it is about as easy as invertebrate keeping gets.

Introduction

This is a captive-bred yellow (amelanistic) form of a widespread Ceratophysella springtail, also sold as the Albino Springtail. Despite the "albino" tag it is not delicate in the least, as hardy and prolific as any standard springtail, quick to build a self-sustaining colony and ideal for seeding several enclosures from one culture. At 1 to 2 mm it slips into crevices and between substrate grains that isopods simply cannot reach, which is exactly why the two make such a good pairing.

What it needs

Springtails are genuinely low-maintenance: keep them moist and warm and they mostly run themselves. A small tub with a tight lid and minimal ventilation holds the humidity they want, 70 to 90%, and ordinary room temperature, 18 to 26°C, suits them the year round with no heating. For substrate, horticultural charcoal is a popular choice they thrive on, or organic topsoil with leaf litter, kept consistently damp but never flooded, since waterlogging drowns them and drying out kills them. In a planted or bioactive tank they will simply colonise whatever is there as long as it stays moist. Unlike some springtails they do jump, using the furcula tucked under the body, which is a harmless surprise when you first lift the lid.

Diet

They eat mould, fungi and decaying plant matter, which is the whole point of them in a vivarium. When you are culturing them for harvest, a light sprinkle of brewer's yeast, crushed fish flake or a commercial springtail food keeps numbers climbing; a little goes a long way, and overfeeding just grows mould and draws pests. In an established setup they largely feed themselves on what the enclosure produces.

Using them

Yellow Springtails pair peacefully with any of our isopods, from tropical Cubaris to the hardy Dairy Cow, and the two together give far more complete cleanup than either alone: springtails take the mould and fine matter, isopods take the leaf litter and larger debris. They suit tropical vivariums, dart-frog tanks (where they double as live food), humid gecko setups and planted terrariums, and the yellow means you can actually confirm they are still in there and working.

Who is this for?

Yellow Springtails suit just about everyone: the beginner wanting genuinely low-maintenance microfauna, the keeper seeding several tanks, and anyone pairing a cleanup crew with their isopods. They are a poor fit only for an arid setup, or where you would rather the cleanup crew stayed invisible, in which case a white form is quieter. New to this? Our setup guide covers the foundations.

Every culture is captive-bred here in the UK and sent as an established starter portion under our live arrival guarantee, dispatched Monday to Thursday by Royal Mail next day before 1pm. Culture kit is in our accessories range.