Getting mites is one of my fears. I heard from a local hobbyist that diatomaceous earth will also keep mites away. I decided to give it a try, so my cultures are currently sitting in about a quarter inch of diatomaceous earth in a couple of seedling trays. I’m new to the hobby, though, so I don’t have much experience. I’m interested to see what more experienced individuals have to say about the effectiveness of traditional mite paper vs. alternatives like diatomaceous earth.
Mites in ff cultures
Hello everyone. I just recently found mites in my ff cultures. I saw a couple outside the container of my new one but a bunch on the lid and inside the container of my old one. It’s been three weeks. Reason I had it for so long was because I wasn’t able to get the media for a while. I’m assuming I throw away the old, and im going to do that tomorrow when I feed them one last time with that culture. Question is do I throw away the new one too? And how do I prevent them from coming back? I heard mite paper is an option.
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Do a search here on Mites....tons of info to read.
Are you dusting your flies before adding them to a new culture? If not, that's why. 3 weeks isn't long for a culture. I'm still grabbing flies from a culture in April. And in the winter my cultures tend to produce for around 2 months.
No, I’m not. The first culture witty mites I bought since it was my first culture. What do I dust in the new culture? Repashy?Are you dusting your flies before adding them to a new culture? If not, that's why. 3 weeks isn't long for a culture. I'm still grabbing flies from a culture in April. And in the winter my cultures tend to produce for around 2 months.
What brand DE do you use? I’m seeing a couple and want to know what fellow hobbyists useGetting mites is one of my fears. I heard from a local hobbyist that diatomaceous earth will also keep mites away. I decided to give it a try, so my cultures are currently sitting in about a quarter inch of diatomaceous earth in a couple of seedling trays. I’m new to the hobby, though, so I don’t have much experience. I’m interested to see what more experienced individuals have to say about the effectiveness of traditional mite paper vs. alternatives like diatomaceous earth.
All food grade DE is interchangable and works the same. Do not use pool grade DE.
I use standard repti-cal calcium powder but I think others use calcium plus.No, I’m not. The first culture witty mites I bought since it was my first culture. What do I dust in the new culture? Repashy?
The specific supplement isn't important here. It's just to coat the flies and hopefully remove hitchhiker mites off of them when adding.No, I’m not. The first culture witty mites I bought since it was my first culture. What do I dust in the new culture? Repashy?
Best way to prevent getting mite is keep things as clean as possible.
Dont keep old FF cultures too long, new FF cultures in properly cleaned containers.
FF that are used for a new culture should be dusted befor putting them into a new container.
You could also go a step beyond, that is what i did and since then i am mite free.
Everything except the FF's get a short microwave treatment.
Dont keep old FF cultures too long, new FF cultures in properly cleaned containers.
FF that are used for a new culture should be dusted befor putting them into a new container.
You could also go a step beyond, that is what i did and since then i am mite free.
Everything except the FF's get a short microwave treatment.
I’m still confused as to what they should be dusted with.FF that are used for a new culture should be dusted befor putting them into a new container.
Edit: Nevermind didn’t see jasonE’s post
Any fine powdered calcium carbonate should work (repashy calcium plus or other brands will do). I personally use heiltropfen calcium carbonate powder (only to dust flies before they go into a new colony don't use it as a calcium supplement for frogs). It's worth saying that calcium carbonate is also known as E170 in the food industry. Anyways it goes for around 15 dollars a pound so it's quite inexpensive compared to calcium carbonate based supplements.I’m still confused as to what they should be dusted with.
Edit: Nevermind didn’t see jasonE’s post
It is only too get rid off the mites, and thus practically any fine powder will do the trick.I’m still confused as to what they should be dusted with.
Edit: Nevermind didn’t see jasonE’s post
Currently i powder them with flour the same stuff you can make bread from i had a batch that was too old to use for bread.
the mites just hate it, and will drop from the flies. then you just need to use a fine sieve. that will seperate the flies from the mites.
In my oppinion the amount off extra that is left behind on the flies too start a new colony is very small. The powder with the mites should be discarded and thus wasted if you use any supplement for it.Any fine powdered calcium carbonate should work (repashy calcium plus or other brands will do). I personally use heiltropfen calcium carbonate powder (only to dust flies before they go into a new colony don't use it as a calcium supplement for frogs). It's worth saying that calcium carbonate is also known as E170 in the food industry. Anyways it goes for around 15 dollars a pound so it's quite inexpensive compared to calcium carbonate based supplements.
You could do better if you add the supplement too the stuff you use for qulturing. although most will be discarded when teh maggots turn into flies.
Best too use it as a food base for the flies befor you feed the frogs. Most efficient way.
I have to admit that I use CC (Calcium Carbonate) primarily because that's what I found out to be mainly used against mites when doing some research at the time the argument I stumbled across was that it "dried" the mites or something like that. It worked great for me when using mite infested ff for a new colony and ever since I never had any mites problems so I didn't look anymore into it beyond possible toxicity.
I'll give flour a try although I'll probably stick to CC no matter what the result is.
I just searched for possible pesticide / repulsive properties and only found this.
https://efsa.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.2903/j.efsa.2021.6500
In "Conclusion" "5 ecotoxicology" it say's "acute toxicity data was available" for honeybees, aquatic invertebrates and fish. I'll admit it doesn't talk about mites but maybe it could have similar effects.(I'm no scientist so feel free to correct me if I misunderstood something). Spain and Hungary seem to be using it as a repelent in forest agriculture so there may be something to it...
I'll give flour a try although I'll probably stick to CC no matter what the result is.
I just searched for possible pesticide / repulsive properties and only found this.
https://efsa.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.2903/j.efsa.2021.6500
In "Conclusion" "5 ecotoxicology" it say's "acute toxicity data was available" for honeybees, aquatic invertebrates and fish. I'll admit it doesn't talk about mites but maybe it could have similar effects.(I'm no scientist so feel free to correct me if I misunderstood something). Spain and Hungary seem to be using it as a repelent in forest agriculture so there may be something to it...
Also you must have misread me. I speak of using CC ONLY as a way of getting rid of mites when starting a new FF colony not as any supplementation/gut loading practice.In my oppinion the amount off extra that is left behind on the flies too start a new colony is very small. The powder with the mites should be discarded and thus wasted if you use any supplement for it.
You could do better if you add the supplement too the stuff you use for qulturing. although most will be discarded when teh maggots turn into flies.
Best too use it as a food base for the flies befor you feed the frogs. Most efficient way.
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