# Anyone tried NE Herp's New media??



## yellow dart frog man (Mar 8, 2011)

Has anyone tried New England Herp's New fruit fly media?? If so how is it, is it good or bad??


*Thanks in advance!!​*


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## pa.walt (Feb 16, 2004)

yep i have. thats it not allowed to say anything else.


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## Totenkampf (Jun 25, 2012)

i dont think you are applying that correctly. the OP isnt asking if anyone has heard from a vendor because they are dodging his calls or if they have received bad service. hes asking about the quality of a product. its no different than asking if anyone else thinks the door hinges on exoterra vivariums are wimpy. there is another thread about joshfrogs new media too.

i have some coming so i can tell you about how it mixes, at least, next week.


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## JasonE (Feb 7, 2011)

I use it. I get the 5 gallon bucket of it. It's good.


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## pa.walt (Feb 16, 2004)

i read the post on joshs stuff. then i read this. sort of being a wise ass because of the comment about not being able to give your opinion.
ok then it didn't mix well for me. i did follow instructions and it still didn't work right for me. but i will keep on trying it.


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## Dendrobati (Jul 27, 2012)

I am an avid user of NE Herp’s mix. I did my own side by side test of four very common brands of media, including Repashy Superfly, black jungle, josh’s frogs, and NE Herp. NE Herp far out produced Josh’s frogs and black jungles. It also was ahead of Superfly, but not far exceeding it like the other two. 
My choice was very clear with NE Herp’s was as easy to use as any other, out producing, and I think might even be the best cost per culture (I would have to check my math). 
Every week I make 1 culture out of Superfly and the rest out of NE Herp’s media. Just simply to have a slightly different nutritional offering and it keeps me feeling good that the NE Herp media is cheaper and is out producing. =) 
When I make the NE Herp mix, I do add about 5 granules of yeast and a dash of vinegar and have never had any cultures mold. I do not do this with superfly and I do get crashes with the superfly and mold from time to time. 
I have a variety three flys that I culture. I do flightless hydei, wingless melanogaster and a golden wingless melanogaster. 

PS, NE Herp’s media had a new package on my last order and it’s a very good improvement! =)


Brad


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## Dendrobati (Jul 27, 2012)

Just to clarify and be fair, it was about a year ago that I did my comparison and haven’t bought any josh's media or black jungle media since. They may have changed and / or improved since then.


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## pa.walt (Feb 16, 2004)

i myself have been having problems with the "new" powdery mixes, joshs and ne herp. flaky stuff was more forgiviing. but i will keep on trying.


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## NM Crawler (Jan 23, 2012)

I tried it and it was good, like how you don't have to mix it. Still sticking to super fly. Haven't found a media that produces the number of flys like super fly does for me.


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## MeiKVR6 (Sep 16, 2008)

pa.walt said:


> i myself have been having problems with the "new" powdery mixes, joshs and ne herp. flaky stuff was more forgiviing. but i will keep on trying.


I hear you. Honestly we used flakes up until this latest version. All of our tests consistently proved that the more gritty version outproduced the flakes. (That's probably why we're not the only vendor to switch to a less flakey media. I bet others will, too.) It really does produce better than flakes did, and having excellent, long production is really the most important thing to any media manufacturer.

When mixed per instructions (1/4 cup HOT water, 1/3 cup leveled media, 1/4 cup HOT water), we get nearly full saturation every time. Spreading the water evenly over the media (for the 2'nd 1/4 cup) is key. On occasions where the media doesn't get 100% saturated, we use a spray bottle (set to the "shoot" setting) to saturate what's left. _I hate pre-mixing media_, so that was an important selling point for the newest version. Our media shouldn't be stirred or pre-mixed. It might take a handful of cultures to get the technique down for spreading water evenly, but it works great once you've got it down. (Till then, try the water bottle trick.) It's fairly forgiving if you end up needing to add a little extra water, and doesn't turn "soupy" very easily. Trouble with full saturation might be more common in dry conditions.

Keep in mind, _it's designed and tested for Melanogaster flies_ first and foremost. I don't claim that our Melanogaster media has the _best_ production rates for Hydei, although it does produce very well in our tests. We're working on tweaking a version for Hydei, but we're a very small company with limited resources so we've got to take our time. I won't release it 'till I love it. To be as honest as straightforward as possible, we've been suggesting Repashy's Superfly _for those who only breed Hydei_ flies. (As mentioned directly on our site.  )

Having said that... For those who prefer flakey-style media; if enough people want it, I'll consider offering it again. No big deal. Let us know if you'd like us to offer a more flake style media at [email protected] and we'll gauge the interest. If that's what some people prefer, I'll try to make it happen. To be completely clear, though... I can confidently say that it won't out-produce or outlast the newest version, but of course it'll still work very well if that's your preference. 

Thanks!
-Mike


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## frogface (Feb 20, 2010)

Mike I have a complaint regarding your new mix and hydei. I've been having to pour excess flies off into additional cups. Be careful if you improve it.


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## XxExoticPsychExX (Mar 12, 2012)

I personally love the new media. I haven't tried the old or any others except for the potato flakes, sugar, brewer's yeast, vinegar method found on this forum. I use only melanogaster and production has exploded!

I've followed the directions and have had no problem. However, with the splash of vinegar, I probably put about 2 splashes instead of one and stirred a bit. Then I level it all out with a spoon. I should also add that I've only made 4 cultures with this since I received the free sample, but am looking into getting more. I didn't realize that you shouldn't stir and such so I'll make sure not to do that and add just a single splash of vinegar instead of 2 next time to see if there's a difference! Although, this does mean I'm going to need more frogs to feed the major excess of flies to. . .


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## mydumname (Dec 24, 2004)

pa.walt said:


> i myself have been having problems with the "new" powdery mixes, joshs and ne herp. flaky stuff was more forgiviing. but i will keep on trying.


NE's media is not nearly as powdery as the others. The previous JF media was similar in texture(?) as the NE. Now JF is much more powdery...like baby powder light.


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## BethInAK (Jul 12, 2011)

I made my first FF cultures about two weeks ago from NE Herp media. 
Easy as pie. Very little smell, even in the older cultures. I was buying flies from petco and those jars STUNK. The NE herp cultures, although old and probably ready to toss don't stink.


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## pa.walt (Feb 16, 2004)

i did follow the instructions. when i mixed the stuff the first one culture went hard. the second time it went stinky and watery. i have not put vinegar in it because i was unsure how much to put in. maybe the water wasn't hot enough but it is hot. i don't want it make it boiling because when i am in the kitchen my cats always follow me and are underfoot. also at times i am clumsy. after about 2-3 days they would be like this. there were no flys. i will try again soon but i needed flys so i chose not to play around with the stuff i had. like i said both ne and joshs have given me problems. also i have noticed when i did make it it had sort of a skin. maybe i put too much yaest for this type of medium. 
if i had a camera i would of taken pics to show everyone.


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## radiata (Jul 24, 2010)

I'm using the stuff on two recent Melano cultures, which they recommend it for. I'll post my results in a week or two...


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## JasonE (Feb 7, 2011)

Dendrobati said:


> When I make the NE Herp mix, I do add about 5 granules of yeast and a dash of vinegar and have never had any cultures mold. I do not do this with superfly and I do get crashes with the superfly and mold from time to time.
> I have a variety three flys that I culture. I do flightless hydei, wingless melanogaster and a golden wingless melanogaster.
> 
> Brad


I don't use any vinegar with the NE mix and I have yet to have a problem with mold. NE's media really is the best out there.


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## MeiKVR6 (Sep 16, 2008)

pa.walt said:


> i did follow the instructions. when i mixed the stuff the first one culture went hard. the second time it went stinky and watery. i have not put vinegar in it because i was unsure how much to put in. maybe the water wasn't hot enough but it is hot. i don't want it make it boiling because when i am in the kitchen my cats always follow me and are underfoot. also at times i am clumsy. after about 2-3 days they would be like this. there were no flys. i will try again soon but i needed flys so i chose not to play around with the stuff i had. like i said both ne and joshs have given me problems. also i have noticed when i did make it it had sort of a skin. maybe i put too much yaest for this type of medium.
> if i had a camera i would of taken pics to show everyone.


Walt, I would like to try and figure out why you are having the issue via email, as your issue doesn't need to be publicly posted for us to help you. I'm sure we can figure it out. If the instructions are followed (which strongly suggest using vinegar and a light sprinkle of active yeast) and you are still having an issue, the only other possibility is the sample could have been under-mixed. (For which we'd be happy to send you a 2'nd sample free) One way or another, we'll do our best to make it right. [email protected] 

Because our media's reputation is on the table, I want to make sure people realize this is an isolated issue and not the norm. People might get the wrong idea if they don't notice that the only reported problem is from one single person's issue _with 1/2lb total of media_. (Not trying to minimize the issue, just trying to clarify.)


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## kingfisherfleshy (Mar 17, 2012)

Eager to try it...once Im ready to start cultures. 

I have some waiting in the fridge.


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## pa.walt (Feb 16, 2004)

i have made another mix the other day but didn't take notes on how i did it. but it did produce alot of flys. like i said just will keep on trying and try to figure out what i am doing.
walt


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## mydumname (Dec 24, 2004)

pa.walt said:


> i have made another mix the other day but didn't take notes on how i did it. but it did produce alot of flys. like i said just will keep on trying and try to figure out what i am doing.
> walt


Right here you said you made it the other day....above you said after 2-3 days there were no flies.....what mix have you experienced production from within 2-3 days? 

Not nitpicking here but you were the only one to complain and seeing the 2-3 days made me wonder.


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## Bcs TX (Sep 13, 2008)

I bought some ffy's from Mike not too long ago with his media and was very impressed the ffy's were booming and lasted a long time.


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## BethInAK (Jul 12, 2011)

I made my first cultures with ne herps media and I have an enormous number of pupae on the walls of the cup, darkening - flies starting to emerge! I am going to have to throw out lots of good flies or find someone to give some to. I am very pleased with the ease of use, the production and the lack of reeky smell.


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