# Need help in keeping constant supply of FFs



## Youngherp420 (May 3, 2011)

I am just getting tired and frustrated on this matter of not having enough flies to feed my frogs after a week

I must be doing something wrong here because every 2 weeks or so Im in need of fruit flies and I have to go out and buy some.I I breed both D.hydei and D.Mela. right now i have 7 culture of fruit flies and I am already out of D.Hydei

Now the problem i am having is im using so many flies before they can reproduce and i wind up running out. Am i feeding my frogs to many flies at once or is it I dont have enough cultures.So they dont have a chance to breed?

1. How many flies should i feed my frogs?I am always afriad of under feeding
-0.0.3 luecs
-0.0.2 Azureus 
-0.0.3 mints
-1.0.1 Tarapoto

2.How many cultures should i have to rotate between each feeding?Also how long should I wait before feeding my recently new culture?

Thanks aheaed of time for the help.


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## gturmindright (Mar 15, 2006)

I make two cultures every week for four frogs but they are smaller frogs than yours.


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## SnakePaparazzi (Jul 20, 2008)

I would recommend making an additional culture of each... You might be feeding out too much or over seeding new cultures... I am feeding 15 thumbs and 3 leucs on 4 cultures a week. I feed at least every other day and (knock on wood) haven't ran out of flies.

Maybe try to use the additional culture you make as a seeding culture for new cultures only.

How often do you make cultures? What media? Excelsior or filters?

I am not very versed on hydei, I stopped using those a while back...


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## Youngherp420 (May 3, 2011)

I think im not making enough cultures frequently to supply my frogs


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## SnakePaparazzi (Jul 20, 2008)

How often do you make new cultures? I make cultures every Saturday to ensure that I don't forget to make flies.


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## Youngherp420 (May 3, 2011)

SnakePaparazzi said:


> How often do you make new cultures? I make cultures every Saturday to ensure that I don't forget to make flies.
> 
> 
> ---
> I am here: Google Maps


Not that often. Could that be my problem?


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## SnakePaparazzi (Jul 20, 2008)

Youngherp420 said:


> Not that often. Could that be my problem?


Could be... Some people do 8-10 days... I find that once a week works perfect for me.

Also, I only seed from cultures that are 21 days old to ensure lots of mature flies go into the new culture to make sure that they start producing ASAP.


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## Youngherp420 (May 3, 2011)

SnakePaparazzi said:


> Could be... Some people do 8-10 days... I find that once a week works perfect for me.
> 
> Also, I only seed from cultures that are 21 days old to ensure lots of mature flies go into the new culture to make sure that they start producing ASAP.
> 
> ...


See im not doing that at all. I make cultures every 3 weeks( I think) and im think im grabbing flies from the the newly cultures because i have so few cultures made

How many cultures do you have?


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## goatdude (Apr 24, 2009)

what it looks like is you are starting your new cultures. then before they get totaly started out you end up feeding from them. that slows down the culture and makes less flys. that's why it looks like you are running low on flys. next culture you make don't feed out of until you see crap ton(technical term) and don't feed every last fly out. if everything goes right you should be feeding out of the same culture no more then 3 to 4 times a week. i've found any more will make the culture run dry


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## Youngherp420 (May 3, 2011)

goatdude said:


> what it looks like is you are starting your new cultures. then before they get totaly started out you end up feeding from them. that slows down the culture and makes less flys. that's why it looks like you are running low on flys. next culture you make don't feed out of until you see crap ton(technical term) and don't feed every last fly out. if everything goes right you should be feeding out of the same culture no more then 3 to 4 times a week. i've found any more will make the culture run dry


That is exaclty whats happening to me. I feed to fast before than can produce. How many cultures do you have? how many should i feed my frogs?

In the mean time what should I do?

I just made two new cultures and im leaving them alone.I saw on a sponsors website they sell 4 producing cultures. im curious in getting them


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## SnakePaparazzi (Jul 20, 2008)

Youngherp420 said:


> How many cultures do you have?


I have 16 cultures running... 4 new ones made each week... After a culture reaches one month, I feed them out and discard them.




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## Youngherp420 (May 3, 2011)

I need to start doing this , i have so few cultures and thats whats going wrong. What should i do in the mean time while my cultures are just freshly made?


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## goatdude (Apr 24, 2009)

Youngherp420 said:


> I need to start doing this , i have so few cultures and thats whats going wrong. What should i do in the mean time while my cultures are just freshly made?


your best bet is to find a local froger who can get you some producing cultures. also look into keeping springtales. I have 1 large culture setup i use for feeding when i run low on flys. 

also I try to make a new culture once the old culture reaches 2 weeks old. I don't touch the new one until you see alot of flys. normaly 2 weeks. just in time to throw out your old culture. I personaly like to have different culture in different stages of there life. not all made on such and such week. keeps things from going bad


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## Youngherp420 (May 3, 2011)

goatdude said:


> your best bet is to find a local froger who can get you some producing cultures. also look into keeping springtales. I have 1 large culture setup i use for feeding when i run low on flys.
> 
> also I try to make a new culture once the old culture reaches 2 weeks old. I don't touch the new one until you see alot of flys. normaly 2 weeks. just in time to throw out your old culture. I personaly like to have different culture in different stages of there life. not all made on such and such week. keeps things from going bad


I was thinking about ordering some that are producing. I do have a large producing springtale culture. So that will work. and yeah i will start doing this right away


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## Pumilo (Sep 4, 2010)

It's my opinion that especially new froggers should make cultures every single week. Make them on the same day every week. Once you feel that you have mastered culturing, and are never short on flies, then you can consider varying your schedule. At that point, you do not need anybodies advice on how often to make cultures as you are now a master.


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## Youngherp420 (May 3, 2011)

Pumilo said:


> It's my opinion that especially new froggers should make cultures every single week. Make them on the same day every week. Once you feel that you have mastered culturing, and are never short on flies, then you can consider varying your schedule. At that point, you do not need anybodies advice on how often to make cultures as you are now a master.


thanks. you have a great point


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## jbherpin (Oct 16, 2009)

I keep 4 cultures per viv. 2 are old(er) flies/cultures; 2 are freshly made/booming. If you maintain this balance, flies will never be too productive, nor underproductive. I feed from older cultures until there is a REAL BOOM in the new cultures, then I will add equal parts from older and new cultures to the feedings. I make new cultures(2 per viv) with the intial boom of new cultures using flies from the old and new to seed. This is every 12 days approx. Hope this helps!

JBear


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## Youngherp420 (May 3, 2011)

jbherpin said:


> I keep 4 cultures per viv. 2 are old(er) flies/cultures; 2 are freshly made/booming. If you maintain this balance, flies will never be too productive, nor underproductive. I feed from older cultures until there is a REAL BOOM in the new cultures, then I will add equal parts from older and new cultures to the feedings. I make new cultures(2 per viv) with the intial boom of new cultures using flies from the old and new to seed. This is every 12 days approx. Hope this helps!
> 
> JBear


extremly helps. Great idea by having et flies for each tank. Im going to do that


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## FrogNub (Aug 5, 2009)

Very helpful info in here, ty all.

It generally seems that most seed out new cultures when they get their 'boom', and not from older cultures. 

Does anyone know if there is a decrease in fertility as the culture's age increases?


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## SnakePaparazzi (Jul 20, 2008)

I like to seed new cultures from cultures that are 21 days old to ensure breeding age flies are transferred and minimal mites as well.


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## Youngherp420 (May 3, 2011)

that makes sence.I just orderd some more cultures. hopefully others will find this thread helpful.


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## jbherpin (Oct 16, 2009)

FrogNub said:


> Very helpful info in here, ty all.
> 
> It generally seems that most seed out new cultures when they get their 'boom', and not from older cultures.
> 
> Does anyone know if there is a decrease in fertility as the culture's age increases?


As was noted above, you want to add some mature flies, but the old cultures start producing runts. There is a sweet spot, again, as noted above. However, I do add young flies from "the boom" as well to ensure that there is a steady supply of FFs reaching maturity later as well.

JBear


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

jbherpin said:


> As was noted above, you want to add some mature flies, but the old cultures start producing runts. There is a sweet spot, again, as noted above. However, I do add young flies from "the boom" as well to ensure that there is a steady supply of FFs reaching maturity later as well.
> 
> JBear


 
See http://www.dendroboard.com/forum/food-feeding/42419-genetics-ff-culturing.html for a discussion on the impacts of when you choose your flies to start new cultures. 

Ed


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## EvilLost (Jan 10, 2011)

are you waiting 1 week after seeding/making your cultures before you feed from them? You should generally not be feeding from new cultures until after a good number of larva casings have appeared in the cup.


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## FrogNub (Aug 5, 2009)

Ed said:


> See http://www.dendroboard.com/forum/food-feeding/42419-genetics-ff-culturing.html for a discussion on the impacts of when you choose your flies to start new cultures.
> 
> Ed


Thanks Ed!


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## Youngherp420 (May 3, 2011)

EvilLost said:


> are you waiting 1 week after seeding/making your cultures before you feed from them? You should generally not be feeding from new cultures until after a good number of larva casings have appeared in the cup.


i try to but i think my problem is i make so few that i dont have a chance for the newly made ones to start producing


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## Judy S (Aug 29, 2010)

Snake P--you only feed melos...how would your 21 days translate if you were also using Hydei???


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## SnakePaparazzi (Jul 20, 2008)

Judy S said:


> Snake P--you only feed melos...how would your 21 days translate if you were also using Hydei???


Judy, I don't use hydei do I'm not versed on culturing them. I did culture them for about two months and was fortunate enough to get 4 cultures of them all 1 week apart in age of the culture to get started... I used cultures that were 4 weeks old to make new ones (I also lightly seeded new cultures).

My leucs were the only frogs that I had that ate hydei and because of the smell of them, I stopped culturing them and am now only using melano.

-Christian


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## davidadelp (Sep 29, 2010)

I make 8 cultures for 32 frogs and they last me if i dont over feed, I always make new cultures when my newest cultures start their first BOOM of flies that way I have new flies to add to the cultures. I think it works out to I makes 8 new ones every 8-10days. make sure you keep them moist by misting them and the warmer they are the faster they reproduce.

I have also noticed that once you think they cultures are dead set them off to the side and go back in 3-4 days and they typically will boom one last time for whatever reason before actually being dead.


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## frogparty (Dec 27, 2007)

I would encourage everyone to culture hydei. My thumbnails like them a lot, and they climb to the upper reaches of the viv faster, enabling arboreal frogs to eat them before theyve groomed all the vitamin/calcium dust off. 
Just my observation. My vanzos go BONKERS for hydei


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

I stopped culturing hydei and have been using bean beetles instead... As an aside comment, for those who have trouble with hydei, try coculturing them with melangaster. You'll get a mixture of both species (and booms of both) and this uses the media better. 

Ed


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## Judy S (Aug 29, 2010)

Ed--why did you stop culturing Hydei? And are you suggesting that when making new cultures, to put flies from Melo and Hydei into the same culture cup?? Interesting... I have been told that vinegar will kill the Hydei...do you find that to be true? Have just gotten my first three darts and am learning the ropes about FFs...hours and hours of reading old posts...and your suggestion has not been come across until now... Just out of curiosity...what is your favorite FF media mix???


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## skylsdale (Sep 16, 2007)

This is why, "back in the day," we strongly urged newer hobbyists to culture fruit flies for a couple months before they even got their frogs so that they could get the hang of it before actually having mouths that required feeding.

I prepare new cultures once a week (just pick a day, and that's your culture day...make it part of your schedule). I use freshly booming flies from previously started cultures to seed the brand new cultures. At any given time I usually have 2 sets of cultures (each a week apart in age) that I am feeding from, with 2-3 sets that have previously been started and are in various stages of progress, but have not yet had that major hatch. With my conditions it takes about 10-13 days or so for a melanogaster culture to go from being freshly seeded to getting that first hatch boom that is ready to feed from.


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

Judy S said:


> Ed--why did you stop culturing Hydei? And are you suggesting that when making new cultures, to put flies from Melo and Hydei into the same culture cup?? Interesting... I have been told that vinegar will kill the Hydei...do you find that to be true? Have just gotten my first three darts and am learning the ropes about FFs...hours and hours of reading old posts...and your suggestion has not been come across until now... Just out of curiosity...what is your favorite FF media mix???


I stopped culturing hydei when I started culturing bean beetles. The beetles are the same basic size as hydei and were well accepted by the frogs. I didn't see the need to use another fruit fly species to feed my frogs. 
I used a modified Carolina style mix when I was culturing both species and did not use vinegar, now I'm using Repashy Superfly. I've commented on coculturing before both on here as well as on frognet. I got the idea from Mike Shrom, who showed me some mixed cultures he had. If you (or anyone else) wants to coculture, keep in mind that you'll need to keep a couple of pure cultures of each going so you can seed the cultures otherwise the melanogaster will eventually crowd out the hydei but they do very well together and consume the media much more efficiently. 

Ed


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## Judy S (Aug 29, 2010)

how do you feed out the beetles? By the way Ed...that beetle I posted about...took that tank totally apart...there were 3 of those beastly things...they climbed the glass and it was quite a scene...the size of "pinkies."


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## Shinosuke (Aug 10, 2011)

Ed said:


> I stopped culturing hydei when I started culturing bean beetles. The beetles are the same basic size as hydei and were well accepted by the frogs. I didn't see the need to use another fruit fly species to feed my frogs.
> I used a modified Carolina style mix when I was culturing both species and did not use vinegar, now I'm using Repashy Superfly. I've commented on coculturing before both on here as well as on frognet. I got the idea from Mike Shrom, who showed me some mixed cultures he had. If you (or anyone else) wants to coculture, keep in mind that you'll need to keep a couple of pure cultures of each going so you can seed the cultures otherwise the melanogaster will eventually crowd out the hydei but they do very well together and consume the media much more efficiently.
> 
> Ed


Woah.. hy and melo's in the same culture... you just blew my mind, Ed!


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

Judy S said:


> how do you feed out the beetles? By the way Ed...that beetle I posted about...took that tank totally apart...there were 3 of those beastly things...they climbed the glass and it was quite a scene...the size of "pinkies."


Check out this thread http://www.dendroboard.com/forum/food-feeding/60638-bean-beetle-collection-2.html#post526406 

Well at least you got them... 

Ed


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## Judy S (Aug 29, 2010)

I tried the search function for co-culturing but nothing came up...and haven't had the time to go to all your posts yet...but it does sound like a good idea...and I tried to get some beans to have bean cultures, but haven't found a source yet...Ag. rules I was told... The culture thread is really good...and sounds like a food source that would be eaten enthusiastically...think tree frogs would eat them??? Thanks for your suggestions, and for that link...


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

Judy S said:


> I tried the search function for co-culturing but nothing came up...and haven't had the time to go to all your posts yet...but it does sound like a good idea...and I tried to get some beans to have bean cultures, but haven't found a source yet...Ag. rules I was told... The culture thread is really good...and sounds like a food source that would be eaten enthusiastically...think tree frogs would eat them??? Thanks for your suggestions, and for that link...


Some of the discussions.. 

http://www.dendroboard.com/forum/food-feeding/42638-cocultering-fruit-flies.html

http://www.dendroboard.com/forum/food-feeding/23983-media-2.html#post217079

Ed


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## Judy S (Aug 29, 2010)

Thank you for that...I'm sure more people are now going to try it because of it being updated. Nuggets like this get buried after a while...so it is a good thing to have a reason to dig 'em back up...thanks -- I will for sure try it.


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

Judy S said:


> Thank you for that...I'm sure more people are now going to try it because of it being updated. Nuggets like this get buried after a while...so it is a good thing to have a reason to dig 'em back up...thanks -- I will for sure try it.


Sometimes the old geezers in the hobby have some experiences to pass along to the newer bunch.. 

Ed


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## BrianWI (Feb 4, 2012)

I just started culturing flies myself. Hydei are just starting now. But the others I am bursting with.

When I bought the frogs, Ed gave me a culture. I also bought one from a pet store. After maggots appeared for a few days, I took the flies from both cultures, mixed them, and made 2 new cultures. About 6 days later, I had flies again in the first two cultures, made 4 more cultures. Another 10 days later, I made more, this time with a smaller number of starter flies. I also varid the amount of media.

While I have not made any conclusions yet as to what my future cultures will be like (best container size, amount of media in container, etc.) I do have a ton of flies, more than I can feed.

I used Josh's Frog media (figured I may experiment with my own mixes at some point, by why add more potential failure points right away). Stuff smells like some awesome breakfast hot cereal! 

If just starting out, I'd say just try to make a lot of flies. Over do it. You can make fewer cultures less often later on if you have too few flies. Worst case scenario is you waste flies. Or maybe take your extras and go to a get together locally, someone can probably use them. Maybe you can trade for a cool plant.


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## bruce (Feb 23, 2007)

Some tricks when I needed production:
I use the melanos called "jumpers" for my main feed (they are high quick dependable producers for me on any medium)
I used around 30-40 to start a culture, and always used the first ones hatching from an existing culture to seed a new culture , keeps the mites in check.
I used hydei as my heavy feed weeks remembering to add ff from old cultures to new cultures to equalize the male female ratio so production will be high. Again I depended on the 'jumpers' to be my main feeders with supplemental heavy feeds from the hydei.
I would always keep the cultures started at once a week,though at times I'd make the medium earlier and add flies later.
Honestly at times I enjoyed the techiniques of ff production and different mediums more then the frogs at times.
Hope it helps


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## Youngherp420 (May 3, 2011)

Thank you all for the tips and advice on this. So The other day or should i say a week ago i made a ton of fruit flies cultures and im making more in a little while as well 

So here is the collection so far


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## jeffr (May 15, 2009)

I would move the freshly made cultures away from the older cultures or you're going to wind up with a ton of mites.


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## Youngherp420 (May 3, 2011)

jeffr said:


> I would move the freshly made cultures away from the older cultures or you're going to wind up with a ton of mites.


thank you for that insight


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## Judy S (Aug 29, 2010)

I have had zero success with culturing FFs...but the picture makes me wonder whether setting the culture cups on each other is such a good idea..don't they need some air???


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## Youngherp420 (May 3, 2011)

Judy S said:


> I have had zero success with culturing FFs...but the picture makes me wonder whether setting the culture cups on each other is such a good idea..don't they need some air???


Thats not how i keep them all the time. I just put one on top of each other to show my cultures


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## Youngherp420 (May 3, 2011)

Thanks for all the help but i think i ran into a problem

I made cultures every week for a month and a half before purchasing more frogs so i can keep a constant supply. So today i looked at my cultures and for some odd reason there are no flies really producing in over 10 cultures i have and most of the media at the bottom seems dried up. Since it dried up would that affect the fruit flies producing.

Also I might need an emergency of fruit flies cultures until i order some online. I have over 14 frogs 6 thumbs and 9 larger sizes. 

Somebody tell me why they wont produce and the food is drying up . Also are there any good methods for successfully making the media?


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## goof901 (Jan 9, 2012)

i don't get it... i'm on my third or 4th culture and i've got aboslutely no problems whatsoever...


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## Youngherp420 (May 3, 2011)

goof901 said:


> i don't get it... i'm on my third or 4th culture and i've got aboslutely no problems whatsoever...


My problem or the way I worder the problem I am being faced


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## goof901 (Jan 9, 2012)

how many cups of media and water do you use to make your cultures?


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## J Teezy (Jan 25, 2012)

things you should consider. If you're media is drying up then you need to add more water when making it. What media are you using? I use Josh's frogs media and follow the instructions to the T. 1/2 cup media to 2/3 cup of boiling water (i use bottled water). If you notice your cultures are drying up spray them down with some spring, bottled, ro, distilled water.

Are you sure you're not getting attacked by mites? Are you putting your cultures in somekind of storage bin system. I use a sterilite 3 bin system (the bigger drawers). I put a paper towel liner in each bin that was been sprayed with mite spray (spray the towel, let it dry, then put it in the drawer). Also my oldest cultures go in the top drawer, two week old cultures in the 2nd drawer, less than 2 week old cultures in the bottom. My cultures are never stacked on top of each other and the lids are never touching

I only make 1 culture a week as i'm already overload with flies at the moment and only have 2 frogs to feed. I have about 6 cultures going right now i think (2 from Josh's that were producing already, 3 that i started off of the JF cultures, and 1 overflow culture). The overflow culture is just a culture i feed from. What I do is on days i feed the frogs, i dump some flies from the cultures that have massive amounts of flies in them into the overflow container (i do not make new cultures off an overflow, its strictly for feeding from). I also don't feed from a new culture until after the first big boom, and since i make 1 culture a week after the first initial couple of weeks i have cultures always producing. I'll most likely be wasting more flies than i actual feed out, but i'm never in fear of not having flies.

What temperature are you keeping your stuff at? I keep my flies around 73-74 even though some like to have the temp a little bit higher, i just keep mine at room temp to make things easy on me. Also remember heat in your house rises. So if you are storing your cultures close to the ground it will be cooler there than up closer to the ceiling.


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

If they are drying out then you can try adding water when the media begins to look dry as that does impact production. 
Look to see where the cultures are being kept as often drying of the media can be related to bottom heat (lights, hot air vents). If they are being impacted by those issues then you need to move them. 

Brand of media shouldn't matter. 

Ed


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## Erikb3113 (Oct 1, 2008)

I use mixed cultures sometimes too. When I hit the time of year when mold grows quick in my hydei cultures, I use melanos to keep the media stirred up before the mold can form. Hydei are tough to keep in supply and alot less forgiving of procrastination due to their long life/breeding cycle. You probably ruined/infested your new cultures stacking them like that with old ones. I go as far as to wash my hand in between touching older cultures.


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## Youngherp420 (May 3, 2011)

goof901 said:


> how many cups of media and water do you use to make your cultures?


I have to check on that. but most likey what the instruction tell me too


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## Youngherp420 (May 3, 2011)

J Teezy said:


> things you should consider. If you're media is drying up then you need to add more water when making it. What media are you using? I use Josh's frogs media and follow the instructions to the T. 1/2 cup media to 2/3 cup of boiling water (i use bottled water). If you notice your cultures are drying up spray them down with some spring, bottled, ro, distilled water.


I only use distilled water in my cultures and everything eles. I have to check what I am doing wrong with making the media.I must be messy up the measurements



J Teezy said:


> Are you sure you're not getting attacked by mites? Are you putting your cultures in somekind of storage bin system. I use a sterilite 3 bin system (the bigger drawers). I put a paper towel liner in each bin that was been sprayed with mite spray (spray the towel, let it dry, then put it in the drawer). Also my oldest cultures go in the top drawer, two week old cultures in the 2nd drawer, less than 2 week old cultures in the bottom. My cultures are never stacked on top of each other and the lids are never touching


No i have not seen any signs of mites whats so ever and everything seems good. Maybe thats one of my probles is that the cultures are so close to each other and stack wach other. Are you suggestion i should buy something along this line












J Teezy said:


> I only make 1 culture a week as i'm already overload with flies at the moment and only have 2 frogs to feed. I have about 6 cultures going right now i think (2 from Josh's that were producing already, 3 that i started off of the JF cultures, and 1 overflow culture). The overflow culture is just a culture i feed from. What I do is on days i feed the frogs, i dump some flies from the cultures that have massive amounts of flies in them into the overflow container (i do not make new cultures off an overflow, its strictly for feeding from). I also don't feed from a new culture until after the first big boom, and since i make 1 culture a week after the first initial couple of weeks i have cultures always producing. I'll most likely be wasting more flies than i actual feed out, but i'm never in fear of not having flies.


I only feed from booming cultures and never from producing cultures . I have been making 3 a week based on the number of frog I have. But what i noticeed is the Hydei take for ever and the melo take less time, I realizes that due to the life cycles.



J Teezy said:


> What temperature are you keeping your stuff at? I keep my flies around 73-74 even though some like to have the temp a little bit higher, i just keep mine at room temp to make things easy on me. Also remember heat in your house rises. So if you are storing your cultures close to the ground it will be cooler there than up closer to the ceiling.


My flies are around 76 and kept downstairs where it is cooler in the summer and i then bring my flies upstairs in the winter


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## Youngherp420 (May 3, 2011)

Ed said:


> If they are drying out then you can try adding water when the media begins to look dry as that does impact production.
> Look to see where the cultures are being kept as often drying of the media can be related to bottom heat (lights, hot air vents). If they are being impacted by those issues then you need to move them.
> 
> Brand of media shouldn't matter.
> ...


I did yesterday add water to some of the culutres. The cultures dont sit next to any major heat source at all and are downstairs where it is cooler


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## Youngherp420 (May 3, 2011)

Erikb3113 said:


> I use mixed cultures sometimes too. When I hit the time of year when mold grows quick in my hydei cultures, I use melanos to keep the media stirred up before the mold can form. Hydei are tough to keep in supply and alot less forgiving of procrastination due to their long life/breeding cycle. You probably ruined/infested your new cultures stacking them like that with old ones. I go as far as to wash my hand in between touching older cultures.


See I started really trying to reproduce the Hydei because with having larger speices frog i thought the melanos would be to small. especially feeding my P.terribilis mints. 

I did notice though the melano boomed so quick but i thought the food and size would make the frogs skinny


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## Youngherp420 (May 3, 2011)

So overall everyone.

what fruit flies should i reproduce for my collection of frogs

R.Imitator Tarapoto 1.0.0
Leucomelas 0.0.3
P.terribilis Mints 0.0.3
Azureus 0.0.2
R.Iquitos Vents 1.1
E.Tricolor 0.0.3


Melano or Hydeis or both or what 

Because i dont want to have a food shortage because the Hydei take longer to reproduce and there not needed as much as i think


Anyone by the way have fruit flies in new york prefered long island that i can buy incase of emergency


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## jeffr (May 15, 2009)

I'm in Nassau County near the Queens border if you need. 

I have melos, gliders, both black and gold hydei


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## Youngherp420 (May 3, 2011)

jeffr said:


> I'm in Nassau County near the Queens border if you need.
> 
> I have melos, gliders, both black and gold hydei


Which flies do you find benefitical?

good your close im am also in nassau county and could use a few


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## Erikb3113 (Oct 1, 2008)

Are you using a liquid or dry measuring cup for your mixes? I have found that in all but the most humid times of year I have to use a bit more water. My way of judging is, just wet enough to settle more or less flat when I smack the bottom of the cup on my palm. If it does not settle , not enough water. Too much water can be just as bad too. Nothing like having a cup full of dusted flies and then dumping rotten culture juice from an over moist culture in on top trying to get a few more flies. They all stick together and turn into a doughy substance...hard to salvage shy of rinsing them off.


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## jeffr (May 15, 2009)

Youngherp420 said:


> Which flies do you find benefitical?
> 
> good your close im am also in nassau county and could use a few


My opinion, it's what you dust them with is what's beneficial. We all know if you don't dust your flies your frogs will eventually die. I have different size frogs so I use different size flies. Gliders produce the best, but can be a pain in the arse

Shoot me a PM I'll hook you up with some


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## m&r reptiles (Apr 21, 2012)

lol im on the opposite end of that i started with 10 cultures im 2 weeks in and now i have 100 cultures but the 10 i got were producing already 
i have so many i dont know what to do with
for the last 3 days ive made 30 cultures atleast each day


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

jeffr said:


> My opinion, it's what you dust them with is what's beneficial. We all know if you don't dust your flies your frogs will eventually die. I have different size frogs so I use different size flies. Gliders produce the best, but can be a pain in the arse
> 
> Shoot me a PM I'll hook you up with some


Use a large sink (I use the kitchen sink). Use one cup inside of another cup to collect the flies (more on why in a sec). Run the tap water so it is good and hot and turn it off. Place a funnel into the cups and dust it with a supplement. Start tapping the flies into the funnel and between cups use the hot water to wash down the flies in the sink. The hot tap water will kill them quickly and the cups give a little bit of insulation to help it from killing the flies (or sterilizing them). Run the water as little as possible. Doing this I often end up with no escapes running around the kitchen. 

Ed


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## jeffr (May 15, 2009)

aaaah so you're stunning them in the cup and killing any that fall out? I was putting them in the fridge for like 5 minutes, which stunned them for just a bit, then dusted. I just got tired of running up and down the stairs to the fridge.


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

jeffr said:


> aaaah so you're stunning them in the cup and killing any that fall out? I was putting them in the fridge for like 5 minutes, which stunned them for just a bit, then dusted. I just got tired of running up and down the stairs to the fridge.


If you use a wide enough funnel (get a big one for changing oil from the autoparts store) and dust it so it is slippery for the flies, you don't have to stun them. The vast majority will fall into the funnel, the dust will keep them from getting a good foot hold and a simple tap knocks them the rest of the way in.. Shorten the bottom of the funnel so the cone of the funnel makes a tight seal on the top of the cup. This will prevent any from climbing the sides of the cup and escaping. 
The sink allows for secondary containment if you spill or some escape as you can simply wash them down the drain with the hot water. 

Ed


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