Old Time Frogers' Homade Power Mix, First Time Culture

[deranged chipmunk]

Lady, i know the way i type and my syntax seems a bit curt sometimes, because i'm normally on my phone and hate typing on it because of that demonic autocorrect , but just so we stay on the same page, i'm just here to help, and was only relaying my experience with this version

the potato flakes have yet to let me down on longevity, and by playing with the recipe a bit, i have had a culture stretch to almost 2 months feeding 4 hungry mantellas. as for vitamins, well, i dust for calcium and vits anyway, so they get them there.

[Lady]

Lady, i know the way i type and my syntax seems a bit curt sometimes, because i'm normally on my phone and hate typing on it because of that demonic autocorrect , but just so we stay on the same page, i'm just here to help, and was only relaying my experience with this version

the potato flakes have yet to let me down on longevity, and by playing with the recipe a bit, i have had a culture stretch to almost 2 months feeding 4 hungry mantellas. as for vitamins, well, i dust for calcium and vits anyway, so they get them there.

I think I will take the apology and remember the advice.

I also plan to dust with vitamin powder, but I figure it's better to feed healthy flies than fat ones. Over time I will find what actually works from all the advice and articles and book I have to sift through.

[Lady]

Oh, and auto correct is only demonic on it's good days. On it's bad days it seems like the dark prince himself has your phone at his mercy and using it will take your soul.

[Lady]

So the mixture rose in my culture over night, but not as high as I would have liked. Next time I will add a bit more yeast. I will also add a little dry milk and some ground cinnamon. The milk for extra protein and the cinnamon to discourage mold. If my cultures crash I buy more flies and try again until I find what works.

[UncleChester]

In case you haven't seen it yet, there are more recipes Frog Forum - Fruit Fly Culturing, Care and Feeding - Everything you need to know about Drosophila

I use Atlanta Botanical Garden's Fruit Fly Culture which has the same ingredients as what Bill has mentioned. I also add cinnamon to make it smell a little nicer but that's optional. With the powder recipes you can mix up big tubs of the powder that last for months and take out what you need when you make new cultures. This makes it nice and convenient especially if you only have a small number of cultures running at a time.

If you find the banana/fruit recipe works for you, then by all means keep using it. Good luck and let us know how you make out

[Lady]

Just a little update. It's been 1 week since I started my culture and it has no mold yet but lots of maggots. In a week I should be starting a second culture but this time I will be adding the cinnamon, powdered milk and more yeast. Here's hoping for lots of boom in my cultures.

[Lady]

This is the first culture 9 days after it was made. If you look at the side you will see lots of little chrysalis on the side of the cup. I'm sure in a few day there will be lots of flies in there.