# D hydei FF culture media?



## rc_racer_007 (Apr 11, 2004)

I just started making D. hydei cultures. I have been using my normal flightless and wingless media. It seems to be doing okay, but is there a better media for just hydei ffs?

aj


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## kyle1745 (Feb 15, 2004)

I just add a little more liquid to mine, thats all I do different. Maybe someone will post something better to add.

I've heard of people using baby cereal, and some other things. I've been thinking about adding some baby cereal to mine just to get some more vitamins to my frogs. Who knows if it will work or not.


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## geckguy (Mar 8, 2004)

This is the best media that I have used
1/4 cup molasses 
1/4 cup baker's yeast 
3/4 cup apple juice 
1 tablespoon of herptivite 
2:1 ratio of vinegar to water 
1 to 1 and a half cups potato flakes (enough to get a good consistancy) 
I boil it all for about 1-2 minutes 
then I put a little dash of baker's yeast on top.


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## rc_racer_007 (Apr 11, 2004)

geck guy, i have only used potatoe flake based medias so far. How do you store your media once you have it boiled? 

i have just been reading off and on recently, but hardly post any more.

BTW kyle, i see your now a site admin here. congrats.

aj


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## Darren Meyer (May 22, 2004)

The one that most of us here in seattle have used and has served us very well for years is ...
1 cup molassses 
1 cup white vinagar
2 cups flax seeds
1 cup corn meal 
1 3lb 15 oz apple 
5-6 cups oatmeal
2-3 tbls methlp. 
1 cup brewers yeast 
boil the faxseed in water , hint empty the applesauce into final container.use empty for water is prefect amount for boiling flaxseed . boil for 15-20 min. add all ingredients except for yeast (do that once cool) mix throughly add water if needed . let cool add yeast . put in refrig. use as needed makes enough for me to make ff's for 100+ frogs each month ! try it you will not be dissapointed . Also I found potato flakes to smell too much .
Happy frogging Darren


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## geckguy (Mar 8, 2004)

Once I have made it I freeze it in gladware containers, and break off a chunk at let it thaw, add some yeast, then some flies. Darren I have not had a problems with potato mediums as long as I use vinegar when I make them, in my current media I use 1/3 cup media, 1/4 cup water, and 1/4 vinegar, and you can only smell vinegar, and that is when you have it right up to your nose. Plus a gallon batch costs less than 4 dollars to make.


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## rc_racer_007 (Apr 11, 2004)

i will try one of those medieums, maybe both. I have only maid the dry mixtures, potatoe flakes, with pwder sugar, and moss. I use white vinegar in mine, the smell isnt bad until about the 3rd or 4th week. then its fairly nasty. plus very watery.

aj


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## Darren Meyer (May 22, 2004)

The mixture that we use is rather cheep compaired to most dry mixes . Also the extra yeast for flys , produces tons of flys !!! Have also been told by many top breeders that the fatty acids & vitamins produced by flax seeds is the biggest advantage compaired to other ff media . Just my experince .I'm sure we all use what we find works for the amount of frogs we keep , what is cheepest , and the best first and formost that we can provide for our frogs .


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## kyle1745 (Feb 15, 2004)

Ok what they heck is flax seeds? 



Darren Meyer said:


> The mixture that we use is rather cheep compaired to most dry mixes . Also the extra yeast for flys , produces tons of flys !!! Have also been told by many top breeders that the fatty acids & vitamins produced by flax seeds is the biggest advantage compaired to other ff media . Just my experince .I'm sure we all use what we find works for the amount of frogs we keep , what is cheepest , and the best first and formost that we can provide for our frogs .


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## Darren Meyer (May 22, 2004)

I don't know but they sell it in the health food dept. of most super markets.


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## Darren Meyer (May 22, 2004)

Also if you are doing hydi try placing them in the dark for 2 weeks . Was pretty gross the amont of production , looks like somthing that they would make you eat on Fear Factor , the whole thing is all maggots and you need to add more media as it's all gone and they (the maggots)will starve if you don't !


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## Ryan (Feb 18, 2004)

Flax seed is easy to get, it has a bunch of vitamins and fatty acids. Never used it in fly media though, but have in sugar glider food to promote good health.


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## Arklier (Mar 1, 2004)

About how many cultures will you get out of the flax seed recipe? Well, if that's not possible to say, how much total do you get in cups? Can it be frozen? Can you leave out the methl parben? Thanks.


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## Guest (Jul 20, 2004)

Ya i dont want to seem ignorent but what is methyl parabene


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## kenya_1977 (Apr 8, 2004)

*tegosept*

Methyl paraben is a mold/fungus inhibitor. The market name is usually tegosept. Almost crutial in hydei cultures because they take so long to start producing, gives mold plenty of time to take hold first.


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## Darren Meyer (May 22, 2004)

I'd have to say . I get about 6 puonds of media. I do not freeze as I use it all within a month. As far as amount of cultures go , depends on the culture containers that you use . I use mason jars w/ coffie filters. If you do have a small amount of frogs , try to break the mixture in half . I don't see the reason that you coulden't freeze . BTW off the subject a little it tastes pretty good . I ve always wanted to make cookies out of it and serve them at WADS meetings !! If you do have just a few frogs try Ed's fly meat , their mix works well also ,don't know about the ingredents or value that it has for frogs .


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## Arklier (Mar 1, 2004)

I bought my current media from Saurian. Works well for both hydei and melanogaster, but it gets kinda spendy, ya know?


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## rc_racer_007 (Apr 11, 2004)

ya i tend to only make 4 cultures every 2 weeks for only 4 blue sipaliwini tincs. I just started feeding them d hydei and they are having a time adjusting to the larger food. they are 11-10 months old, big enough but its fun trying to watch em eat flys that are about 3 times bigger then wingless/flightless. but those hydei eat the media super fast.

aj


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## Guest (Jul 20, 2004)

How do u deal with having aenough hydei to feed ur froglets? I have 3, 6 month old luecs and if it takes 3 weeks atleast to start producing u need alot of cultures.


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## Arklier (Mar 1, 2004)

Easy. You just make another culture right after the last one starts producing. My hydei cultures usually last at least 2 weeks, which is long enough for the next one to get started. You can also have them on rotating schedules, IE start a new one every two weeks.


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## bgexotics (Feb 24, 2004)

I use Quality Captive's fruit fly medium and it actually works better for hydei than it does melanogaster for me. I often have to flush my hydei because there are too many.


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## rc_racer_007 (Apr 11, 2004)

plus i still plan on making 1 flightless and 1 wingless each week as a back up.

(so total 2 hydei, 1 wingless, 1 flightless every 2 weeks)

aj


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## Michael Shrom (May 20, 2004)

I still like Carolina formula 4-24 best. It doesn't stink, lasts long, and gives consistent results I use the potato flake, 10x sugar, brewers yeast, and vinegar water recipe in emergencies. If I'm feeling cheap I'll cut the carolina with potato flakes. When the hydei start working the medium I like to remove all adult flies so they don't overpopulate. The big problem with hydei is it takes longer to get a culture started. The adults have a longer life cycle and have to be about 10 days old to lay eggs. To overcome this problem I often mix D. hydei and D. melanogaster in the same culture. They won't make fliers because they are the same genus but different species. Tyhe sooner larvae start working the medium the less problems you will have with fungus and mold. The melanogaster usually hatch first and the hydei second.


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## benmz (Feb 18, 2004)

That's a nice idea mixing the species. I'll have to try that. I've been using the potato flake, sugar, yeast, vinegar and water stuff for the last few months. It works well for me for both species. I culture more hydei than melanogaster. I like hydei better since they are more "substantial" than the mel. My tinc class frogs are all pigs and all are fat and healthy and they really gobble up the hydei. I still have to culture melanogaster for the vents and the tricolor froglets as well as having a supply ready for when the cobalt tads emerge from the water, so I've upped the melanogaster production. I just ran out of dry mixture so I think that I may try the flax seed mixture. Adding a little fat to the diet can't hurt, especially in controlled amounts.

-Ben


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## Arklier (Mar 1, 2004)

Michael Shrom said:


> I still like Carolina formula 4-24 best. It doesn't stink, lasts long, and gives consistent results I use the potato flake, 10x sugar, brewers yeast, and vinegar water recipe in emergencies. If I'm feeling cheap I'll cut the carolina with potato flakes. When the hydei start working the medium I like to remove all adult flies so they don't overpopulate. The big problem with hydei is it takes longer to get a culture started. The adults have a longer life cycle and have to be about 10 days old to lay eggs. To overcome this problem I often mix D. hydei and D. melanogaster in the same culture. They won't make fliers because they are the same genus but different species. Tyhe sooner larvae start working the medium the less problems you will have with fungus and mold. The melanogaster usually hatch first and the hydei second.


Do you have a direct link to Carolina Biological's order page for bulk medium? I can never find my way around their site, I always seem to come up with teacher kits of thirty with one tiny vial each that cost an arm and a leg.

Also, just because animals are different species doesn't mean they can't hybridize. Granted, that's probably not the case with FFs, but if species are closely related (such as horses and mules, or leucs and tincs) then hybrid offspring are possible.


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## edwardsatc (Feb 17, 2004)

Arklier said:


> Do you have a direct link to Carolina Biological's order page for bulk medium? I can never find my way around their site, I always seem to come up with teacher kits of thirty with one tiny vial each that cost an arm and a leg.



*Blue 4-24*
https://www2.carolina.com/webapp/wcs/st ... ogId=10101

*Plain 4-24*
https://www2.carolina.com/webapp/wcs/st ... ogId=10101


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## Arklier (Mar 1, 2004)

edwardsatc said:


> Arklier said:
> 
> 
> > Do you have a direct link to Carolina Biological's order page for bulk medium? I can never find my way around their site, I always seem to come up with teacher kits of thirty with one tiny vial each that cost an arm and a leg.
> ...


Hmm. Do you know how much would those be in pounds? Some places measure medium in pounds, and some in liters. It makes it very hard to compare prices.


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## Guest (Jul 22, 2004)

i dont mean to distract the thread but what do u guys do when the media gets liquidy and the coffie filter falls into the media and diintegrates but covers the media so that they cant eat?


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## dmartin72 (Oct 27, 2004)

Why are you using vinegar and Methyl paraben (Tegosept)? I have no idea, but don't they do about the same thing? Also, all this stuff is starting to add up $$$ quickly. Not to mention, running around town is a major pain in the butt.

I paid $8 for 15oz of cold-milled flax seeds.
I paid $21.00 for 32oz of Brewer's Yeast.
I am about to order ONLINE 100g of tegosept for $20 w/shipping
The other stuff added up to $14
*all this is supposed to make 6lbs of media.
**Ed's sells 4lbs of hydei for $35 plus shipping

I think I might just return everything and get Ed's hydei formula, but it's too late! There is no way I'm running all over town again. Any suggestions where to get all the ingredients cheaper?



Darren Meyer said:


> The one that most of us here in seattle have used and has served us very well for years is ...
> 1 cup molassses
> 1 cup white vinagar
> 2 cups flax seeds
> ...


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## geckguy (Mar 8, 2004)

Go to a health food store, not GNC, and ask for bulk flax seeds and bulk brewers yeast. I get brewers yeast for $4.69 a pound, with 10% discount for large purchases, and the flax seeds cost 2-3 a pound.


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## Darren Meyer (May 22, 2004)

Well most of the time infact all of the time I get all that I need in the bulk food section of my local supermarket . As far as using the vinagar and meth.. is that is how I have done it for 5 years and it works well .Ifeel as though it increases the productivity . Try using nutritional yeast it's alot cheeper. 
My frogs are fat and healthy , breed and produce just as nice frogglets . Feel free to use whatever you want . This is just what ALOT of the top breeders use and it's what I will continue to use . As far as cost it really dosen't matter , you do spend lots of $$ on aquiring frogs so what's the big deal if you have to spend a little more on media ? No matter who's or what product you choose to use .On a side note Ed's media works great ,but I do believe that if you have a large collection it is cheeper in the long run to make your own . 
Darren


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## dmartin72 (Oct 27, 2004)

Hi Darren,

I am certainly willing to spend money on my frogs! I'm just trying to find all this stuff at the best possible place and in the closest of proximities. When I think of DIY FF media, I associate that with cheaper and just as good as the commercial mixtures. Where did you get tegosept? I will make the recipe that you use with vinegar and some without it to see if there is any difference in Hydei production. Also, I want to test Ed's hydei formula to compare.

Thanks,

David



Darren Meyer said:


> Well most of the time infact all of the time I get all that I need in the bulk food section of my local supermarket . As far as using the vinagar and meth.. is that is how I have done it for 5 years and it works well .Ifeel as though it increases the productivity . Try using nutritional yeast it's alot cheeper.
> My frogs are fat and healthy , breed and produce just as nice frogglets . Feel free to use whatever you want . This is just what ALOT of the top breeders use and it's what I will continue to use . As far as cost it really dosen't matter , you do spend lots of $$ on aquiring frogs so what's the big deal if you have to spend a little more on media ? No matter who's or what product you choose to use .On a side note Ed's media works great ,but I do believe that if you have a large collection it is cheeper in the long run to make your own .
> Darren


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## Darren Meyer (May 22, 2004)

I get mine from erin and dave from Ed's fly meat , though I 've heard that you can get it cheaper @ other places , w/ hydi I sprinkle about 10-20 grains of active yeast (used for baking bread ) ontop of the media ,thenadd the flys. I leave it in the dark for atleast 15 days . The culture then resembles somthing that you would see them eat of fear factor!!


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## dmartin72 (Oct 27, 2004)

Darren,

I heard that dissolving the yeast in warm water with powdered sugar in about 1/2 cup really activates the cultures. You would have to be careful because the explosive nature of your cultures already!


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## Darren Meyer (May 22, 2004)

Never have had any explode (yet) will have to give it a try . Is that going to be the new mythbusters experiment THE EXPLODING FRUIT FLY CULTURE !! That would be funny . 
Darren


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## Rain_Frog (Apr 27, 2004)

what is it that differs hydei nutrition requirements from melanogastor? 

I don't know if anybody else has experienced this, but the adult hydei all die off, and then you don't see anything but larva. Then, about 2 weeks later, they explode with bunches of them, but not as much as the melanogastor.

And yes, I do have flax seed I tried in melanogastor, and it produced a HUGE amount of larva.


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## frogcrazy (Nov 23, 2004)

*media info*

I was reading the posts and seen the carolina4-24 mix does anyone know the exact ratios for this mix.


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## Guest (Mar 5, 2005)

reading


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