# Overpopulated Fruit Flies



## Trickishleaf (Jun 29, 2012)

What should I do when my Hydei culture looks like this:









And my Melanogaster looks like this:









Should I just dump some out and kill them? I tried searching for what to do when cultures are booming this hard, but didn't find many results. What will happen if I leave them that full and just slowly feed from them?


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## r.avalos (Apr 10, 2013)

What you can do is make a few more cultures out of them. There are plenty of threads on culturing ff. It is always better that your culture is booming rather than crashing.


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## Trickishleaf (Jun 29, 2012)

I have made 2 cultures from the Hydei a week ago, and will be making another next week. I have made 3 from the Melano and will make more next week. I have been culturing for a while now, I just got some new varieties and have never seen production like this.

My concern is that the flies being so dense will cause a bunch of them to die.


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## Gnarly (Mar 3, 2011)

You're right, too many flies will cause them to die. 

You could always buy more frogs to feed the flies to...
Or flush them.


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## Trickishleaf (Jun 29, 2012)

Gnarly said:


> You're right, too many flies will cause them to die.
> 
> You could always buy more frogs to feed the flies to...
> Or flush them.


I was going to say, "I like your style sir" and then I had a nagging feeling that I had read one of your threads and that you are no "sir". Glad I double checked!
I like your style ma'am!


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## Gnarly (Mar 3, 2011)

Trickishleaf said:


> I was going to say, "I like your style sir" and then I had a nagging feeling that I had read one of your threads and that you are no "sir". Glad I double checked!
> I like your style ma'am!


Haha, thanks  

You can also consider selling some of the cultures, if you wind up with so many. People end up with a culture crash, or the mites move in, or they get a little lazy, or something happens at some point, and you would be helping them out while making a few dollars for yourself. To buy more frogs of course.


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## jdooley195 (Oct 19, 2009)

Ahh, isn't nice when there's too many flies? 

I know you said you started some cultures, but (if you haven't) you could also make mini-cultures that'll house a few feedings worth of flies, but wont really allow them much breeding conditions nor over-crowding.

Basically, put as many as you can that'll live, in a few separate cups with climbing materials in it and use those to feed while your real culture re-populates.


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## MeiKVR6 (Sep 16, 2008)

The advice about pulling some flies out of there is a good bet to follow to prevent culture crash due to overpopulation. Pulling from it will definitely help to keep the culture viable longer. Ideally, this is when you should build new cultures, but if you don't need more cultures at the moment, you still have options. If you won't be making more cultures, you can dump some flies into a separate deli cup (with no media, or only a little media) to hold them for a day or two until you are ready to feed your frogs some more. That'll keep the population at bay, and keep your currently booming culture alive for as long as possible.


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## frog dude (Nov 11, 2011)

I always think its a good thing to have too much flies rather then not enough! Make more cultures out of em'! Then buy more frogs


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## radiata (Jul 24, 2010)

*Anecdotal FF Overpopulation Observation...*

*Anecdotal FF Overpopulation Observation...*

Three weeks ago I was in Paris for 10 days. I had a house sitter take care of feeding the frogs (as well as a number of other pets). When I trained the sitter I told him which frogs should get bigger bugs, and which should get smaller ones. The sitter developed a preference for feeding Bean Beetles, because they were easier to handle. As a result, the FF cultures, which I had timed to pop when I was away, were mostly dead upon my return... So it goes...


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## redtxn (Apr 30, 2013)

Generally speaking, when my cultures become over productive for the frogs and newts, the excess are fed to either my fish or carnivorous plants. I pour extra adult FF into separate container and place them in the freezer for about 10 minutes.

My bettas absolutely love them, so much that if fed too often they refuse pellets and beg for flies when I get too close to their tanks. 

Additionally, I grow Cephalotus, Drosera and Nepenthes which all get an occasional treat. The Cephalotus have to be fed using tweezers due to the small openings. The Drosera capensis has longer flexible leaves that will bend and wrap to maximize insect contact and are especially adept at catching any winged fruit flies.


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## frogfreak (Mar 4, 2009)

OP, if you don't need the flies, I'd just dump them.

If you need them you can just do an overflow container. A small amount of medium and add the flies. I did these yesterday. Each one came from a single Hydei culture that was producing. I fed the day before and will feed again tomorrow, but they're producing so much, I didn't want them to crash. They do!


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## TDK (Oct 6, 2007)

What medium are you using to get that kind of production?


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## Betta132 (May 12, 2012)

When I get that many, my fish get bug lunch! And so do the jumping spiders in my room, some of them get out when there's just plain too many flies, and the little jumpers love the larger flies.


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## Julio (Oct 8, 2007)

You can get that kind of production if you add more brewyers yeast to the media and add a lot more flies like the containers above have, remember each female will lay upwards of 250 eggs


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## frogfreak (Mar 4, 2009)

TDK said:


> What medium are you using to get that kind of production?


I'm using Repashy cut with 25% potato flake. I use plenty of raffia in my Hydei cultures and it helps a lot with production. It's not necessarily the medium and I'm sure many other types would give this kind of production.Keeping the cultures at the right RH and temps are huge too! Many don't give them the proper conditions and will never get good production from any media.

EDIT: To be clear, these aren't my main cultures, just flies I dumped into an overflow container, so the don't get to crowded and crash.


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## Coqui (Jan 17, 2013)

We should all have that kind of problem. 
LoL


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## Trickishleaf (Jun 29, 2012)

Thanks for all the replies guys and gals! It's been very helpful. 
The Hydei are on Repashy and the Melanogaster are on NEHERP. Both cultures are fresh from them, so hopefully i'll get similar production from my own cultures. 
I'm using Repashy for both types, in mason jars with coffee filters. 
My Hydei are pupating already and they were started on 6/7. The Melanogaster's are pupating and they were started on 6/10.


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## Trey (Sep 10, 2008)

So what are the proper temps and RH then? I always just assumed mid 70s/ room temp was adequate...


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## frogfreak (Mar 4, 2009)

Trey said:


> So what are the proper temps and RH then? I always just assumed mid 70s/ room temp was adequate...


Mine do best at 78F and 60-65% RH. But, I keep them at 75-77F and 50-55% RH. They do well enough at that temp and humidity.

The problem arises when people have to put their AC on in the summer or heat on in the winter. The RH drops like a stone and will dry out the cultures. I keep mine in a room with a humidifier on year round. If it doesn't go off, no biggie. But, when the RH drops it goes off and keeps the room nice and humid.


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## Trey (Sep 10, 2008)

Into the snake room the fruit flies go! Constant 78F in there to keep the arboreals happy


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