# Too many flies, not enough time



## Catfur (Oct 5, 2004)

I have a FF problem that is really starting to get to me. My cultures all produce fine, but the initial boom in some (hydei) is so big that I cannot feed out all of the flies (I'm probably overfeeding the frogs with just half the jars of the initial bloom), but just a few days later the boom gets so big that it often causes the whole culture to self destruct. Basically I have an enormous number of flies that I can't feed out all at once, but won't live if I don't feed them out all at once, and it's getting frustrating (and disgusting, once a way overpopulated culture goes splat, it's pretty much a foul mess and not a ff culture any longer). It only seems to take a couple of days for a culture to go from buckets o' flies to jar o' sludge.

I can't really make fewer cultures because after the initial boom, half as many cultures would really only be enough to barely feed the frogs with zero room for error.

Any suggestions?


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## Mywebbedtoes (Jul 2, 2007)

You don't have to feed all of them to thin it out, I just dump some outside when it gets to be way too much. Or get more frogs!


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## zBrinks (Jul 16, 2006)

Flush em!

I just make a couple extra FF cultures, and just never add FFs or coffee filters to them. Whenever I get too many adults in a culture, I dump them into this container, and then use it to collect larvae as a treat for the frogs.


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## wishIwereAnExpert (Jul 18, 2005)

I recommend just dumping a ton in to the frog's enclosures, and then not feeding for a few days. In the last few months, I've reduced my adult frog-feeding regimen from daily to twice weekly, with no negative effects. Just have to dump a lot of food in.

Babies are a different story, of course.

-Solly


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## Baltimore Bryan (Sep 6, 2006)

that happens to me, but then i find myself with not enough flies, so i just make new cultures and thin the exploding ones out when they peak, and it seems to work a little. good luck


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## joshsfrogs (May 6, 2004)

Drill holes in the sides of the containers so the excess flies have a place to go... :lol: 

How many flies are you starting the hydei cultures with? I'm getting better production and longer life by adding less than 30 flies to a culture.

What temps are you keeping your flies at?


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## fishy332003 (Feb 15, 2004)

i could solve the problem for you.just ship them to me.i'm willing pay for the shipping.


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## Catfur (Oct 5, 2004)

Currently I am making 24 cultures ~ 2 weeks or so, I am thinking right now that my only good way out of this is going to be going back to 12 a week, which is a bit more work for me. I was hoping to find some way to make 24 every two weeks work better (less overpopulation crashing).

Sigh... (work harder not smarter always seems to be the answer)


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## Corpus Callosum (Apr 7, 2007)

Would it also help to use a smaller amount of media in each culture so that production expires earlier? Or would the boom still happen that way too?


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## a Vertigo Guy (Aug 17, 2006)

Ive got a similar issue. Its feast, then famine until the fresh made cultures (assuming nothing goes wrong) begin producing.


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## markc019 (Apr 12, 2005)

Make some melanogaster cultures .. I don't feed hydei for the crash factor effect. Melanogaster flies produce awsome for me and they seem to boom a few times rather than just one big one. 

~Mark


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## EDs Fly Meat (Apr 29, 2004)

Simple.


Get more frogs.



Anything else you need help with?


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## benmz (Feb 18, 2004)

I have the same problem. I am not sure, but I suspect the brewers yeast has something to do with it. Maybe adding less will lessen the boom. Haven't tried though.

I like to keep flour beetles as well and if there is a bit of a FF famine, I supplement with the beetle larvae. 

I also don't mind a little bit of a hunger spell. Frogs in the wild may not be able to get huge amounts of food EVERY day. I'm sure there are times when they can't find food. Some even suggest, and I concur, it can kick start breeding in certain frogs i.e. leucomelas. 

-Ben


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## Catfur (Oct 5, 2004)

ED's_Fly_Meat_Inc said:


> Simple.
> 
> 
> Get more frogs.
> ...


A job, a house and more money for more tanks and frogs...


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## elmoisfive (Dec 31, 2004)

Catfur said:


> ED's_Fly_Meat_Inc said:
> 
> 
> > Simple.
> ...


Details, details...

Bill


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## Dendrobait (May 29, 2005)

If you have some fish you could toss the rest to them. Just make sure the tank is well covered and your tank does not have a lot of duckweed.

Perhaps you could freeze or fridge them and use them maybe for tadpole food? Fertilizer? I hear B. lateralis will eat FF's too.


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## Almecum (Aug 3, 2007)

:idea: Have you ever saw a huge amount of flies going down the toilet Its a very interesting site..... :twisted:


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## Dancing frogs (Feb 20, 2004)

hahah :lol: 

I kind of have the same problem with my hydei cultures, massive yeilds for a couple of days...you can easily shake at least a 1/3 cup of flies out of the 32 oz cultures...then next week you have to shake them till you're blue in the face for 5 flies.
Guess I should try seeding with less flies.


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## KeroKero (Jun 13, 2004)

I just changed how I cultured my flies... I have a lot of hydei eaters, but because of the way they boom, if I made multiple cultures at one time, even all my hydei munchers would get over loaded. I stagger when I make each culture, and have even picked up the habit a couple times of "hopping" a mixed adult group from culture to culture to seed the cultures before I fed them out. So I get a culture boom, then crash, boom, then crash... plan it right and you'll get semi-consistant booming!

For the times I get lazy... I do a really low number of hydei compared to melanogaster... after i get my breeders, I feed the hydei out as completely as I can, and I ignore feeding other feeders. I do this with most of my feeders... when I get a shorelinite boom, the frogs get that until the boom is done... etc. Unless you have a large collection of hydei eaters, it's very hard to get them consistant enough to have as a normal feeder.


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## defaced (May 23, 2005)

Make cultures the way Patty does, one each day. 

Or switch flies. Melissa (Quality Captives) has pointed out to me, Golden Hydei seem to have a more consistent production pattern than regular Hydei.


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## Dancing frogs (Feb 20, 2004)

I'm thinking I might try mixing melagonaster in.
At least that way, the culture sitting around for a month will produce something for more than a week (maybee?).


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## KeroKero (Jun 13, 2004)

Definately will, but the mixed cultures can be a pain to set up lol... with the flies blooming at different times, you need to have multiple cultures to start new ones... cultures booming with the melanogaster, then cultures booming with the hydei. I'm pretty haphazard about making cultures, but I've managed to keep it up...


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