blitzmantis
Well-known member
what does the masa do?
How do FF Cultures work?
- Thread starter blitzmantis
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Masa is just another form of starch, as are the potatos. The yeast feeds on the starch breaking it down into super simple sugars and the maggots then feed on the sugars. Masa is nothing more than corn flour, the staple ingredient in corn tortillas. I dont know if they eat those in spain, but it seems to be the closest place to look for the stuff over there in Europe. Still if money is no object, just stick with Rebecca's culture mix... it has the antifungal ingredients necessary to provide the optimum conditions for foolproof fly breeding. Noe I havent tried this yet, but the masa recipe called for vinegar and hone to act a mold inhibitors. I dont see why mixing vinegar and honey into the mashed potatoes would do anything but increase likelyhood of success.
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blitzmantis
Well-known member
so why doesn't everyone just use potatoes instead?
macro junkie
Dead Leaf Mantis
blitzmantis
Well-known member
...okay. :mellow:
i've used powdered mash potato flakes + water + sugar + baker's yeast (and a few drops of blue food dye). This has worked a treat. The culture has been very productive and i have never had any significant problems with moulds or fungus.
It's rso easy, i dont really understand how people are struggling to culture them
It's rso easy, i dont really understand how people are struggling to culture them
My struggle is that Hydei eggs take longer to hatch than the lifespan of the breeders... By the time the eggs hatch and maggots abound, the breeders are nearly all dead. The mortality rate of the damn little things is unnerving. I dont really have mold problems, but my cultures are always littered with the dead bodies of short lived breeders. heck, I would be willing to say that more flies die for no reason that in the mouths of my mantids.i've used powdered mash potato flakes + water + sugar + baker's yeast (and a few drops of blue food dye). This has worked a treat. The culture has been very productive and i have never had any significant problems with moulds or fungus. It's rso easy, i dont really understand how people are struggling to culture them
Also, the amount of mold issues you have are directly proportional to the clenliness of your air... so it is hard to really say whether or not a certian culture recipe is more or less mold friendly, as every person to try a certain culture recipe has hundreds of different mold spores that could possibly be in the air at their location during any given time of year. The only way to insure that you dont have mold problems with your culture is to take countermeasures against potential mold.
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OGIGA
Dead Leaf Mantis
In my opinion, the mash potato flakes work well. The problem is that it works too well. Everything reproduces too quickly and then it gets really messy. Also, the potato mash gets liquidy after a few weeks so I end up making another culture or adding more potato flakes to the culture.
The potato+Masa mix is good. It's a little slower, but I don't get the over-reproduction problem as much.
The most steady medium I've tried is the one on this forum with apple sauce, honey, vinegar, potato flakes, masa, food coloring, blah blah. It takes longer to get started, but it works really well for D. melanogaster. It doesn't work that well for D. hydei.
Anyway, with the potato and potato+masa media, I get mold, but the mold doesn't seem to be that big of a problem. The culture still produces for quite some time. Also, I don't think it smells but that may be because I got used to it.
The potato+Masa mix is good. It's a little slower, but I don't get the over-reproduction problem as much.
The most steady medium I've tried is the one on this forum with apple sauce, honey, vinegar, potato flakes, masa, food coloring, blah blah. It takes longer to get started, but it works really well for D. melanogaster. It doesn't work that well for D. hydei.
Anyway, with the potato and potato+masa media, I get mold, but the mold doesn't seem to be that big of a problem. The culture still produces for quite some time. Also, I don't think it smells but that may be because I got used to it.
Yeast helps prevent molds. My mix is one whole banana, half cup of potato flakes, then add some water and vinegar. I've cultured atleast 8 cultures of wingless fruit flies using this simple recipe. And, of course your culture will start to die off after awhile. That is also a good sign that you need to start a new culture.
Everyone does use potato flakes (check out any normal commercial mix), the masa corn medium idea is a mantidforum fad unkown to the vast majority of fruit fly culturers. It does seem silly to replace an easily acquired, extremely inexpensive medium with something difficult to acquire and relatively expensive. It also seems strange that fermentation would have no smell on a corn medium but there have been no comparative threshold odor number tests performed to date.
You didn't read the sticky at all hugh? Fruit Fly Culturing
macro junkie
Dead Leaf Mantis
ok its ben about 1 week with the mix i did of potatoe flakes and water and small pinch of yeast..i made 2 cultures..1 with flightless and 1 with wingless..i now see both maggots in both cultures..soon as the masa turns up il be testing his way out but for now looks like all is good..
macro junkie
Dead Leaf Mantis
aron - just reading your thread..i wish i red it 1st before making my cultures last week..i red
*If ambient humidity is less than 40% add 2 teaspoons water. If 15% or less add 1-2 tablespoon water. There will appear to be way too much water, but in only a short time the flakes expand. If too much water is used the bottom layer will turn back into water by the next day. If there is too much water the flies and maggots can drown, too little and they won't lay eggs or grow well. The upper surface should be fluid when the maggots are approaching full size but only the upper layer and not before that time.*
great advice!!!!
*If ambient humidity is less than 40% add 2 teaspoons water. If 15% or less add 1-2 tablespoon water. There will appear to be way too much water, but in only a short time the flakes expand. If too much water is used the bottom layer will turn back into water by the next day. If there is too much water the flies and maggots can drown, too little and they won't lay eggs or grow well. The upper surface should be fluid when the maggots are approaching full size but only the upper layer and not before that time.*
great advice!!!!
macro junkie
Dead Leaf Mantis
i got this from Orin - Temperature
D. melanogaster can be reared in temperatures from 65-90F
