# fruit fly culture not doing well :(



## AlexusL (Feb 27, 2012)

I have been raising melanogaster fruit flies for about a year now with no problem what so ever, all of the sudden one of my cultures started smelling weird almost like urine and have not hatched one of my other ones is smelling the same way (it isnt the typical bad smell) but like ammonia or urine but have not hatched help  i dont know what the problem is


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## Blue_Pumilio (Feb 22, 2009)

Sounds like there is not enough ventilation wither due to mass die off of flies or not enough airflow getting through the lid. What kid of lids are you using? Anything restricting airflow? 



AlexusL said:


> I have been raising melanogaster fruit flies for about a year now with no problem what so ever, all of the sudden one of my cultures started smelling weird almost like urine and have not hatched one of my other ones is smelling the same way (it isnt the typical bad smell) but like ammonia or urine but have not hatched help  i dont know what the problem is


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## AlexusL (Feb 27, 2012)

im using lids that have small circle cut outs on top that are covered with a cloth like material, i havent had this problem before


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## Blue_Pumilio (Feb 22, 2009)

Have too many flies in the culture? Are there lots of little "grains" covering the holes on the fabric? 



AlexusL said:


> im using lids that have small circle cut outs on top that are covered with a cloth like material, i havent had this problem before


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## AlexusL (Feb 27, 2012)

nope no grains covering it, i start it like normal and they get to the point they should hatch but they dont


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## frogmanroth (May 23, 2006)

Post a few pics of them and your setup. And describe the conditions. It's hard for us to solve your problems with out proper info. Other than , please my stuff is __________ help.


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## fystol (Dec 10, 2011)

I was having the same problem with my cultures. I spoke with Brian from Brians Tropicals and he said you have to sprinkle some active yeast on top of the media after you mix it. This prevents mold from growing. If you are using active yeast and still having the problem it might be old and you need new active yeast. After I did this my cultures showed an immediate improvement. Hope this helps!


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## ilovejaden (Jan 6, 2011)

Ive noticed smells like that when the cultures are to watery.


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

Blue_Pumilio said:


> Have too many flies in the culture? Are there lots of little "grains" covering the holes on the fabric?


Too many flies, too many flies dying are only a problem if the flies to start a new culture come from the first emergers (first boom) since that selects for flies that are intolerant of ammonia or other waste products. This has been discussed several times see http://www.dendroboard.com/forum/food-feeding/42419-genetics-ff-culturing.html for a breakdown. 

Ed


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

ilovejaden said:


> Ive noticed smells like that when the cultures are to watery.


Typically the bad smells are due to microbes other than yeasts getting established and breaking down the protien under anerobic conditions (no larva churning the media anymore). 

Ed


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