# Cultures (when to start)



## Jason (Oct 14, 2004)

My viv is almost done. I am eager to get some frogs. How far in advance should I start to culture Fruit Flys before i get the frogs? How long is the life cycle? I wanrt to have a good culture going but don't want to get them too early and have a bunch of dead fruit flies.

Thanks,

Jason


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## Dunner97074 (Sep 19, 2004)

Jason,
It depends what frogs you are getting. If you are getting froglets most people culture melanogaster which will begin to produce in 2-3 wks. But since you are just starting, make a couple extra and don't feed out of the extras so you get a good base, then start roughly a culture a week so you have cultures going at differnet cycles. Use the rule "never feed from a culture with out starting a new one first." 
Also if you are setting up your tank and let it cycle seed it with springtails so the froglets will have something to hunt.
Good luck
Mike
There are plenty of great recipes on here and great people to contact. Read through the past posts.


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## Guest (Oct 23, 2004)

*Im getting young adults*

How long in advance do you think i should set up ff cultures for young adults.


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## bbrock (May 20, 2004)

Jason, there are actually two parts to this question. The first is how far in advance to start cultures to make sure you have enough flies to feed the frogs. The second is how long will it take to get the hang of culturing flies to make sure you don't experience a crash. My advice is to set up your cultures now. Start a minimum of two cultures and three is better. You don't want to put all of your fly eggs in one basket so to speak. Then start a fresh batch of cultures every week. When your second batch of cultures is cranking out flies, then you will be more than ready for frogs.

Whenever someone asks me how hard are PDF to keep, I answer by saying that depends on how good you are at rearing fruit flies. It's not uncommon for new froggers to do everything right with their frogs but experience an ff crash. Fortunately there are companies like ED's that will rush you booming cultures in a pinch but I think it is safest to make sure you are self sufficient with producing a steady supply of food before the frogs go in.


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## Guest (Oct 23, 2004)

*I have help*

If i ever have a crash like you say i have my uncle who is less then a five minute drive away to help me if i ever needed something.


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## Guest (Oct 23, 2004)

Definitely as soon as possible. I set up a culture of Hydei on 10/8 and still no flies. TONS of larvae ready to pop though.


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## bbrock (May 20, 2004)

Jared J said:


> Definitely as soon as possible. I set up a culture of Hydei on 10/8 and still no flies. TONS of larvae ready to pop though.


You may have already heard this but hydei cultures are slower to produce than melanogaster. Melanogaster can be cranking in a couple of weeks while hydei take 3-4. Also, hydei are not tolerant of high temps. Keeping them in the mid to upper 70's works well for me while melanogaster get cranking if you warm them up into the 80's.


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## Dancing frogs (Feb 20, 2004)

I usually wait a couple of days after the first hatch before starting new cultures, If I follow the rule "never use flies from a new culture before starting another", I'd always have 9-12 cultures going, when I only need 3 that produce, so I generally have 6 cutures going at one time. My last two sets of cultures (I have three strains, so I make them in sets of three) were set up 22 days apart (by innoculation date) and were timed just right, with the production slowing down in the first cultures just as the new cultures start hatching.
I can afford a FF crash though, I've got waxworms, two species of flour beetle, and tons of springtails to back me up.
For the beginner, I recomend the old rule "never use flies from a new culture before starting another". Until you get the feel for the cycle. My melagonasters usually start producing in 9 days from innoculation, Hydei take about 3 weeks, but also produce longer.
I would highly recomend you look into some other food sources as well, for backup, and cause nobody likes to eat chicken every night :lol: 
Just my $0.02


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## Derek Benson (Feb 19, 2004)

wish I had an uncle who could make fruit flies magically appear.


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## Jason (Oct 14, 2004)

Thanks for the adivce. I have a reptile store very close by that has fruit flies and pin heads. I like the idea about seeding springtails to give the little guys and gals some thing to hunt. What species FF is smaller?

Jason


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## geckguy (Mar 8, 2004)

Melangoster are the smallest, buzzati are medium sized, and hydei are the largest.


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## bbrock (May 20, 2004)

Dancing frogs said:


> I usually wait a couple of days after the first hatch before starting new cultures, If I follow the rule "never use flies from a new culture before starting another", I'd always have 9-12 cultures going, when I only need 3 that produce, so I generally have 6 cutures going at one time.


I have actually never heard that rule. I make new cultures once a week and I keep 4 weeks worth of cultures on hand counting the fresh ones that aren't producing. I use flies from my oldest hydei cultures to start fresh cultures and flies from good booming cultures (2-3 weeks old) to start new melangaster. The first hatch of hydei tend to be all female so seeding from young cultures can be a problem. I've also gone 2-3 weeks between setting up cultures but have found that pushing to 3 weeks leaves less room for error. Different things work for different people. I'm guessing that Brian is much more disciplined about setting up cultures than I am which is why he can go 22 days while I have better luck just setting up cultures every Sunday. This is why I like to see people get the hang of a culture method that works for them.


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## Dancing frogs (Feb 20, 2004)

Disciplined? :twisted: Nah, pushing it is more like it! I can usually count on the turkish glider melagonaster to produce (eztremely well) in 9-10 days. 
As I explained earlier, I have a lot of cultures of other insects that I have as backup, So in worst case scenario, I get stuck sifting and picking flour beetle larvae, or I can get pinheads to tie us over. 
It just kind of bothers me to waste cups and media, just to have them sit, take up space, and stink, just in case I have some cultures turn out bad.


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## markgin808 (Sep 8, 2004)

*My $0.02*

I started my FFs about 3 three weeks prior to getting my GB Auratus. I started with both Gliders and Reg Mela. The TG started producing Larva within 3 or 4 days, and the Regular started in about 1 week. And within three or four days of the larva, I had a ton of FFs. Now I have way to many cultures going, but I guess its safer to have more than less in case of Culture Crash/Mold/Mites.

Just another tip, the recipe I use for media is as follows:

6 cups potatoe flakes
1 cup powdered sugar
1/2 cup brewers yeast

I add one half cup media and 1 cup warm water/white vinegar(1:1 ratio) then add a small pinch of bakers yeast, then let that cool down for about 10 minutes. Then I add either some excelsior or No. 7 plastic grid from a craft store, and finally some FFs. Usually 20 to 30 FFs will do the trick.


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