[Micro]

Hey i just got my FF melanogaster kit and was wondering how many cultures i can make from the flies in the already setup culture?

 

[Pumilo]

We really can't say. We have no idea how many flies are in your culture. Generally you can set up a culture with 20 to 50 flies.

 

[Micro]

Ok well i guess a better ? then would be if im getting 2 tincs next weekend how many cultures should i start right now, remember i already have the 1 that i will be starting the new ones from.

 

[Pumilo]

You are going at this the wrong way. It's not about "how many can I make from this". It is more about how many do you need. How many fruit flies do I put in to start a new culture? (20 to 50)
Your question is absolutely impossible to answer. If you have 20 flies in your culture and it is not producing yet, then you cannot make any. If you have 100 flies in your culture then you can make somewhere in the neighborhood of 2 to 5. If you have 1000 flies in your culture, then you can make up to about 50 cultures.
Instead, you need to be researching how many cultures it will take to support your two frogs. We can't even begin to answer that until you give us an approximate age and size of frog.
Until then the best guide I can give you is to throw this out there. Make 2 or 3 cultures every week. EVERY week.

 

[Rusty_Shackleford]

I've heard it said that you want one culture per every two or three frogs. That being said if I were you I would make two in case one crashes you still have a back up. You might want get into the habit of making cultures every week. It takes about ten days to two weeks for melos to go through their cycle and reproduce. Keep that in mind so you don't get caught with no flies for an extended period of time.

 

[Micro]

Thanks for the help...Im going to make 2 cultures to have ready for the frogs next weekend..

Another question. How long do cultures usually last before you should clean them out? Ive heard that i should dump a culture after about 4-5 weeks because of smell and aging of flies.

 

[frogface]

You should be able to buy some producing cultures at the show. They are usually really good cultures, so, I'd plan on doing that and starting your own. Then you'll have a few that are producing (from the show) and yours that are just getting started.

 

[Rusty_Shackleford]

Yeah that's right I get rid of them after four weeks. By then the production of flies is way down and they smell really bad.

 

[frogface]

Thanks for the help...Im going to make 2 cultures to have ready for the frogs next weekend..

Another question. How long do cultures usually last before you should clean them out? Ive heard that i should dump a culture after about 4-5 weeks because of smell and aging of flies.

I'd wing that. I have some producing cultures that were made in October and are still good. Then I have some made in November and December that have stopped. Just keep an eye on them and if they are getting overrun with mites, toss them. Or, just toss after a month, like most recommend.

 

[kurt013]

I have 12 frogs and make 2 cultures each week. I make them both at the same time, usually Tuesday or Wednesday and usually start with at least 50 flies in a 16 oz deli cup. If a culture goes perfectly one is usually enough to feed all my frogs. I have about 4 weeks of cultures going at any given time, although only the 2-3 week old cultures are producing like mad. In hard times I have fed the flies out of a week old culture, figuring they are done with their egg laying.

 

[fieldnstream]

Its a better idea to make more than you need...never know when a backup will come in handy. Most people keep cultures for 30 days, by then production is usually slowing down. I keep mine after 30 days, but move them to another room (to avoid my nemesis...mites), they often continue to produce for another week or so (sometimes really well). Actually, today I had a large boom from a culture that was made on 11/24...hundreds of flies!

EDIT: DANG!!! That was a lot of responses at once...anyway, I agree with what Kris said, you should get at least one producing culture at the show.

 

[Micro]

Awesome thanks for all the help! i now have 2 new cultures and the one culture that was sent to me but it looks like its a couple of weeks old so i will start another culture next weekend and then feed from the old one for that week and then after that my first 2 should be ready to feed so ill use one to feed and the other to make a new culture and then from there i will make 1 new culture every weekend!

I dont know if that made sense to anyone but me but im pretty sure it will work out, but if not i have RI just down the street who has nice FF cultures just incase

I also have my Springtail culture going so ive got a good amount of food

 

[Pumilo]

Field is dead on. Make more than you need. If you make an extra culture and don't need it, you are out about 50 cents. If you run short and have to buy from a store, you can easily drop 10 bucks apiece for inferior cultures leaving you needing even more. So you can be one culture short but have to drop $20.
He's also dead on about moving them to a different location after one month to help prevent the spread of mites.

 

[Judy S]

so when you move them to another room to avoid mites, what do you do with the culture? Wouldn't you just be culturing mites along with whatever flies are left in the "old" culture? This whole aspect of raising darts is what I find intimidating....and the comment about being expensive is dead on.

 

[Pumilo]

so when you move them to another room to avoid mites, what do you do with the culture? Wouldn't you just be culturing mites along with whatever flies are left in the "old" culture? This whole aspect of raising darts is what I find intimidating....and the comment about being expensive is dead on.

It keeps the mites away from your new cultures. Yes, mites will continue to produce in that old culture but there is nothing wrong with feeding those flies and mites to your frogs. You just don't want to start any fresh cultures from it anymore.

 

[B-NICE]

You got some good advice. Tinc's are greedy. I have 2 cultures going right now. I need to keep up my cultures. Even though I can run out and get flies it is a waste of money if I slip up and something happens. I just got some mite paper, so Im going to keep 2 or 3 cultures at a time. I feed my Tinc's pin heads yesterday and they ate what didnt get away. Greedy Boggers!