[Guest]

where can i find some glass jars to culture fruit flys? as i rather just clean out a couple glass jars then have to keep buying plastic containers. thanks

 

[Darks!de]

ACE hardware and michaels crafts have them for cheap.

Luke

 

[Catfur]

I got mine at the grocery store. Just ask for mason jars for canning. I recommend the wide mouth, quart jars.

 

[Guest]

really any grocery store will have these i guess it makes sense but can't say i've ever seen them otherwise i'll try micheal's as well.

 

[Dunner97074]

I'm not a glass jar guy, but check one of the warehouse places like BJ's, Costco, etc. I use my old large juice bottles, since I'm drinking the juice anyway it's sort of recycling before I recycle them. So I don't have tto buy any containers.
Mike

 

[kyle1745]

As already stated you can get them about any place. I will say though from coming from all glass jars I DO NOT miss cleaning them out at all. After some wife advice I switched and can say I will never go back.

 

[Guest]

Try walmart. I got 12 for like 16 bucks canadian.

 

[Michelle]

I’m a glass jar person, not that I love it, its just I cant bring myself to throw all that plastic away…. Otherwise I would go plastic…. They aren’t pleasant to clean LOL
Anyway to your question, yes you can get them almost anywhere, but another place I found them for cheap was the thrift shop :wink: they were I think 25cents each
:shock:
later
Michelle

 

[mydumname]

Why does everyone think plastic containers are tough to clean. I just pull the excelsior out, which pulls all the dead bugs and pieces of media. Then I spray the inside with the sink sprayer thing and it shoots most of the empty larva sacks off. The rest come off with a paper towel. I am yet to have a problem doing this.

 

[Michelle]

Oh you clean your plastic? Well that’s different; I kind of thought the reason for plastic was to be able to throw it away... hummm I wonder if the plastic ones would be easier to clean then.... hummmm I will have to go get some and try it

 

[geckguy]

I prefer plastic over mason jars because I can stack them easily, they don't break, and they are light. My space is limited so if I can fit 100 32oz. plastic cups on one shelf or 50 mason jars that weigh more, I am going to go with plastic. I used mason jars for two years, and I had good production, but I had jars everywhere, because it is hard to stack them and still have good airflow. I know a frogger with a huge collection that still uses them and has for years, so it is all a matter of personal preference.

 

[mydumname]

The plastics are disposable, but I figure why not just reuse them if they can be cleaned. If you saw an unused one and a washed one, you couldn't tell the difference. The lids are tough, I don't clean them. Some get dirty, others don't. I have the white lides with all the wholes and cloth covering.

 

[yuri]

endocrine disruptors

One thing to be keenly aware of is the possibility of chemicals leaching from plastics. If you think washing gets rid of the problem, it actually helps some chemicals leach out. When you consider that the fruit fly medium is 'wet', then there may be chemicals leaching into the medium and maybe into the fly larvae, and maybe into your frogs. Well what are a few more chemicals going to do to your frogs? Read up on endocrine disruptors.

These interesting chemicals influence hormonal activity in a variety of ways. In humans they have been linked to increases in certain cancers, decreased sperm counts, developmental problems.

This is why I use glass mason jars. For the top I use unbleached coffee filters (some bleaching agents leave residues like dioxins - another good one to read up one).

So, when you throw out your plastic fruit fly containers, you are just throwing the problem somewhere else. It takes a very long time for the plastics to break down and they continue to leach out chemicals. You might be thinking this is bunch of bull, but look into the problems with male America Alligators and how they are affected by endocrin disruptors. Pretty scary.

 

[geckguy]

That is interesting Yuri, I will do more research, I may be switching back to mason jars. My friend who uses mason jars gets more production from his frogs than me and a friend who use the plastic, do you think their could be a correlation?

 

[Jace King]

I have been cleaning the same 150 or so EDs containers for about a year. Your scaring me, i dont want to have buy disposables.

 

[melissa68]

Re: endocrine disruptors

Yuri,

Don't forget to include paper towels! A lot of people swear by using them - but they have a lot of chemicals in them too.

Melis

One thing to be keenly aware of is the possibility of chemicals leaching from plastics. If you think washing gets rid of the problem, it actually helps some chemicals leach out. When you consider that the fruit fly medium is 'wet', then there may be chemicals leaching into the medium and maybe into the fly larvae, and maybe into your frogs. Well what are a few more chemicals going to do to your frogs? Read up on endocrine disruptors.

These interesting chemicals influence hormonal activity in a variety of ways. In humans they have been linked to increases in certain cancers, decreased sperm counts, developmental problems.

This is why I use glass mason jars. For the top I use unbleached coffee filters (some bleaching agents leave residues like dioxins - another good one to read up one).

So, when you throw out your plastic fruit fly containers, you are just throwing the problem somewhere else. It takes a very long time for the plastics to break down and they continue to leach out chemicals. You might be thinking this is bunch of bull, but look into the problems with male America Alligators and how they are affected by endocrin disruptors. Pretty scary.

 

[yuri]

I use products from Seventh Generation <http://www.seventhgeneration.com>. They have some good information on their website.

As to whether or not the differences in fly production between plastic and glass, you would really have to approach it scientifically and run experiments accordingly. Otherwise it is speculating.

As to scaring you, well that is the opposite of what these companies who make this stuff want to do. It is scary. It is a problem. Look into it.

 

[geckguy]

I was refering to frog production, his frogs lay many more eggs, I have no problem with fly production.

 

[yuri]

I was refering to frog production, his frogs lay many more eggs, I have no problem with fly production.

Okay, frog production. I still think you need to make side by side comparisons in order to get a better answer than just guessing.

WILD SPECULATION WARNING -- But, just going by what I have read and making grand assumptions, it is within the realm of possibility that it could affect frog production. In males (alligators and humans) the endocrine disruptors have been shown to adversly affect reproductive organs. SO, with enough exposure, your male frogs could have a decreased reproductive ability. Still, this is just speculating on my part and should only be interpreted with that in mind. There may be studies out there, properly conducted with control groups that have measured this effect (maybe not in dart frogs, but some other taxa).

 

[Arklier]

Want to see something really scary? Check this out. It appeared in the local paper this morning:

http://www.thenewstribune.com/opinion/story/4726858p-4362067c.html