# Will this work for grain mites? Also other qustions



## DragonSpirit1185 (Dec 6, 2010)

I'm pretty sure what's infecting my cultures is grain mites. I have tried a plastic container with Diatomaceous Earth around the edges but they still are abundant.
I honestly didn't have any mite issues until I got some wingless melanogaster from a vendor.
I had been culturing "flightless" melanogasters that I got from Petco which are issued by Timberline Fisheries and there was no mites at all. 
Then I got those cultures and now there is an explosion of them. 
So my container is now contaminated and I don't really wanna mess with this Diatomaceous Earth powder anymore. 










So I wanna go get this from Petco if this will work? 








Natural Chemistry Reptile Spray at PETCO

I have some shelving that I was gonna use and line the bottoms of the shelves with paper towels that have been sprayed with this stuff then dried then the cultures placed on top. 

Also how often should I change out the paper towels?

I have seen many people say to dust the flies before you put them in another culture and I tried that with the Diatomaceous Earth and it's not like the RepCal it just caked onto them and I tried to shake the excess off and it didn't work out either. This stuff is pretty fine. It's like powdered sugar or flour. I used a very tiny amount. 
I knwo Josh's Frog's Bug Blade is Diatomaceous Earth but maybe it's not so fine and it falls off easier. I'll have to contact them on Monday about it. 
I know Doug aka Pumilo mentioned (http://www.dendroboard.com/forum/food-feeding/81081-grain-mites.html#post718710) using a superfine powder and he said he uses exspired Repashy Calcium Plus. All I have is Repcal lol and I guess I could try that if it's gonna work. I sure hate wasting good powder but I'd like to get this mite issue under control. 


Thanks for all the help


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## DragonSpirit1185 (Dec 6, 2010)

BUMP! Sure could use an answer to this question so I can go about making this happen or returning the product.


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## JPP (Mar 25, 2015)

You're doing it wrong. The way you have that set up makes diatomaceous earth pointless. The cultures have to be separated by the DE, or mites can freely move from culture to culture. They just crawl across that plastic thing you have your cultures sitting on.


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## DragonSpirit1185 (Dec 6, 2010)

JPP said:


> You're doing it wrong. The way you have that set up makes diatomaceous earth pointless. The cultures have to be separated by the DE, or mites can freely move from culture to culture. They just crawl across that plastic thing you have your cultures sitting on.


That's why I'm switching to mite spray and uni asking if this works. I used this same setup with Petco flies no problem and didn't have a huge mite issue until I got vendor flies.
Will that spray work?

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## Dendrobait (May 29, 2005)

No need to switch to mite spray. You just need to use DE in the correct manner.

I posted my experiences here but it allowed me to actually put really nasty mitey FF cultures next to new ones with no consequences.


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## DragonSpirit1185 (Dec 6, 2010)

Dendrobait said:


> No need to switch to mite spray. You just need to use DE in the correct manner.
> 
> I posted my experiences here but it allowed me to actually put really nasty mitey FF cultures next to new ones with no consequences.


yeah but the shop that I'm about to use it on I guess I can use divides to stick the cultures in to contain the DE.
I don't really want to place the cultures directly on the DE and get that powder all over the place so I wanna elevate it in some way. Thinking about using eggcrate panels. Do I need to wash them each time?
Here is the shelf I'm going to use









I can use 2 shoe boxes per shelf.
How do I use the DE the right way?

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## JPP (Mar 25, 2015)

DragonSpirit1185 said:


> How do I use the DE the right way?


Like I mentioned before, each culture needs to be separated by the DE. There can be no direct path between the cultures. I simply place each culture on an extra lid, on top of the DE, to keep the bottom of the cups clean. Keep said lids apart a little bit though; you have to make sure they don't touch each other. The eggcrate thing would work, as long as you made an individual/separate platform for each culture to rest on.


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## DragonSpirit1185 (Dec 6, 2010)

JPP said:


> Like I mentioned before, each culture needs to be separated by the DE. There can be no direct path between the cultures. I simply place each culture on an extra lid, on top of the DE, to keep the bottom of the cups clean. Keep said lids apart a little bit though; you have to make sure they don't touch each other. The eggcrate thing would work, as long as you made an individual/separate platform for each culture to rest on.


Okie dokie that will work. I'll go to the health food store and get some lids. They are like 10 cents. I'm gonna keep each batch together. Like how people use the 4 drawer plastic storage units and they keep like 2 in each one.
If you are adamant about me keeping every single culture separate I guess I can get individual containers at Dollar Tree that each culture could sit into.

Thanks for all the help guys I greatly appreciate it


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## JPP (Mar 25, 2015)

DragonSpirit1185 said:


> Like how people use the 4 drawer plastic storage units and they keep like 2 in each one.


That is what I use. I keep DE directly on the bottom floor of each drawer.


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## Dendrobait (May 29, 2005)

Keeping all the cultures seperated would be the best practice.

You could probably get away with two or three areas though...one for brand new cultures and the other for cultures that are older. Just make sure to powder flies as you start new cultures(this will IME allow you to use flies from mite infested cultures to start new ones without issue).


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## DragonSpirit1185 (Dec 6, 2010)

Dendrobait said:


> Keeping all the cultures seperated would be the best practice.
> 
> You could probably get away with two or three areas though...one for brand new cultures and the other for cultures that are older. Just make sure to powder flies as you start new cultures(this will IME allow you to use flies from mite infested cultures to start new ones without issue).


okay but what do I dust them with?
I've tried using the DE but it just clumps up all over the flies worse than using a bunch of RepCal. 
I know Josh's Frogs' Bug blade is DE but maybe it's in a different form.
I used a tiny about if DE and it just clumped in instead of just dusting.


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## DragonSpirit1185 (Dec 6, 2010)

OK so I got it all set up for the cultures I'm gonna make tomorrow. I can even double stack if needed or add 2 more shoe boxes. 
I didn't wanna waste my culture lids so I went to the health food store and got lids for $60.
Totally forgot I could get them at the grocery store's health food section for free haha oh well. 









So all I need to know about now is dusting. 
Do I just use calcium powder or do I use the DE?
I got this stuff left over from a crested gecko kit I bought. Will it suffice?









I know Pumilo mentioned in thread that he uses old Repashy Calcium Plus to dust his flies when making new cultures. 

Thanks for the help


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## JPP (Mar 25, 2015)

DragonSpirit1185 said:


> OK so I got it all set up for the cultures I'm gonna make tomorrow. I can even double stack if needed or add 2 more shoe boxes.


That set up looks better. 
By double stack, do you mean putting one culture on top of another like in your cup picture? If so, don't do that: all of your cultures need to be separated by DE. Not to mention that the cup on top will interfere with the ventilation of the cup beneath it.


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## DragonSpirit1185 (Dec 6, 2010)

Now what about this whole dusting thing

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## JPP (Mar 25, 2015)

Personally, _I_ wouldn't powder flies with DE. It can harm/kill them too if you're not careful. I just keep my cultures separated on a bed of DE, and throw out old cultures in about a month, and I don't have any mite issues. If you're going to powder, I would use old calcium powder like was previously mentioned.


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## Dendrobait (May 29, 2005)

Yes definitely do not powder the flies with DE. I am curious what happened to said flies...they die pretty quick in DE from what I've seen.

I just use leftover calcium supplement to do it. I only do this if I am using fruitflies from a culture with visible mites or an old culture. The vast majority of the time if not mites can be detected by careful inspection I just dump flies from the old into the new.


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## DragonSpirit1185 (Dec 6, 2010)

Cool thanks guys I think I'm ready to tackle this whole mite thing.

I could use some help on this mold issue though. I posted a thread about it. 
I've made like 12 cultures with no issues and now the last 3 have mold.
Thread: http://www.dendroboard.com/forum/fo...ues-melonagaster-cultures-until-now-help.html

Only thing I can think of is that the methylparaben just didn't get in the cups of powder I pulled out. Only change is switching to coffee filters.


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## cam1941 (Jan 16, 2014)

Not sure if many people are aware or not but DE behaves much like asbestos if inhaled into your lungs. As they advertise for mites, its like razor blades.

I had to use it for a pool filter and the guy who installed it warned me of this danger so I'm not sure it would be a good idea to spread it around in living spaces. I have read that its only effective in stopping mites if its dry which is when it is more likely to go airborne.

Food for thought.


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## Dendrobait (May 29, 2005)

cam: we have gone through this ad nauseum in older threads(starting with the originals where I suggested the possibility of this for a mite preventative). The conclusion of some very cautious individuals is that for our uses it is safe-especially since we use food grade DE that does not contain high amounts of crystalline silica(the stuff known to cause lung problems). The DE used in pool filters contains much higher amounts of crystalline silica.

It is not terribly dusty-much like calcium powder. It does like to stick to things but that is easily fixed as you can see in this thread. It is funny as I waited around for some other more project oriented and adventuresome souls to try it before being gifted a bag at SCADS. I sat on it for about a year until I had a serious mite problem and then started using it.

I should add after looking at those pictures that you do not need anywhere near that amount of DE to be effective. Just enough to powder the bottom of the container is fine-similar to how you might apply cornstarch to a baking sheet. I'm sure it will still work.


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## DragonSpirit1185 (Dec 6, 2010)

Dendrobait said:


> I should add after looking at those pictures that you do not need anywhere near that amount of DE to be effective. Just enough to powder the bottom of the container is fine-similar to how you might apply cornstarch to a baking sheet. I'm sure it will still work.


Yeah I just filled it to where I got an even amount across the bottom with no open spots or anything. 

How often do I need to change out the DE or will it be good for a long period of time?


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## MasterOogway (Mar 22, 2011)

It's good forever. It's basically tiny minerals, it doesn't ever go bad. If you have a ton of dead bugs in it you should probably change it, but DE itself won't be bad.


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## cam1941 (Jan 16, 2014)

Thanks Joseph, I was told its dangerous so I figured I pass that along. I've since read more of that info in one of the stickys. Its interesting that the pool form is more dangerous; glad I always used a respirator when using it. 



Dendrobait said:


> cam: we have gone through this ad nauseum in older threads(starting with the originals where I suggested the possibility of this for a mite preventative). The conclusion of some very cautious individuals is that for our uses it is safe-especially since we use food grade DE that does not contain high amounts of crystalline silica(the stuff known to cause lung problems). The DE used in pool filters contains much higher amounts of crystalline silica.
> 
> It is not terribly dusty-much like calcium powder. It does like to stick to things but that is easily fixed as you can see in this thread. It is funny as I waited around for some other more project oriented and adventuresome souls to try it before being gifted a bag at SCADS. I sat on it for about a year until I had a serious mite problem and then started using it.
> 
> I should add after looking at those pictures that you do not need anywhere near that amount of DE to be effective. Just enough to powder the bottom of the container is fine-similar to how you might apply cornstarch to a baking sheet. I'm sure it will still work.


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