I made this culture on 8/16. It was fine for a couple of days, but then I watched helplessly as the mold started to form. In no time, the top of the media was completely covered in mold. The mold turned out not being a problem, since the young maggots ate it all very quickly. The key was starting with flies that are eager to lay eggs. If I had to wait the 2 weeks for fresh flies to mature, I’m not entirely sure the culture would have made it. (See the next paragraph, where I substituted some vinegar for the water)
I made another one on 8/16, and substituted 1:1:2 apple cider vinegar:white vinegar:water, and there is absolutely no mold on that one as of now
The recipe I used for both the medias is as follows: 8 parts instant potatoes, one part brewers yeast, and one part powdered sugar. I used 1/2 cup of the dry mix, and about 3/4 to 1 cup of water, give or take a little. For the particular culture shown below, I didn’t put any vinegar in it, but did sprinkle some cinnamon on the top (not sure if it really helped with the mold, but it definitely makes it smell much better). For the other one, I used a 1:1:2 ratio with the vinegar and water (explained above) and there is no mold in the culture, after 8 days.
Heres a pic of the culture with no vinegar (used to be completely covered in white mold, but the maggots ate it all).
I put all 20 of my mature flies (I was nervous that they wouldn’t make it!) into it in the beginning, all of which laid eggs previously, in my original culture. For the picture, it looks about the same on all sides of the jar, so I am very excited to have found a recipe that has amazing results, so I thought I’d just share it, for all the noobs like myself who aren’t completely confident with their culture-making skills. The thing to keep in mind (that I didn’t think about), is that they are in fact fruit flies, so they’re very hardy. It takes the D. Hydei a little bit of time to establish themselves, but just be patient, and they’ll start producing like crazy! (I started with a tiny vial from PetSmart, no more than about 20-30 flies. Now I have well over 5-6 hundred, and I’m only on my second BIG culture) The most important thing is planning ahead, I’ve found. I bought the vial almost a month ago, with the intent of turning it into at least a few cultures. It is taking some time, but it is going very well. With a little planning, and a lot of patience, I was able to turn a tiny vial into two very healthy cultures, soon to be more.
Shoutout to Predatorhousepet, MantisGirl13, and Synapze for all the help and advice they gave me! I couldn’t have done it without you all!
I made another one on 8/16, and substituted 1:1:2 apple cider vinegar:white vinegar:water, and there is absolutely no mold on that one as of now
The recipe I used for both the medias is as follows: 8 parts instant potatoes, one part brewers yeast, and one part powdered sugar. I used 1/2 cup of the dry mix, and about 3/4 to 1 cup of water, give or take a little. For the particular culture shown below, I didn’t put any vinegar in it, but did sprinkle some cinnamon on the top (not sure if it really helped with the mold, but it definitely makes it smell much better). For the other one, I used a 1:1:2 ratio with the vinegar and water (explained above) and there is no mold in the culture, after 8 days.
Heres a pic of the culture with no vinegar (used to be completely covered in white mold, but the maggots ate it all).
I put all 20 of my mature flies (I was nervous that they wouldn’t make it!) into it in the beginning, all of which laid eggs previously, in my original culture. For the picture, it looks about the same on all sides of the jar, so I am very excited to have found a recipe that has amazing results, so I thought I’d just share it, for all the noobs like myself who aren’t completely confident with their culture-making skills. The thing to keep in mind (that I didn’t think about), is that they are in fact fruit flies, so they’re very hardy. It takes the D. Hydei a little bit of time to establish themselves, but just be patient, and they’ll start producing like crazy! (I started with a tiny vial from PetSmart, no more than about 20-30 flies. Now I have well over 5-6 hundred, and I’m only on my second BIG culture) The most important thing is planning ahead, I’ve found. I bought the vial almost a month ago, with the intent of turning it into at least a few cultures. It is taking some time, but it is going very well. With a little planning, and a lot of patience, I was able to turn a tiny vial into two very healthy cultures, soon to be more.
Shoutout to Predatorhousepet, MantisGirl13, and Synapze for all the help and advice they gave me! I couldn’t have done it without you all!
Thanks
