# New recipe needed ASAP - non smelly



## Azsunspot161 (Apr 27, 2007)

I need a new recipe. I have tried adding cinnamon and other additives to decrease the awful smell and avoid the "black mold of death". 

I need someone or anyone to provide an actual recipe with measurements. My experiments have failed or stink to high heaven. I used to use the "power mixture", but it stinks. I have recently purchased Josh frogs mixture, but thats really not financially effecient for my budget. 

Please help! I have 14 very hungry frogs and I am trying to keep making cultures every 3 weeks. 

Thanks


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## earthfrog (May 18, 2008)

The Repashy Superfly mix in large bulk amounts is very cost effective and is sold by several vendors here. Most non-smelly mix I have ever used. 
I use the below but exclude the grape juice from it (better yield and less smell)



> The "Power Mix"
> By Chis Miller
> 
> I have been using a mixture of potato flakes, sugar, and Fleischman's activated yeast for years now. But, after adding a lot of mouths to feed to my collection, I had decided I was going to have to find something that made a lot more flies per jar. With input from a lot of different sources (Dave and Erin, Tracy Hicks, Jutti,) etc , I have composed a mush that has QUADRUPLED
> ...


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## james67 (Jun 28, 2008)

http://www.dendroboard.com/forum/food-feeding/58634-ff-media-recipes-list.html

you should probably be making cultures more often if your using melanogaster (which you should be since they are easier to culture, LESS SMELLY, and produce faster than hydei) particularly if your having issues.

james


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## Natures Gems (Apr 12, 2011)

out of curiosity how are you succeeding with cultures every 3 weeks. is that working out for you? i tend to make new cultures about 12 days apart to always have extra in case of a crash. but i do have a lot of adults and juveniles to feed. just seems that cultures that far apart is asking for a possible situation where you don;t have any producing fly cultures when you need them.

sorry to get off subject. any of the potato flake cultures work out great for me. secret i learned a long time ago is make more than enough and don't wait too long between them. some people use mold inhibitors others don't has to be a personal choice.


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## Frogz (Aug 10, 2011)

This is one of the reasons I have been hesitant to breed fruit flies. I've been using flour beetles which my frogs love. Usually they eat the larvae though. I've watched them eat the beetles a couple times and spit them out. Maybe they taste bad or something? If you really hate the smell of the cultures there's an alternative. They're very easy to keep and no smell!


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## james67 (Jun 28, 2008)

FFs are THE staple food for darts. you really need them in order to successfully keep darts. (before anyone comes in and says you dont, i know its POSSIBLE, but you'd certainly need more variation than flour beetle larvae, and it would definitely be a far greater pain in the @ss than just making FF cultures)

james


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## Bcs TX (Sep 13, 2008)

I use cinnamon in my media, it takes care of the smell. 

Here is the recipe I use:
8 cups Potato Flakes
1 cup powdered sugar
1/2 - 3/4 cup brewers yeast
3-4 tsp. methyl parabon
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. paprika
Mix equal parts media/water - I tend to add more water in the winter.

Josh's Frogs has methyl parabon and brewers yeast.
I keep my brewers yeast and powdered sugar in the fridge.


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

Frogz said:


> This is one of the reasons I have been hesitant to breed fruit flies. I've been using flour beetles which my frogs love. Usually they eat the larvae though. I've watched them eat the beetles a couple times and spit them out. Maybe they taste bad or something? If you really hate the smell of the cultures there's an alternative. They're very easy to keep and no smell!


Flour beetles like many of the beetles in that family have a foul odor that is released when stressed. This is why most frogs refuse them. 

Ed


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## PeanutbuttER (Jan 1, 2011)

I've never had a problem with really smelly cultures stinking the place up.


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## josh_r (Feb 4, 2005)

I use a simple recipe that works very well and has high yields for me. As for smell, it smells like bananas and when the culture goes bad, the smell is hardly noticeable

I simply boil 2 apples, 2 pears, 2 peaches and 4 bananas in about 1 to 1-1/2 cups of water, about 1/2 cup of bragg's apple cider vinegar, about a teaspoon of molasses, and let it boil down pretty good. Once the cooking is done, I use wheat germ to thicken it up. Usually doesn't take much as there is not much water left. The wheat germ gives it a nice texture that holds it's form well. once it is cooled a bit, I add about 1/2 inch per jar and then sprinkle my yeast on top. 

I think the bragg's natural apple cider vinegar really help it from going bad and stinking. There is usually a thin white layer of mould the first couple days but it disappears fast then the media looks great and lasts a long time.


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## Bluestar (Apr 13, 2011)

This is the recipe I use. I'm not sure which thread I found it on, I just restructured it for the kids to follow (yes, I believe in child labor ). 


I use this simple recipe.

Dry Ingredients

- 6 parts instant potato flakes
- 1 part powdered brewers yeast
- 1 part powdered sugar

Add 1/2 cup to each FF cup.

Boil water.

I use 1/2 cup of boiling water and 1/4 cup of vinegar.

Mix thoroughly.

Add excelsior.

After this I microwave them. (1.5 min)

Add Lid. Let cool to touch.

Next add dry active baker's yeast to the culture. NOT ALOT, just a small small pinch. Were talking 20 grain tops.

Add FF.


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## hypostatic (Apr 25, 2011)

Found this study that was linked on wiki:
Antifungal Essential Oil Constituents of Some Food Spices from Pakistan
You might be able to control the smell of the cultures and inhibit the growth of some mold with some spices you have lying around, as some other members have stated.

Anyone know any simple ingredients (non chemical) that you could add to the media that might inhibit mites as well?


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

Keep in mind that antifungals can also prevent growth or slow growth of yeast which allows other microbes to over grow the cullture. 

Typically real foul odors early on in the cultures it is typically an overgrowth of some other bacteria, probably facultative anaerobes or anerobic bacteria (or groups of bacteria). Microwaving the cultures until hot and then seeding with live baker's yeast once the culture cools off will help prevent the colonization by those bacteria. If you are still having issues with smell then you can do one of several things, you can try cinnamon, honey or even mixing the above recipe 50/50 with real carolina mix or other medias. 

The issues with black mold (Aspergillus niger) is a little more problematic as you can't use flies from those cultures to seed new cultures as that just transfers the spores (I would suggest discarding cultures, and not even opening them in the house), you also have to make sure that none of your collecting equipment or culturing equipment are contaminated. If you resterilize all of those and can use flies from a clean culture, you can eliminate most of the risk by microwaving the cultures and letting them cool covered. 

Ed


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## WONTON SALLY (Jun 26, 2011)

Bcs TX said:


> I use cinnamon in my media, it takes care of the smell.
> 
> Here is the recipe I use:
> 8 cups Potato Flakes
> ...


what does the powdered sugar and paprika do?


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## EntoCraig (May 17, 2011)

PeanutbuttER said:


> I've never had a problem with really smelly cultures stinking the place up.


Same. I use the Josh's Frogs stuff without any smells and have yet to have mold. I make a culture every 2 weeks and dispose of old cultures after 3 weeks. Basically this gives my other culture enough time to boom before my other one runs out. I am always feeding excess flies to my fish, as my cultures produce a lot of flies!


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

WONTON SALLY said:


> what does the powdered sugar and paprika do?


paprika supplies beta carotene (which can be supplied less expensively through other sources), powdered sugar is a source of food for the yeast.


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## WONTON SALLY (Jun 26, 2011)

EntoCraig said:


> Same. I use the Josh's Frogs stuff without any smells and have yet to have mold. I make a culture every 2 weeks and dispose of old cultures after 3 weeks. Basically this gives my other culture enough time to boom before my other one runs out. I am always feeding excess flies to my fish, as my cultures produce a lot of flies!


 
anything you have noticed that gives you better results with JOSH's media. i get half the results using JOSH's compaired to others.


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## EntoCraig (May 17, 2011)

WONTON SALLY said:


> anything you have noticed that gives you better results with JOSH's media. i get half the results using JOSH's compaired to others.


I have only ever tried Josh's media. I'm not opposed to other medias, but what I use works. I have more then enough flies to feed my frogs and extras for my fish to snack on


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## Neontra (Aug 16, 2011)

I have made a really good mixture, if I would compare rephasy and joshs, it's a little close to joshs media production. It is stinky if you don't add extra cinnamon, but it's really nice.
6 cups potato powder
6 cups creamy wheat
2 cups brow sugar
1/4 cup (1 cup for best smell) cinnamon
1/4 cup of active yeast (i've tried with brewers, didn't see much of a difference in anything, but I bake bread so always have active yeast on hand)
a few large pinches of paprika
~1 cup vinegar


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## james67 (Jun 28, 2008)

Neontra said:


> I have made a really good mixture, if I would compare rephasy and joshs, it's a little close to joshs media production. It is stinky if you don't add extra cinnamon, but it's really nice.
> 6 cups potato powder
> 6 cups creamy wheat
> 2 cups brow sugar
> ...


the bakers and brewers yeast serve 2 different purposes so you cant just substitute bakers.
brewers yeast is what supplies protein whereas the bakers is simply added to out-compete other potentially harmful fungal problems. in truth you shouldnt NEED to add any bakers yeast since living yeast is transfered to new cultures on the flies.

brewers yeast is ESSENTIAL to a working FF media.

james


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## hypostatic (Apr 25, 2011)

Neontra said:


> I have made a really good mixture, if I would compare rephasy and joshs, it's a little close to joshs media production. It is stinky if you don't add extra cinnamon, but it's really nice.
> 6 cups potato powder
> 6 cups creamy wheat
> 2 cups brow sugar
> ...


Man you must go through cinnamon like crazy if you use one cup of it


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

hypostatic said:


> Man you must go through cinnamon like crazy if you use one cup of it


Not only that, he is creating toxic conditions in his cultures for both the yeast and the flies.. safrole a main flavoring agent in cinnamon is known to cause issues in flies (see for example ScienceDirect - Mutation Research/Genetic Toxicology and Environmental Mutagenesis : Genotoxic effects of eugenol, isoeugenol and safrole in the wing spot test of Drosophila melanogaster) as well as yeast. 

If I remember correctly he already has had fliers show up in his culture.... 

There is little protien in that media and protien has been shown to be a limiting agent on fly production... so with out a decent source of protien along with high doses of a chemcial that is aproblem for the live yeast (which are the main protien source in that culture mi) makes me skeptical on the production that is being claimed much less that the flies being produced are the best they can be. 

Ed


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## WONTON SALLY (Jun 26, 2011)

Ed said:


> Not only that, he is creating toxic conditions in his cultures for both the yeast and the flies.. safrole a main flavoring agent in cinnamon is known to cause issues in flies (see for example ScienceDirect - Mutation Research/Genetic Toxicology and Environmental Mutagenesis : Genotoxic effects of eugenol, isoeugenol and safrole in the wing spot test of Drosophila melanogaster) as well as yeast.
> 
> If I remember correctly he already has had fliers show up in his culture....
> 
> ...


 
so are you saying he is using way too much Cinnamon? or is Cinnamon OK in smaller amounts?


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## WONTON SALLY (Jun 26, 2011)

Neontra said:


> I have made a really good mixture, if I would compare rephasy and joshs, it's a little close to joshs media production. It is stinky if you don't add extra cinnamon, but it's really nice.
> 6 cups potato powder
> 6 cups creamy wheat
> 2 cups brow sugar
> ...


 
keep in mind who this really is you guys!!!!!!


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

WONTON SALLY said:


> so are you saying he is using way too much Cinnamon? or is Cinnamon OK in smaller amounts?


Cinnamon appears to be okay in lesser amounts. I'm not sure I buy that the amount added in most cases is enough to function as an antifungal but it can help with odor particularly if you heat it to release the essential oils. 

Ed


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## WONTON SALLY (Jun 26, 2011)

Ed said:


> Cinnamon appears to be okay in lesser amounts. I'm not sure I buy that the amount added in most cases is enough to function as an antifungal but it can help with odor particularly if you heat it to release the essential oils.
> 
> Ed


 
how would you go about heating the Cinnamon to release these oils?


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

WONTON SALLY said:


> how would you go about heating the Cinnamon to release these oils?


Heat the media after it is added to the media either through using very hot water or microwave the cultures.. it is the same process that causes cinnamon to spell great whether it is in a chai mix or pumpkin bread. 

Ed


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## WONTON SALLY (Jun 26, 2011)

not to keep going off subject, but i have seen/read where when adding room temp water to cultures and then adding boiling water to the cultures. so by going what you said about releasing the oils in the Cinnamon are you robbing/degrading the overall quality-production of the FF culture if you don't microwave or boil the water?


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

WONTON SALLY said:


> not to keep going off subject, but i have seen/read where when adding room temp water to cultures and then adding boiling water to the cultures. so by going what you said about releasing the oils in the Cinnamon are you robbing/degrading the overall quality-production of the FF culture if you don't microwave or boil the water?


If you are using a supplement that has non-thermally stable antimite or antifungal additives it is possible that those products degrade but in general most of the medias are based on freeze dried potatos so I'm not sure why you would worry that the quality would degrade. 

Ed


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## WONTON SALLY (Jun 26, 2011)

well not degrade, but decrease the overall amount of flies.


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## Neontra (Aug 16, 2011)

Ed said:


> Heat the media after it is added to the media either through using very hot water or microwave the cultures.. it is the same process that causes cinnamon to spell great whether it is in a chai mix or pumpkin bread.
> 
> Ed


So heating the cinnamon will help with smell more than if left at room temperature? It sounds like I shouldn't be using so much cinnamon....
Also like I said, I'm 99% sure I had fliers in my culture because of the gap left open, but the culture I set up a while ago doesn't have any fliers and is doing great.

I also will be using bakers yeast from now on, and have used it n my last 2 cultures because I found out that my supermarket has some.


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## vjf000 (Jun 14, 2008)

The only definite solution is putting a large air pump inside your cabinet with the cultures (I use rubbermaid large cabinet with shelves) and vent to outside. No more smell ever no matter how old cultures are. Seal up cabinet with duct tape and use weatherstripping between the doors. My opinion


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

Neontra said:


> So heating the cinnamon will help with smell more than if left at room temperature? It sounds like I shouldn't be using so much cinnamon....
> Also like I said, I'm 99% sure I had fliers in my culture because of the gap left open, but the culture I set up a while ago doesn't have any fliers and is doing great.
> 
> I also will be using bakers yeast from now on, and have used it n my last 2 cultures because I found out that my supermarket has some.


As noted with great frequency on the forum.. Baker's yeast doesn't substitute for brewer's/nutritional yeast and vice versa. 

Ed


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## WONTON SALLY (Jun 26, 2011)

Neontra said:


> Also like I said, I'm 99% sure I had fliers in my culture because of the gap left open.


 
how was that a factor to create fliers?


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## WONTON SALLY (Jun 26, 2011)

Ed said:


> As noted with great frequency on the forum.. Baker's yeast doesn't substitute for brewer's/nutritional yeast and vice versa.
> 
> Ed


 
well ED I will admit I thought they were the same thing in the beginning when I 1st started doing research on FF cultures. maybe that's a common problem due to lack of research.


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

WONTON SALLY said:


> well ED I will admit I thought they were the same thing in the beginning when I 1st started doing research on FF cultures. maybe that's a common problem due to lack of research.


I would agree that it is a common problem due to a lack of research. Protein is a limiting factor in how many flies can be produced from a culture (and whether or not that it produces an optimized fly). Reports of massive fly production in mediia that lacks protien are highly suspect... 

Ed


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## WONTON SALLY (Jun 26, 2011)

so is that the sole reason why brewers yiest is used for nutrition and protein?


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

WONTON SALLY said:


> so is that the sole reason why brewers yiest is used for nutrition and protein?


 
correct brewer's or nutritional yeast is added to increase the protien content of the media which maximizes production, while live yeast/baker's yeast is added to reduce microbial colonization and speed up egg deposition by the flies. 

Now there are factors that can affect this, for example if your flies are generally cultured from the flies that emerge first ("first boom"), then you are selecting flies that grow rapidly, do not use the media efficiently, and die, from the waste products after the first major emergence. This is what typically occurs when people are talking about a new culture crashing when the flies emerge. It used to be incorrectly attributed to too many flies emerging but we know better now (or should know better now). 

Ed


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## WONTON SALLY (Jun 26, 2011)

Ed said:


> correct brewer's or nutritional yeast is added to increase the protien content of the media which maximizes production, while live yeast/baker's yeast is added to reduce microbial colonization and speed up egg deposition by the flies.
> 
> Now there are factors that can affect this, for example if your flies are generally cultured from the flies that emerge first ("first boom"), then you are selecting flies that grow rapidly, do not use the media efficiently, and die, from the waste products after the first major emergence. This is what typically occurs when people are talking about a new culture crashing when the flies emerge. It used to be incorrectly attributed to too many flies emerging but we know better now (or should know better now).
> 
> Ed


i remember reading a thread on here and the jist of it said to use flies from a culture that is the newest. example if you have 2 cultures that you are going to make new cultures with . the 2 that you have to choose from are dated 8/26/11 and 9/4/11. which one do you choose so you don't get the flies that grow rapidly, do not use the media efficiently, and die, from the waste products after the first major emergence.

i think i might have used the later of the 2dates in previous months and had fresh cultures crash,,, is this true you think ED?


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

WONTON SALLY said:


> i remember reading a thread on here and the jist of it said to use flies from a culture that is the newest. example if you have 2 cultures that you are going to make new cultures with . the 2 that you have to choose from are dated 8/26/11 and 9/4/11. which one do you choose so you don't get the flies that grow rapidly, do not use the media efficiently, and die, from the waste products after the first major emergence.
> 
> i think i might have used the later of the 2dates in previous months and had fresh cultures crash,,, is this true you think ED?


What you want to do is use flies from both cultures. As that keeps the genetic diversity of the fly populations. If you continually pull from the later cultures you are selecting for flies that take longer to develop. Ideally you want a more consistent production. 

Ed


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## WONTON SALLY (Jun 26, 2011)

that was going to be my next question about mixing the two tegether, thanks again for all your input and advice ED.


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## hypostatic (Apr 25, 2011)

In this thread - http://www.dendroboard.com/forum/food-feeding/46023-fruitfly-culture-smell.html - someone says that they use ONA for odor hiding: Announcing ONA PRO - the powerful and Professional Odor Neutralizing Agent preferred by Hydroponics Growers

Anyone else use this?


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## WONTON SALLY (Jun 26, 2011)

hypostatic said:


> In this thread - http://www.dendroboard.com/forum/food-feeding/46023-fruitfly-culture-smell.html - someone says that they use ONA for odor hiding: Announcing ONA PRO - the powerful and Professional Odor Neutralizing Agent preferred by Hydroponics Growers
> 
> Anyone else use this?


any idea on prices and how much exactly is needed in cultures?


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## james67 (Jun 28, 2008)

its not for use inside a culture. its just odor absorbing gel used outside the CXs. its generally used by growers of "smelly" plants (although most dont bother with this and use carbon scrubbing as its more effective)

james


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## WONTON SALLY (Jun 26, 2011)

james67 said:


> its not for use inside a culture. its just odor absorbing gel used outside the CXs. its generally used by growers of "smelly" plants (although most dont bother with this and use carbon scrubbing as its more effective)
> 
> james


 
thanks for the info James.


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## hypostatic (Apr 25, 2011)

Ah ok. Well anyone have any experience with ONA? Or anything else that you could place outside your cultures and absorbs the odor?


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## frogbelly (Aug 12, 2011)

Don't want to hijack this thread but there is a lot of good info coming from it. Just wanted to know if adding your dusting materials to your ff culture would help gut load the flies with calcium, vitamins ect. or would it crash the culture. Is there any benefit I know I would get tired eating dusted food all the time.
Barry


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## LME7132 (Feb 5, 2009)

If your cultures are from different sources you have to be careful mixing the flies are there are several recessive genes that cause flightlessness. If the cultures have different versions you will get lots of flying flies. I learned that one the hard way and wasted some time trying to figure out how my cultures were getting contaminated with wild type flies. Turned out that wasn't the issue at all. 

I also find that using vitamin fortified Orange juice instead of water lets you cut out a number of other ingredients. All I use is OJ, potato flakes, yeast, and cinnamon. I'm not that careful about proportions (enough cinnamon to discolor the tube of potato flakes and I add a pinch of yeast to the warm OJ) and just aim for a thick pudding consistency. A good culture smells bready. I get the occasional nasty smelling one which I usually attribute to a container that has reached the end of its useful life. (I'll let an old culture dry out and reuse the container indefinitely.) 

Luke


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

frogbelly said:


> Don't want to hijack this thread but there is a lot of good info coming from it. Just wanted to know if adding your dusting materials to your ff culture would help gut load the flies with calcium, vitamins ect. or would it crash the culture. Is there any benefit I know I would get tired eating dusted food all the time.
> Barry


First off, you do not want to mix supplements into your media.. unless you are looking for nutritional problems in your frogs and potentially issues with the cultures. 

Fruit flies cannot be gut loaded with calcium as they are extremely efficient in excreting excess calcium as it is taken up in the diet see for example, Dube, K.A.; McDonald, D.G.; O’Donnell, M.J.; 2000; Calcium *homeostasis* in larval and adult Drosophila melanogaster; Archives of Insect Biochemistry and Physiology; 44(1) :27-39 

In addition they do not uptake and absorb D3 or significant levels of vitamin A, but they do absorb significant levels of vitamin E (which is present in many supplements listed as tocopherols) enough that they can disrupt the absorbtion of D3 and/or A. See the discussion here http://www.dendroboard.com/forum/food-feeding/67766-repashy-superfly-26.html#post608267 

They also have a very fast turn over of gut contents.. See tha above linked discussion above. 

On top of that, if you are using a supplement that contains amino acids you can push the protien content of the media to the point the cultures do not do well. 

Based on the data available, I can't think of a good reason to add old supplements to the fruit fly cultures. 

Ed


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

LME7132 said:


> I also find that using vitamin fortified Orange juice instead of water lets you cut out a number of other ingredients. All I use is OJ, potato flakes, yeast, and cinnamon. I'm not that careful about proportions (enough cinnamon to discolor the tube of potato flakes and I add a pinch of yeast to the warm OJ) and just aim for a thick pudding consistency. A good culture smells bready. I get the occasional nasty smelling one which I usually attribute to a container that has reached the end of its useful life. (I'll let an old culture dry out and reuse the container indefinitely.)
> 
> Luke


I am greatly dubious that the vitamin fortification has anything to do with how the cultures perform.... see the above linked discussions on supplements as it doesn't follow the repeated and consistent reports in the diet studies on the flies.. 

Ed


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## LME7132 (Feb 5, 2009)

It may not, we just drink fortified OJ so that is what I have in the house.


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## WONTON SALLY (Jun 26, 2011)

Ed said:


> I am greatly dubious that the vitamin fortification has anything to do with how the cultures perform.... see the above linked discussions on supplements as it doesn't follow the repeated and consistent reports in the diet studies on the flies..
> 
> Ed


 
hey* ED* could you use orange juice instead of water and get any added benefits?


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

In the main, you would simply be bumping up the sugar content. This is going to shift the balance of protien and sugar and will change the microbial fauna (keep in mind that the cultures is effectively an uncontrolled bioreactor) and potentially decrease the nutrients available to the fly. 

There has been a lot of testing over the last 100 plus years on determining what provides the best culture media for the flies.. we are highly unlikely to find something of value by simply throwing stuff at the wall. There are in reality very few tweaks that can be made to improve the nutrition of the flies in a way that it carries over to the frogs. In the main, the inclusion of more carotenoids is probably the only one.. 

Ed


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## WONTON SALLY (Jun 26, 2011)

Ed said:


> In the main, you would simply be bumping up the sugar content. This is going to shift the balance of protien and sugar and will change the microbial fauna (keep in mind that the cultures is effectively an uncontrolled bioreactor) and potentially decrease the nutrients available to the fly.
> 
> There has been a lot of testing over the last 100 plus years on determining what provides the best culture media for the flies.. we are highly unlikely to find something of value by simply throwing stuff at the wall. There are in reality very few tweaks that can be made to improve the nutrition of the flies in a way that it carries over to the frogs. In the main, the inclusion of more carotenoids is probably the only one..
> 
> Ed


i was asking if it would aid in more production of flies, but i guess not.


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

To repeat this once again.. 
Production does not equate to a good fly. Production does not automatically mean that the flies are using the media well. See for example the discussion here http://www.dendroboard.com/forum/food-feeding/33951-complete-fruit-fly-media-mix.html#post305957 

If you are looking for maximal production you may getting away from the best fly as adding more sugar changes the protien level of the media which affects the nutrition of the fly. 

Ed


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## poison beauties (Mar 1, 2010)

Ive been using sweet potatos over the regulars, short of that I haven't seen much of a boost in the overall health of a culture since brewers yeast and the use of mold inhibitors. There are hundreds if not thousands of media mixes tried that work but do nothing more than breed out flies. Boosting whatever nutrients is all we have left to work on.


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

Typically this is best accomplished by not using only the first groups of flies to emerge to start new cultures and including at least some carotenoids to allow for the conversion to rhodopsin in the eyes of the flies. Smaller or stunted flies that appear later are smaller due to inadequate nutrition in the cultures but they are often a bridge to large flies. In those cases, ideally make sure to use top quality supplements. 

Ed


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## poison beauties (Mar 1, 2010)

Based on our talked of the carotenoids I moved into messing with sweet potatos and keeping my cutlures in the light early last year.


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

Yes, there are many different methods to add the required carotenoids to the flies so they can convert it to rhodopsin and sweet potatos are one method. I have been adding spirulina to the dry media for quite a while now for the same reason. 

Ed


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## WONTON SALLY (Jun 26, 2011)

Ed said:


> Yes, there are many different methods to add the required carotenoids to the flies so they can convert it to rhodopsin and sweet potatos are one method. I have been adding spirulina to the dry media for quite a while now for the same reason.
> 
> Ed


 
i have been wanting to use spirulina for some time now for human consumption, who/where do you get it from--im sure there are different versions out there?


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

WONTON SALLY said:


> i have been wanting to use spirulina for some time now for human consumption, who/where do you get it from--im sure there are different versions out there?


\

I actually get it from bulkfoods.com as I only used 1 tablespoon per cup of dry media (before water is added) but you have to know the protien content of your media. If your already using a media with a high protien level then you may have issues when you add the spirulina. I'm moving to the Repashy Superfly from my old modified Carolina mix. 

Ed


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## WONTON SALLY (Jun 26, 2011)

Ed said:


> \
> 
> I actually get it from bulkfoods.com as I only used 1 tablespoon per cup of dry media (before water is added) but you have to know the protien content of your media. If your already using a media with a high protien level then you may have issues when you add the spirulina. I'm moving to the Repashy Superfly from my old modified Carolina mix.
> 
> Ed


 
so are you going to use spirulina in the repashy superfly then?


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

WONTON SALLY said:


> so are you going to use spirulina in the repashy superfly then?


No. It was the source of the additional carotenoids in the modified carolina mix I was using. If you use the Repashy media, there isn't a need to add any additional carotenoids. 

Ed


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## hypostatic (Apr 25, 2011)

So I bought ONA at a local hydroponic/plant shop about 2 weeks ago, and I would give it a good review so far. I do not smell my cultures anymore. I'm not sure if it's eliminating the odor or just masking it (ONA has a "fresh linen" scent). I think it's a combination of both. I bought it for $18.95. On a related note, I saw a similar odor eliminator at Bed Bath & Beyond for like $40.


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