# mold in fruit fly culture



## kamoto gecko

is this mold bad for the frogs?? I made the culture the other day, and then there was a bunch of mold everywhere.. is it possible for these flies to be contaminated, and get the frogs sick? Or if I made another culture with these flies, could they somehow transfer the mold?


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## Gnarly

The mold can out compete your flies for food and kill them off in your culture, leaving you with few to no flies.
Did you sprinkle active yeast in the culture? This will sometimes prevent large out breaks of mold in the cultures.


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## kamoto gecko

I purchased the Josh's frogs media, and that's what I use.I didn't think that it needed the yeast. Does it still need the yeast?


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## Daleo

I believe Josh's media has mold inhibitor in it already. If you still get mold you can do 1/2 water and 1/2 white vinegar. The yeast trick won't hurt the culture to try it. 

PS- next time put questions like this in the food and feeding section


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## TheCoop

Also make sure you use "boiling water" when starting a new culture as it helps properly mix the mold inhibitor. . I also never sprinkle yeast ontop of the cultures either..


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## GP dynamite

If the original flies came from a culture NOT using Josh's media, they recommend using yeast the first time. I took a page out of Doug's book pumilio and I microwave the container lid excelsior and media together after mixing. It heats everything nicely and will kill everything in the culture. Let it cool, spray a couple of times and then add flies. Knock wood I've never had mold in my culture.


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## hypostatic

Getting rid of a mold problem can be tricky. If you start another culture with flies from an infected culture, you might very well infect the new culture as well, since the flies will most likely be carrying mold spores with them. It is best to start new cultures with flies from non-moldy cultures.

As others have, I highly recommend using both yeast AND vinegar. I was using just yeast before, and I was having mold problems as well (I don't use Josh's media). I think yeast is supposed to inhibit other molds because it makes alcohol; but clearly not enough in my case. I switched to using NE Herp's new mixless media, and the directions say to add a "splash" of vinegar on the top of the media before adding the flies. I believe that the vinegr inhibits other molds much better than yeast, since you're manually adding so much more acid to the media (which inhibits other molds as well) than the yeast can add alcohol. So naturally before adding the flies I dumped enough vinegar to thoroughly saturate the top layer (which is probably more than a "splash"), waited for it to dry a bit, and then added flies. I haven't had mold problems since using vinegar.

...I've also been using more yeast  but I don't think this is what's doing it. The directions say to add a "sprinkle". I've been adding a nice carpet now


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## zBrinks

What color is the mold?


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## mkitchen

I had white mold pop up in one of my first fruit fly cultures using Josh's Frog media. It crashed the entire culture. After that I spray the vented lid with water once a day or every other day and haven't had mold since or at least none that I can see or has cause the cultures to crash. I think that makes sense - i read somewhere that if the cultures dry out, mold can form...


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## Whitneyd88

TheCoop said:


> Also make sure you use "boiling water" when starting a new culture as it helps properly mix the mold inhibitor. . I also never sprinkle yeast ontop of the cultures either..


Agreed, definitely gotta make sure you boil the water that you add to the cultures. Also, I would use RO water for your cultures. When I first started making cultures I would boil tap water and found that my cultures sometimes didnt produce a large amount, having since switched to RO water my cultures are booming! I also noticed that if I dont let the water come to a FULL boil before adding it to the cultures (being impatient, everyone knows watching water boil takes forEVER) I would see some mold pop up in them.

And of course, I give the culture several hours to cool completely before adding the flies. I usually just leave them for the day and add the flies that evening or the next day when I get around to it.


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## readygrown

Ive used boiled water before , but when I put it in the culture container it warps the plastic? Let it cool first? If so wouldnt non boiled RO be ok?


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## JPccusa

The cups and lids that I use are microwaveable and do withstand boiling water.


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## Whitneyd88

readygrown said:


> Ive used boiled water before , but when I put it in the culture container it warps the plastic? Let it cool first? If so wouldnt non boiled RO be ok?


in what order are you mixing it? I would think it would warp it if you add the water THEN the mix. I add the mix to the plastic containers, i use the basic containers that you can order w/the mix & flies from any website, and then I pour in the measured amount. When I go to put the tops on them after mixing the bottom may bend a little so I put the lids on carefully but the bottom always pops back to normal right away. Non boiled isnt good bc it doesnt help activate that mold inhibitor.


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## readygrown

No I put the water in after the media is in. Maybe I just thought the warping was too much even though it wasnt. Thats the worry weasle in me!


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## marylanddartfrog

Sometimes something as simple as moving the cultures to a different room can help with the mold.try a dryer area.


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