# Possibly too dry FF media?



## Jay Why (Aug 27, 2005)

It's been about two weeks since I started my first cultures. The directions I used said to mix the dry stuff (corn flour/potato flakes/etc) with about equal parts vinegar to make a `dry paste.`

One of my cultures looked like it had died off, then started booming with activity, now it seems to have slowed. I see plenty of dead flies in the bottom, but none of the blackness that a good culture shows when it is producing full force.

By comparision to the ones I buy locally, the media in the bottom looks a little dry, or spotty/crusty. Is there a good way to add moisture, if thats the problem?

TIA,
Jay `Sick-Of-Paying-For-FFs-Guy`


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## Varno (Oct 19, 2004)

I use a commercial mix, and I live in an arid climate (Colorado) and I used to see dramatic decreases in yields after about about 2 weeks when the media began to show signs of drying. Adding a couple of tablespoons of water directly to the media helped alot. The problem went away completely when I just increased the water content of the media from the get go. My mix requires a 2-1 ratio of water/vinegar to mix, your 1-1 ratio and your "dry paste" sounds much too dry to me. Don't give up, just play with the media recipie a bit and I'm sure you will find the right ratio of liquid to mix, your suspicions of it being too dry sound right on!


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## Jay Why (Aug 27, 2005)

Thank you thank you. 

Also - I'm pretty sure they are hydei because I think I recall seeing some bright pink eyes in there. So, they should take longer to culture anyways.

The drop-off in production though, and from the looks of the media, I'll try to rehydrate the stuff. Actually... I've got 2 I started at the same time... maybe I'll add some moisture to one, leave the other one. Just as test subject...

Heheh... a couple of months ago you couldn't have convinced me that learning to culture fruit flies would be so much fun... but its just too satisfying seeing my little frogs hunting down their prey!


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## JERRY (Dec 14, 2004)

*drying cultures*

Just a suggestion. When preparing a culture, and the need for a greater amount of water is necessary, crumble up 1 paper towel and insert it into the culture . It will absorb any excess water and still allow the culture to maintain some of its wetness. You can also spray the towel paper from time to time. I think you will see a difference in the culture. JERRY


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## JoshKaptur (Feb 17, 2004)

Agreed "dry paste" is too dry. I make mine pretty wet... more like Wendy's Frosty consistency. I don't think most people go that wet, but by the time they are producing enough to feed from, the "frosty" has dried into a "wet paste" that has enough consistency to not come out of the cup with all the tipping and banging I can muster.

But when I first make them, they're as wet as I can get them without having the flies stick to or drown in the media. The alternative has been re-wetting the media once or twice during the life cycle of the culture, which I am far too lazy to do.

Josh


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## Jay Why (Aug 27, 2005)

Thanks guys - I've been making my media too dry from the start obviously. Still learnin' the ropes... My frogs are getting fat though, so as long as their happy, I'm happy.



JoshKaptur said:


> The alternative has been re-wetting the media once or twice during the life cycle of the culture, which I am far too lazy to do.


Me too... I want as little work as possible, so I can just enjoy watching
the frogs do their thing!

Hey - how long do cultures usually last for folks? My store bought ones don't last more than 2 weeks. (But thats after I've started 2 cultures with about 20-30 flies from it.)


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## JoshKaptur (Feb 17, 2004)

Depends on the type of fly and other conditions for me, like how often I feed from it, how many I use to start the culture, how much media I used to start with, room temperature, whether I am willing to re-wet it, etc.

I'd suggest replacing the hydei with melanogaster, or even better, doing both. The melanogaster for me takes about 9-10 days (from when you make a new culture) to really start producing. Mine keep producing fairly consistently for about 2 weeks after that... with the second big boom at the end of the second week. Because I do not completely empty my cultures when they start booming (I leave about 50 behind), I suspect my second boom is made up of 3rd generation flies.

I throw cultures out after a month of usage, regardless of whether they are still producing or not. Keeping them longer increases the risk of mite infestation for me, especially in the summer.

With hydei, the numbers change... and it takes just under 3 weeks to get the culture producing. I usually keep them about 5 weeks total.


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## Varno (Oct 19, 2004)

I agree with Josh, I toss my melogastor after about a month. The trick is to get on a regular schedule that provides a constant flow of flies. I learned the hard way not to miss a culture set up. The problem for me when I got lazy or busy was feeding my frogs and not having enough flies left to properly seed a new culture. One thing I learned from the good folks on this board is that the first explosion of flies in a new culture is the best to seed the next culture, the flies seem more robust and fecund. If you wait and use flies from a older culture your productivity will suffer. I only have a few frogs and 1 new culture a week is more than enough for my needs. Hope you are finding a good liquid-media ratio and I hope you to will be having the "problem" of too many flies. I'm solving my problem by buying some imitators from Kyle!! Good luck.


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## Jay Why (Aug 27, 2005)

Thanks Varno! I thought I was getting into keeping PDFs, thats the easy part. These stupid little flies are giving me the biggest headache. Oh well... I've just about got it. I do have a friend with cultures, and a local store - so my boys aren't starving anytime soon.

Interesting about the young flies being better for starting a new culture...

I think I figured out the media to liquid ratio... after drowning a new culture. I think I got it though...

Have fun with the imitators ... I'm working on getting my girl to be cool with leucs because I want noisy frogs.


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## bluedart (Sep 5, 2005)

Question- my media is getting fairly dry too. Would the rewetting method be better, or would a different top be better? (I'm using paper towel to cover the top)


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## Varno (Oct 19, 2004)

For a modest cost you could order plastic deli cups with special lids that allow breathabilty with minimal moisture loss from a guy like Ed's fly meat or other, similar vendors. I would think that if you are having dryness problems now it is related to the paper towel cover in a low-humidity environment. In the meantime, I would suggest a a small amount of water (maybe a teaspoon or so) every few days until the culture is no longer viable, the wet paper towel sounds like it could cause other problems like mold or a bunch of disenegrating paper in your culture.


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## bluedart (Sep 5, 2005)

Figured I'd need to start doing that. Thanks!


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