[Markw]

Well, as the title states, how do you know when you should clean out a FF culture? I got cultures from Joshsfrogs, and they came in looking very used. The media isn't dry or anything, but the straw inside (can't remember the name OS that for theblife of me!) is very dark brown, the sides are dark brown and about FULL of pupae(?). There was tons of flies in it before I split thie culture twice, but there's still a bit in there and they're all doing well, I suppose, and it doesn't really smell any different than my other cultures. I can post a photo a little later.

Also, is there an ideal temperature for these guys? I know, like all insects, in cooler environments, they will function slower, but whatnis too hot and too cold?

Thanks in advance.
Mark

 

[Zoomie]

Mark, first I am new around here so bear with me.

If I understand your question, based on research here, I am unaware that people do any cleaning. I have heard of people misting or adding water if too dry. People also will shore up/add excel/filters/tp rolls if they begins to collapse.

The "generally accepted practice" is to toss all FF cultures at 30 days, even if they are still producing. Some people here even toss them at 3 weeks. I assume that this only applies to Melanos.

Most quote the reasoning as keeping mites to a minimum.

Someone else will have to answer the temp question.

 

[Markw]

Excelsior! That's it! Sorry about all the typos in my first post. I was typing quite fast on my iPad and autocorrect is a killer.

But that's what I mean. To throw the cultures out. I meant clean the cups and restart a new culture, not to clean the culture and let it continue to reproduce. Bad wording on my part. Sorry for the confusion. I suppose it's about that time then. Ive had these cultures for about 2 weeks myself, and they were quite established when they came to me. I still dont know if it's necessary, though. I'll have a look at them in a bit. I may joust use all the flies in one to jumpstart a new culture, and feed out the other one. All ini one bang.

Thanks,
Mark

 

[PeanutbuttER]

Only start a culture with a handful of flies, not a whole producing culture. Use maybe 50ish (give or take 25 or so).

I pitch my cultures when the ones I made from them start producing. So, to be more express, culture A starts producing on day 1 and I start culture B from it. Culture B starts producing on day 15. At that point I wait about 3 days and start culture C from B and throw away culture A. Geez, that was more confusing than it was meant to be

 

[Pumilo]

It sounds to me like you could use the full tutorial. http://www.dendroboard.com/forum/food-feeding/62277-guide-making-ff-cultures.html

 

[Markw]

I read the whole thread. And, while it is a good thread, it doesn't really answer my question. I have no idea about how old these cultures are, and if all these pupae on the sides are going to hatch, I don't want to just throw out 300+ flies per each culture if they are going to hatch shortly. I understand about the mites, but I don't see any in there. Also, when you do clean out a culture after the 4 weeks, what happens to all the flies and larva when you throw the culture out? There are plenty of tutorials out there that will tell you how to culture flies, but none about how specifically to maintain them in th long run. What to do with them once they've run their course, I mean.

Mark

 

[Zoomie]

Mark, again, I am no expert but people do different things. Of the very few froggers that I know, some flush them. One tosses all of the flies at week 4 in to the fish pond where the fish go nuts. Some rinse and repeat the container, while others disgard the container and start a brand new one. All of them do so at 4 weeks.

There are some people who run longer and don't care about the mites. Others ditch them at day 28 regardless of how the culture is producing.

I will say that of the few veterans that I have spoken with, they universally agree that the extra flies are not worth dealing with the excessive mites once they become a problem.

To finalize, there is a general consensus, but no hard rule, if that helps.

And go easy on Pumilo. He has forgotten more about bugs that most of us know. He is a bug nerd, hence his avatar pic. And we (PDF's included) all love him for it !

 

[PeanutbuttER]

Freeze 'em.

 

[Azurel]

There may look like pupae on the side of the cup but that could also be just the shells that are left over from metamorphosing.....In some cases if you have young froglets you will keep them a bit longer so you get the stunted flies due to the minimal resources left in the media....But if you don't have froglets of species like thumbs or pums then at around 3-4 weeks as the production drops off freeze them, then you can just bang on the side and it all comes out in one piece. Wash and re-use the cup.

I have used Josh's flies and I would say they are shipped at the high point of production so once you get them I would say they have about 1 1/2-2 weeks left in the culture before they need to be scraped. I freeze all of mine and dump them into a plastic bag and then tied tight to make sure if there is any flies that some how come back to life cannot escape.

 

[Markw]

Thank you. Oh and I definately didn't mean anything cross or I'll-intentioned toward pumilo. I respect him greatly and I am fully aware that he is the bug guru. I didn't mean it like that, if that's how it came across. And thank you for that response.

Frozen they will become.

Mark

 

[Azurel]

I forgot to add that if you need to keep them longer for the stunted flies for feeding make sure you keep them away from the newer/fresh cultures. This way the new ones do not get directly infected with mites from the old cultures......