# Fruit fly media



## Boyd75 (Dec 26, 2012)

alright DYI fruit fly media. 

recipe im using. 
1tbl oatmeal
3 tbl insta mash potato
1 inch sugar
90 ml orange so far.. I got this recipe to work ONCE> and it's still going. 

it keeps collecting mold in my other containers, or drying out. 


does anyone have a succesful DYI FF media recipe that's working for them??
also what are you using for your container? lid? and lighting? 

my working culture is in a blue tinted glass tube with wood sticks, and cotton balls in the top. just lighting from my bedroom.


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## Pumilo (Sep 4, 2010)

You have no protein in that recipe. Here's my recipe.


Pumilo said:


> I get my deli cups and lids from NeHerp and I re-use them over and over. Wash the cups, wash the lids gently, then soak the lids in water and bleach until they are white again. I've got cups and lids pushing 2 years old now.
> I make my own media.
> 2 twenty-six ounce boxes potato flake (24 cups)
> 4 cups powdered sugar
> ...


I don't do anything special for lighting. They get ambient light in the frog room.


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## Kalakole (Jun 30, 2011)

I use:

http://www.dendroboard.com/forum/food-feeding/62277-guide-making-ff-cultures.html

6 parts instant potato flakes
1 part powdered brewers yeast
1 part powdered sugar

I get very good production and it's very simple.


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## Gnarly (Mar 3, 2011)

There's a few different threads on this in the food & feeding section. 
Here's one: http://www.dendroboard.com/forum/food-feeding/58072-best-homemade-ff-media.html


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## frogparty (Dec 27, 2007)

I use Repashy for the most part. 
DIY for me is Power mix, and is a royal pain to make, but I do it every few months


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## cmailloux (Jan 11, 2012)

I use this combo for both melognaster and hydei:

3 parts potato flakes
1.5 parts whole wheat flour
1 part sugar

The trick from keeping mold away is using white vinegar and water 50/50!
The flies don't mind.


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## Gamble (Aug 1, 2010)

I pretty much use the same ingredients as Doug ... just maybe in different quantities.

6c potato flakes
3c brewers yeast
1c powdered sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon
2 teaspoons of methyl paraben

I just keep making this batch over n over until I fill up a 5g container.


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## R1ch13 (Apr 16, 2008)

In the same vein as Doug and Nick, 

For 9 cultures - 6x 1/2 pint Mel cups and 3x pint Hydeii cups.

1 cup potato flakes
1/3 cup brewers yeast
1/2 the amount of brewers yeast in sugar
couple tsp of cinnamon

I then typically mix it up in a 1:1 ratio of dry media to 50:50 water/white vinegar solution.

If this leads to the mixture being even slightly too runny, I sprinkle in small amounts of Superfly until it is of adequate consistency.

A few cotton balls thrown into each cup, and a sprinkle of dry bakers yeast for the Mels and your good to go.

Been tinkering with this mix for a couple of weeks now and am the happiest I have ever been with my FF culturing.

Regards,
Richie


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## Reef_Haven (Jan 19, 2011)

Pumilo said:


> You have no protein in that recipe. Here's my recipe.
> 
> I make my own media.
> 2 twenty-six ounce boxes potato flake (24 cups)
> ...


Actually that's not quite true. 
Potato flakes and oatmeal both contain a bit more than 10% protein, 
7 cups of brewer's yeast is nearly 2 lbs.




Gamble said:


> I pretty much use the same ingredients as Doug ... just maybe in different quantities.
> 
> 6c potato flakes
> 3c brewers yeast
> ...


Wow, that seems like a lot of yeast. 


The recommended solution weight of protein is around 3.5 - 4%

http://www.dendroboard.com/forum/food-feeding/67766-repashy-superfly-5.html#post595176

Guess I need to increase my yeast ratio a bit, I've been using the standard 6 parts flakes, 1 part yeast, 1 part sugar.


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## Pumilo (Sep 4, 2010)

Reef_Haven said:


> Actually that's not quite true.
> Potato flakes and oatmeal both contain a bit more than 10% protein,
> 7 cups of brewer's yeast is nearly 2 lbs.


You're right about the protein. I should have said there is not much protein in that recipe. In my opinion, not enough for maximum production.

As far as the brewer's yeast measurement, I stand firmly by my statement. It would entirely depend upon the particle size. If you are measuring a powdered yeast, 3 or 4 cups may weigh a lb. I use a flaked yeast from Vitamin Cottage. The measurements I provided are very accurate. It was weighed on a very accurate, properly calibrated and checked, digital scale. It was then measured out in kitchen, "dry" measuring cups. Giving two different scales of measurements makes sure that I am accurate in my information.


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## R1ch13 (Apr 16, 2008)

Kevin, if it ain't broke don't fix it! 

I myself have a horrible track record culturing FF's, I literally crash every few months. The main difference in my mix now is the quantity of brewers yeast. I always used a little but obviously never enough; I had minimal production and was lucky to get a trickle of flies from a respectively sized culture. 

With my most recent crash I referenced both John Clare and Dougs FF mixes, which are very similar in both ingredients and the ratios in which they are used. 

I'm glad I did as I am certainly reaping the benefits!

Regards,
Richie


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## WendySHall (Aug 31, 2010)

R1ch13 said:


> A few cotton balls thrown into each cup


Cotton balls??? That's a new one! Can I ask the purpose?


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## oddlot (Jun 28, 2010)

WendySHall said:


> Cotton balls??? That's a new one! Can I ask the purpose?



I was wondering about the cotton balls too.




I use pretty much the same recipe as doug except I add some corn flour.

I don't use vinegar as it tends to smell bad.methyl parabin is best and cinnamon is a natural mold inhibitor .I have a curio cabinet (mirrored back and glass on 3 side)I use to store the cultures in which helps keep the humidity up.When I brought the cabinet home the wife was excited because she thought she was getting a display case!OOOPS!!


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