Fruitfly culture advice

[Bdawg]

https://anonimage.net/image/u19KtWX7zt

Can anyone advise me on the health of this colony going by the mould? Livefoodsdirectltd told me this is what a healthy culture looks like after 1 week. It was black within days, and 7 days later has gone full green mould, which they told me their experts say is how a fruit fly colony should be. 

I've read conflicting advice that states this will compete with the larvae for food and kill off the colony quicker. If so, they clearly believe this will benefit them if people buy more and more from them, especially if they knowingly sell unhealthy cultures. 

 

[Teamonger]

From my experience keeping my own cultures going for around 2 years now from my first starter culture I would say mold is never a good thing. That would be the reason most commercially available fruit fly medium mixtures have some manner of anti mold something in them. If you are making homemade medium I believe some people add cinnamon as a natural mold deterrent although I have never done so myself. 

Any of my own cultures that have been overcome with mold don't last very long at all. A little mold is usually ok as is some drying out and cracking of the medium as the culture ages but full blown mold infestation has always been death for my cultures. 

If you don't want to rely on this shoddy product for feeders I would seriously think about starting to make your own cultures as its very simple. There are a ton of recipes both on the forum (there is a sticky post) and across the internet for fruit fly medium. The one I personally use is the following although I add a dash of beer or cider to my cultures that the recipe does not call for.

http://talkto.thefrog.org/index.php?action=vthread&topic=23639

 

[Bdawg]

From my experience keeping my own cultures going for around 2 years now from my first starter culture I would say mold is never a good thing. That would be the reason most commercially available fruit fly medium mixtures have some manner of anti mold something in them. If you are making homemade medium I believe some people add cinnamon as a natural mold deterrent although I have never done so myself. 

Any of my own cultures that have been overcome with mold don't last very long at all. A little mold is usually ok as is some drying out and cracking of the medium as the culture ages but full blown mold infestation has always been death for my cultures. 

If you don't want to rely on this shoddy product for feeders I would seriously think about starting to make your own cultures as its very simple. There are a ton of recipes both on the forum (there is a sticky post) and across the internet for fruit fly medium. The one I personally use is the following although I add a dash of beer or cider to my cultures that the recipe does not call for.

http://talkto.thefrog.org/index.php?action=vthread&topic=23639

Thank you. I purchased a kit that has enough for 4 more cultures, just add water and mix the provided ingredients. Problem is, I bought 1 active culture from a reputable company, but clearly they didn't use any form of mold control. I feel I have been really ripped off by Livefoodsdirectltd. They're telling me it's a healthy culture, even though it's got a solid layer of green mould. There are plenty pupae, so as soon as they hatch, I'll rehome them in the new kit I bought. 

 

[hibiscusmile]

It will take a few cultures moving each as they die off. The mold moves with the flies. It usually does not hurt them.