Two Types of Flies

[kebpts]

I have been researching now for almost 2 months and have started construction on my first viv. (and my second thru fifth). I am ready to try my hand at FF's as the vivs finish up and grow-in and was curious as to the differance between Hydei and Melanogaster FF's. Which are used in what situations? Which are easier to culture? Which produce faster? Any differance in culturing recipies?


Thanks,
Rand

P.S. Looking to find local froggers (Northern Colorado) if you are or know anyone please PM me.

[Nubster]

Hydei are bigger in size but take longer to culture. As far as which to use I guess that depends on the size of the frogs. Not sure that one is harder to culture, just takes longer. As far as recipes, there might be a slight difference but I am not sure, I bought my culture mix pre-made.

[kristy55303]

melos are easier and produce faster hydei need a bit more moisture and produce slower with a major bloom and then decline, unlike melos that seem to last for up to a month sometimes longer, but i change them at 4 weeks to avoid mold/mite issues and make fresh cultures once a week from some of my previous new cultures to keep them going. as for the media, i believe hydei need a bit more protein. add some extra brewers yeast if culturing with your own mix is what i have done. otherwise some sponsors on this board have some great premade mixes. i also find melos easier to feed out, not as jumpy and they arent as good of escape artists as melos are. also it depends if you are getting the bigger darts or smaller darts. hope this helps! kristy

[Dangerously]

Both are easy enough to culture, and the prior posts describe them well enough. From my experience, I use both. Hydei flies for the larger frogs, and melos for the smaller ones.

One other thing to keep in mind if you have family members that don't care for ff's walking around (wrong hobby!)... When you get the occasional escapee, melos are harder to see and don't seem to travel too far. Hydei move along quickly and are much more visible. After a while they'll get used ff's wandering and learn that ff's are small, relatively clean (at least compared to houseflies), and even add nutritional value to your meal. But until then, get them acclimated to ff consumption with melos. You know you're getting there when you can yell to someone in the living room "a couple melos just walked across your piece of pizza - still want it?" And they say "sure".