# fruit fly cultures keep dying



## Zero (Nov 10, 2017)

So i've been making fruit fly cultures since January and all my cultures die just as the baby flies start sprouting. 2 weeks ago I started getting a booming culture - The tub was completely black from all the flies that were inside but for some reason they all died within 2 days. My fruit fly cultures don't start sprouting till day 25 by the time it starts booming all the fruit fly media is dry.


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## connorp (Nov 22, 2017)

How old are the flies you're starting with? Most of the young flies are female, so don't seed cultures with flies from fresh cultures.


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## Bighurt (Jun 18, 2011)

I always use 3rd or 4th week flies to start new cultures. I try and stick to 3rd week but sometimes thins don't go as planned.


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## Speg (Nov 9, 2010)

Are you doing anything to control mites?


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## S2G (Jul 5, 2016)

What kind of flies and walk us through your culture making process.


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

http://www.dendroboard.com/forum/food-feeding/42419-genetics-ff-culturing.html 

some comments 

Ed


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## Speg (Nov 9, 2010)

I don't know how normal this is..but when I got back into dart frogs in 2014, I purchased ONE fruit fly culture from an online source. I decided to do things better than in the past and purchased diatomaceous earth, a storage tub, culturing cups, etc. I utilize a recipe that has worked for me in the past after a few minor tweaks...I promise the recipe is nothing special/unique but it seems to feed the flies well.

I have never had a culture crash, die off early, etc in that 4 year period. I will say that during the winter months, the cultures do not boom as quickly as when it's warmer but they're certainly not producing poorly by any means.

I blame mites for a lot of my original problems when I first got into this hobby. Does the diatomaceous earth stop mites? Nope! I see them but they're certainly not as bad as before.

So my question, is this long without another culture somehow getting introduced to my original 4-year old culture normal for there to be no issues? I just see many people experiencing so many issues with flies.


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## Mchub (Mar 19, 2018)

I agree with what everyone else is saying, but it's worth asking...

Are you keeping them out in the open? A lot of people keeping them out in the open in cold/dry rooms end up needing a drawer system to keep them alive or booming. Keep the humidity high and the temperature appropriate, and you end up with happy flies.

Could also be mites, though.


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## dmb5245 (Feb 7, 2014)

Zero said:


> My fruit fly cultures don't start sprouting till day 25 by the time it starts booming all the fruit fly media is dry.


If it takes 25 days to get new flies, your room might be too cold. My house is dry and sometimes chilly in the winter, so I do a wetter media mix and keep my cultures near a south-facing window during cold months. It also pays to be more on guard against mites when flies are producing slower.


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

Speg said:


> So my question, is this long without another culture somehow getting introduced to my original 4-year old culture normal for there to be no issues? I just see many people experiencing so many issues with flies.


In no small part check out the link about on genetics and fruit fly culturing I posted as that answers a good bit of the issue. I tend to add purchased cultures a year to my flies to add some good outcrossing material and I've had the same line of melanogaster going for years without using things like DE.... 

some comments 

Ed


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## Zero (Nov 10, 2017)

Mchub said:


> I agree with what everyone else is saying, but it's worth asking...
> 
> Are you keeping them out in the open? A lot of people keeping them out in the open in cold/dry rooms end up needing a drawer system to keep them alive or booming. Keep the humidity high and the temperature appropriate, and you end up with happy flies.
> 
> Could also be mites, though.


 towards the end of the 30 day periods the containers are filled with sand like particles which i believe to be mites. I've seen people using mite paper but I'm unable to find it over here its usually out of stock. is there another way to prevent it?


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## Nar (Apr 3, 2017)

I had to move my ff to my hot water and furnace Room to keep cups around 75 to get them to boom out side of the room they over heat and die or cold and never pop


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