# need FF media recipes



## Danyal (Apr 15, 2006)

i want to try making some ff media because my two little cultures(curtesy of defaced) have tons of flys in them an i only have one 3/8" pacific tree frog to feed(had two, one dissapeared) and i don't want to overload the cultures or dump in too many flys for the frog to eat and stress him out(he only eats about 10 every day or so) so i figure i might as well try making my own culture. i have 2 frozen bannanas, a bottle of spring valley "natural brewers yeast"(pill form) some instant mashed potatos, coffee filters, 2 or 3 types of vinegars, oatmeal, yellow corn meal, cream of wheat and some misc. containers that i could probably use as cultures all laying around the house. i have no idea what i'm doing so i'm trying to figure out if i can make a decent media using mostly stuff i have at home. anyone have some ideas?


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## kyle1745 (Feb 15, 2004)

Check out this caresheet:
http://www.dendroboard.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=14189

The links in there have some good information.


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## wishIwereAnExpert (Jul 18, 2005)

Here's what I would do with that list:

(per culture)

Mix half a cup of instant mashed potatoes with 2 tablespoons of powdered sugar (I assume you have). Grind the brewer's yeast in a coffee mill, spice mill, or food proccesor. Add a tablespoon of ground brewers to the potato mixture.

Mix this with a 1/4 cup of apple sauce (I assume you have this), a 1/4 cup of water/apple juice/ orange juice, and a 1/4 cup of any kind of vinegar (I use white 'cause its cheapest). Of course, this recipe can be doubled or more for more cultures.

If you don't have some of these ingredients, or have other questions feel free to ask. 

-Solly


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## Danyal (Apr 15, 2006)

damn you guys are fast  i was just looking at some recipes at doylesdartden and came back to check on this. 
<If you don't have some of these ingredients, or have other questions feel free to ask. >
i don't think i have apple sause. will a mashed bannana work? i have the rest.


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## wishIwereAnExpert (Jul 18, 2005)

Either that, or just up to a 1/3 cup of water/juice and a 1/3 cup of vinegar.

-Solly


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## Danyal (Apr 15, 2006)

sweet, thanks guys, i'll try making some media tonight. should i drill some 1/8" holes into the lid of the culture and glue some paper towels to the inside or just use a needle to make a bunch of tiny holes?


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## wishIwereAnExpert (Jul 18, 2005)

I would do one quarter-sized hole, and then coffee filter or paper towel.

-Solly


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## defaced (May 23, 2005)

> i don't think i have apple sause. will a mashed bannana work? i have the rest.


Yes, the banana will work in place of the apple sauce. You're basically just trying to get a non-citrius fruit in the media. 

Here's what I do. I take any one of these ingredients and mix them in a blender, no particular ratio, just enough to completely or overfill the blender and puree them. 
banana and/or other non-citrius fruits
yogurt
apple sauce
non-citrius juice concentrate
molassas
ovaltine
brewers yeast
spirulina powder
water
white vinegar, same ammount as the water

I take that mix and put it in a large pot, add potato flakes and/or oatmeal and mix. Sometimes I cook it, other times I don't. Usually depends on if I'm adding yogurt or spirulina. If I add those, then I don't heat the media. I store that in a shoe box sized contianer in my fridge and it usually keeps for about three months without molding over. I've been using a wet media for around 5 years and the only thing I've ever really seen impact production is the brewer's yeast.


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## kyle1745 (Feb 15, 2004)

I use the Home made "Carolina Mix": Listed on this page:
http://www.doylesdartden.com/fruitfly.html

I think the mediums that use fruit are a pain and have had great luck for years with either purchased medium or the above medium. I will say for people with smaller collections and or just getting started it may be a good idea to stick with a purchased medium as they offer more consistent results. It rough to go to the store on the day you need to make medium and have them be out of one item.


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## defaced (May 23, 2005)

Mine is loosely based off of the "Power Mix" from that same page. I think you'll find that most media recipes being used are based off of the ones on that page. 

Slightly off topic, is Doyle still active in the hobby? His site was like finding mecca when I was getting into the hobby.


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## Guest (Jun 4, 2006)

okay

heres a little of track question

do i add the yeast to the mix before i add the water/juice?
or do i sprinkle it on top?

a table spoon i was told like an 1/8th of a teaspoon......

i am using eds super at the moment


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## Danyal (Apr 15, 2006)

i made up most of the mix last night and finished it this morning. i used 1/2 cup instant potatos, 1/4 cup apple juice, 1/4 cup white vinegar, 2 tbsp powdered sugar, 1 tbsp crushed breweres yeast, and 1 banana. i took the banana out of the freezer last night and put it into the fridge to thaw and this morning it was already mush i cut the top off and squeezed it out of the peel. i put the mix into a sandwich bag and mixed it up, put about half of it into a clean alfredo jar and then put 2 coffee filters on top of the media and put a little water and vinegar to make the filters damp then added about 30 flys. i used a drill and 3/16" bit to make a bunch of holes in the lid and then glued a piece of coffee filter on the inside and a piece over the outside. i'm crossing my fingers and hoping this works.


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## defaced (May 23, 2005)

> do i add the yeast to the mix before i add the water/juice?
> or do i sprinkle it on top?


That depends on the kind of yeast. If it was baker's yeast that you got from the grocery store in a tiny packet, sprinkle it on top. If it was brewer's yeast that was bought at a health food store, put that in the media.



> then put 2 coffee filters on top of the media and put a little water and vinegar to make the filters damp then added about 30 flys.


You're cool till you got to that part. Here's how to fix it. Let the culture sit for about 10 days. When you start to see good sized larva squirming around feed off all of the flies in the cultures. When you do that, add new coffee filters. Don't get them wet, and add about a half of a stack. If you don't add enough filters or they get wet, they'll collapse, then the larva have no place to pupae, and then your cultures won't produce for crap. 

If you look at the cultures I sent you, you'll I put a lot of filters in there. As the culture ages they should stay pretty intact, except for the one that got flipped during shipping.


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## Guest (Jun 4, 2006)

thank you for the clarification!

less is better?

for the type you get at the store?


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## defaced (May 23, 2005)

No problem. Yea, it's pretty safe to say less is better. I think of adding baker's yeast like I'm sprinkling salt on my food, a little goes a long way. I don's count grains, but some use as few as 2-10 and others (myself) use probably around 100. My super accurate measurement is I add a pinch of yeast.


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## Danyal (Apr 15, 2006)

<You're cool till you got to that part. Here's how to fix it. Let the culture sit for about 10 days. When you start to see good sized larva squirming around feed off all of the flies in the cultures. When you do that, add new coffee filters. Don't get them wet, and add about a half of a stack. If you don't add enough filters or they get wet, they'll collapse, then the larva have no place to pupae, and then your cultures won't produce for crap.>
can i just fix it now by taking out the flys and filters then adding some dry filters and putting the flys back in?


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## Danyal (Apr 15, 2006)

<You're cool till you got to that part. Here's how to fix it. Let the culture sit for about 10 days. When you start to see good sized larva squirming around feed off all of the flies in the cultures. When you do that, add new coffee filters. Don't get them wet, and add about a half of a stack. If you don't add enough filters or they get wet, they'll collapse, then the larva have no place to pupae, and then your cultures won't produce for crap.>
can i just fix it now by taking out the flys and filters then adding some dry filters and putting the flys back in?


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## defaced (May 23, 2005)

Sure if you want to. It'll be easier if you wait because you won't be dealing with putting flies back in the cultures.


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## Danyal (Apr 15, 2006)

well there were some maggots in there today so i took the culture that smelled the worst and didn't have any adults and threw out the media(saw a bunch of maggots on the bottom of filter after i threw it out) and i'm going to try another batch of media and filters and see how it turns out.


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