# mites in the ff cultures, whats the big deal?



## swigen (Aug 24, 2007)

After searching through the forum and consulting other sources, I realize that the mites that are crawling around my ff cultures are bad and that I should take steps to get rid of them. I'm a newbie with frogs and flies and have only kept both for a few months now. I guess I lack the perspective to make the correct comparison, but it seems to me, although I have plenty of the little guys running around inside/and outside the cultures, the two cultures I maintain continue to produce more than what i need in food for my 3 tincs. So, with that said, I have yet to find a source that tells me why mites are bad, except for "decreased production". In my case, this doesn't seem to hurt anything so why should I worry about getting rid of them? Thanks for the help!

Actually, now that I think of it, the same holds true for my springtail cultures. Many mites but also many more springtails than I could ever need with 3 frogs. SO.....what's the big deal?


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## Catfur (Oct 5, 2004)

I long ago declared a unilateral armistice with the mites, they haven't really bothered me since. They are still all over my ff cultures, but I toss cups o' ffs down the drain anyway.


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## carola1155 (Sep 10, 2007)

you just have to be careful because with the "decreased production" I would think that you are going to be much more susceptible to "crashing" cultures... 

I had a mite problem and it pretty much decimated a few of my cultures... a simple trip to the store to get some mite and lice stuff, and less than a week later I was mite free.


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## NathalieB (Apr 23, 2007)

I also think the mite-problem is a little bit "overrated".
I try to limit it by making new cultures as "clean" as possible, because I get an itch-attack every time I think about them. But I have more ff than I need anyway and most of my frogs prefer the mite over the ff. :lol:


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## swigen (Aug 24, 2007)

Alright, well it sounds like the mites can stay. I just wanted to make sure there wasn't some other reason I hadn't come across yet that makes them unwanted. Thanks for your help!


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## NathalieB (Apr 23, 2007)

some people apparantly have mites taking over tanks and kill frogs, but I have never seen anything like it and I put thousands of mites in my tanks weekly.


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## KeroKero (Jun 13, 2004)

Mites in small amounts isn't that big a deal, mites in large amounts can cause issues. Trying to be 100% absolutely mite free can be unrealistic :lol: But... there are people allergic to mites, so be careful about letting them get too out of hand. Just some mite paper (DIY - newspaper and bird cage mite spray) is more than enough to keep them from being overwhelming.

As for the mites killing the frogs... I'm not as sure that's true. The minute a frog dies, they are all over it, but even in really bad infestations I've had I've not see them really get beyond an annoyance to adult frogs. I had a frog die in that period and within a couple hours it was covered in them, but it didn't die because of them.


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## Rain_Frog (Apr 27, 2004)

Hey Sky, 

the best way to control mites is to keep your fruit flies under a light. Also, seed new cultures with fresh booming cultures. Avoid seeding new cultures with older ones. 

In my experience, fruit flies produce better when they have a light source during the day. Make sure it's hooked to a timer so it'll shut off at night. Dave (ED's Flymeat) said fruit flies have a circadian rythm like people and produce better this way. Mine certainly produce better when I use a light than instead of darkness.


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## tkromer (Dec 20, 2007)

I have only once seen mites in my containers, and to be safe I threw that one out. I can't say it had harmed production noticably at that point, but it's something to take note of at least. Also, a lot of people are allergic to these, so if you have 10-15 cultures going and they all have mites, it's likely to hit the allergies.

As for the advice on light, I can definitely say there are more larvae on the light side of the cups (they sit on a shelf), so I think there's something to that...


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## Jer (Feb 9, 2008)

If you let them get out of control they can take over your house, get into your food and everywhere you don't want them to be. Then what are you going to do? Eventually, your cultures will take a hit and then you will experience "decreased production".


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## hylahill (Jan 29, 2008)

Anybody still using benzyl benzoate? How and with what success?


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

Jer said:


> If you let them get out of control they can take over your house, get into your food and everywhere you don't want them to be. Then what are you going to do? Eventually, your cultures will take a hit and then you will experience "decreased production".


If they are grain mites then they are already in your food. They are well known for being in flour and many other carbohydrate based products. 

Ed


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## Jer (Feb 9, 2008)

Ed said:


> Jer said:
> 
> 
> > If you let them get out of control they can take over your house, get into your food and everywhere you don't want them to be. Then what are you going to do? Eventually, your cultures will take a hit and then you will experience "decreased production".
> ...


They aren't in my food currently, but I have had them in my food in the past at a different location. It's pretty easy to notice when, and where, you have them if you keep your eyes open.


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## flyangler18 (Oct 26, 2007)

> They aren't in my food currently, but I have had them in my food in the past at a different location


Unless you are eating totally sterile food, you are ingesting mite eggs by the fistful. Pretty much a given.


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## Jer (Feb 9, 2008)

flyangler18 said:


> > They aren't in my food currently, but I have had them in my food in the past at a different location
> 
> 
> Unless you are eating totally sterile food, you are ingesting mite eggs by the fistful. Pretty much a given.


Well most of my food is kept in air tight containers, so it should be more or less safe to assume they can't get in there. Plus, in order for there to be eggs, there has to be adults, and trust me, after having dealt with mites in my food at a previous location, I would notice mites in my food at this new location. There arent many mites at this new location, except the ones I see in my redworm composts and fruit fly cultures, which are remnants from the previous location.

But if I do eat mite eggs, oh well.


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## flyangler18 (Oct 26, 2007)

The eggs are coming in on just about every food item you buy in the store. So unless you are autoclaving every piece of produce, grain, etc that you bring into your home, they're there. The only you'd ever notice them is when they are at infestation levels (like in old, dying FF cultures).


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## Jer (Feb 9, 2008)

Lol I better invest in an autoclave.


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## mongo77 (Apr 28, 2008)

Is there a chance that the mites could infest my house? :shock: Can they harm humans or any of the other pets we keep? I just figured they would keep to the ff cultures. Besides mite paper, shouldn't normal household cleaning practices keep them in check?


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## KeroKero (Jun 13, 2004)

Not to gross you out... but they are already in your house. You probably have a variety of species too... and typical of most parasites, mites tend to have a specific preference on what they are parasites of so the stuff attacking your flies likely is not the stuff that would infest you or your pets (that would be other species...). Best practice is prevention so you don't get a mite explosion (still not cool to see them all over the place even if they aren't parasitizing you in particular) and the general practices of keeping your place clean and what not.


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