# Fruit Fly media.



## [email protected] (May 4, 2020)

what's everyone using for fruit fly media? Repashy?


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## Moxie (Mar 7, 2020)

My personal preference is Rephasy SuperFly. I know some prefer to make their own and you will find plenty of recipes on here, that search bar is your best friend. If you can't find results that way, I just use google search. Type in what you are looking for and then add the word dendroboard and you will find more results. I always try both methods to research until I hit a brick wall.

Seriously grab a few beers, or beverage of choice and read through all the posts, there is so much valuable information on this board, that you will be surprised that 3 hours have passed and you are STILL reading


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## [email protected] (May 4, 2020)

Been reading all the stickys. Gonna start searching now. Thanks.


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## Xue (Mar 2, 2020)

Fruit fly media is whatever you make it to be. They all work, mostly.

This is what I do. Go to the dollar store. Buy a jar/can of apple sauce. Buy a carton of potato flakes. Buy ground cinnamon (optional). Buy yeast (optional). 

Pour about a 1/2" of apple sauce into a 32oz deli cup. Add potato flakes into the cup and stir. You want to add enough flakes to absorb the sauce as to not make it runny. If you don't put enough flakes it'll get runny after a week or two, but, once you start mixing the stuff you'll know. 

The cinnamon is to prevent mold and people say yeast is to feed the breeder flies so I use it because I have it around. It's not necessary though. I've done it without and it's the same results. These canned foods already have a bunch of mold inhibitors in them. There's even an apple cinnamon apple sauce too so it is what it is. For cinnamon, stir it into the mix and the yeast, sprinkle a little on top at the end. 

Real easy and cheap and I get crazy results.


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## Johanovich (Jan 23, 2017)

My recipe is the following:

(1 part is around 300ml)

7 parts oatmeal
2 parts brewer's yeast
1 part sugar
2 tablespoons cinnamon powder

I also add 2 tablespoons of my own carotenoid mix, but I guess regular superpig would work just as well. This isn't necessary for the flies, but there is some scientific evidence that suggests that adding some carotenoids to the mix has benefits for the frogs.

For a culture I use 60-70 ml of this mix with 100 ml of boiling water for melanogaster and 80 ml mix with 120 ml water for hydei. Works really well for me so far.


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## minorhero (Apr 24, 2020)

Johanovich said:


> ...there is some scientific evidence that suggests that adding some carotenoids to the mix has benefits for the frogs.


I haven't heard this yet. I am trying to work out my own recipe as I prepare for frogs. Do you have a link to the study by any chance? My searches for making more nutritious fruit flies have all turned up empty. I found a study talking about standardizing fruit fly diets and another about the importance of yeast for fruit flies and that is about it.


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## fishingguy12345 (Apr 7, 2019)

My advice for someone who's new to dart frogs: use a premade/commercial fruit fly media. It takes one more variable away from frog keeping. 
I use Repashy superfly, it's the easiest to get where I live.


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## Kmc (Jul 26, 2019)

I recently switched to Rapashy, after buying a bunch of a Common Contender. The other stuff would develop a white mold so frequently that it became a real time burner. I tried everything, thoroughly mixing up the dry media before making, - approaching its making with gloves, everything boiled, I even rinsed and heat coddled the excelsior, switched to coffee filters, still it would appear and it compelled me to freeze cultures. This was not why I bought commercial media. 

I started to think it must be the house. 

Then I got Rapashy and not only did it seem faster to make for some reason, it mixes smoother, has more good things in it and No Mold at All.


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## Kmc (Jul 26, 2019)

I have actually switched to Rapashy Everything, including some fun additions for my lizards diet that have gone over big. 

I include my nose and sense of taste for many things. Reptile supplements often have, exp date non withstanding, an acrid, oxidized smell, even when newly opened.

Rapashy does not. The food based nutrient components of the products are well founded and fresh. The ingredients he puts in are like this really Pleasant Surprise.

Im suspicious of marketing and hard to please. But Im relaxed using Rapashy.


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## Broseph (Dec 5, 2011)

Kmc said:


> I recently switched to Rapashy, after buying a bunch of a Common Contender. The other stuff would develop a white mold so frequently that it became a real time burner. I tried everything, thoroughly mixing up the dry media before making, - approaching its making with gloves, everything boiled, I even rinsed and heat coddled the excelsior, switched to coffee filters, still it would appear and it compelled me to freeze cultures. This was not why I bought commercial media.
> 
> I started to think it must be the house.
> 
> Then I got Rapashy and not only did it seem faster to make for some reason, it mixes smoother, has more good things in it and No Mold at All.


I have a theory about PART of why Repashy Superfly is consistently great: 

The instructions on the bag call for a much lower solid:water ratio than competitors. I'm using another brand right now, and I dilute it almost double what the bag instructs. Media mixed too dry always molds over for me. And quickly. 

Just seems like 
One brand in particular
Seems to give bad advice lately. 
However successful they've been in the past. 
'Sphagnum layer over ABG' being one example of bad advice.


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## Socratic Monologue (Apr 7, 2018)

minorhero said:


> I haven't heard this yet. I am trying to work out my own recipe as I prepare for frogs. Do you have a link to the study by any chance? My searches for making more nutritious fruit flies have all turned up empty. I found a study talking about standardizing fruit fly diets and another about the importance of yeast for fruit flies and that is about it.


Reading posts by Ed that include the word 'carotenoids' might be fruitful.

https://www.dendroboard.com/forum/search.php?searchid=15167944


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## minorhero (Apr 24, 2020)

Socratic Monologue said:


> Reading posts by Ed that include the word 'carotenoids' might be fruitful.
> 
> https://www.dendroboard.com/forum/search.php?searchid=15167944


Found it! PDF link.

Its about strawberry frogs and speculates it's mostly useful for egg feeders, but of course, how can we know right?

The article does however contain this gem:

TABLE 1. Composition of fruit fly growth media
1. Dehydrated potatoes 16.7 g
2. Brewer’s yeast 3.7g
3. Confectioner’s sugar 4.9g
4. Methylparaben (preservative) 2.7g
5. Baker’s yeast 0.3g
6. Tap water 80g
7. Spirulina 1.4 g
8. Marine algae (powdered) 0.7g
9. Red phaffia yeast (powdered) 0.7 g


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## Johanovich (Jan 23, 2017)

minorhero said:


> Found it! PDF link.
> 
> Its about strawberry frogs and speculates it's mostly useful for egg feeders, but of course, how can we know right?
> 
> ...


Carotenoids also extend fruit fly life expectancy, so that's another reason to include some into your fly mix


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## Stiles (Feb 24, 2020)

I started with josh's hydei media. It did what it was supposed to do. The next time around I thought I'd try the melo fruit fly media from josh's, I hated it! And this time around the weather was a lot hotter. it gets watery and media gets everywheere! the flies drown in that slop! and FYI, both medias from josh's will reproduce both types of flies! so dont believe the label. I needed excelsior, and josh's had the best price. I looked around and still no one was able to beat their price. So I ordered Hydei media one more time and same crap happened. after a few days, it gets thin and when you tilt the cup, it runs down the sides and its just one big hot mess! 

Repashy makes everything at a quality level. you can't go wrong.

But Tincmans media is pretty good too! Just on the pricey side.


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## Socratic Monologue (Apr 7, 2018)

Many people have to adjust hydration levels seasonally, depending on temps and humidity. 

If it is too thin, add less water. Works every time.


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## koconnor04 (Aug 17, 2020)

How exactly do you make you carotenoid mix?


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## minorhero (Apr 24, 2020)

koconnor04 said:


> How exactly do you make you carotenoid mix?


This is my recipe chosen for ease of use and cost.

1000 ml of Quick Oats
200 ml of Color Enhancing fish Food (I settled on Aqueon Cichlid Food Color Enhancing Pellets)
200 ml of Distillers Yeast (at the time of purchase I could not find regular active bakers yeast due to everyone deciding the pandemic meant baking was awesome)
50 ml of methyl paraben

Ground together in a blender.


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## Fahad (Aug 25, 2019)

I used to make my own media using the recipe posted on the Understory Enterprises website, but I've switched over to Repashy SuperFly.


Quick and easy. 
No guesswork for ingredients.
Produces good cultures with no problems.


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## Xue (Mar 2, 2020)

For the past maybe 15 cultures I experimented using the instant oatmeal packets and they've worked out very good. They have all the sugars and stuff in the mix already and the hot water used may have benefits that my apple sauce and potato flakes that I was using before didn't. I still add potato flakes to the mix to thicken it if it's runny. 

So far I prefer the oatmeal packets over the way I was doing it before as posted in the above thread, mainly because the packets have the ingredients already in them and I'm sure the hot water kills some things. 

It's been good so far and I still get them cheap at the dollar store.


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