Wingless Fruit Flies

[sharkweek178]

My culture is 5 days old. I'm seeing some orange stuff accumulate in there. Now going by my research, they could be laying eggs about now. Is that what it is or do I have a problem?

 

[WhistlingBadger]

Looks like you have some maggots and pupae. The orange stuff is probably just their droppings. You should have a frightening number of flies in a week or two.

 

[sharkweek178]

Looks like you have some maggots and pupae. The orange stuff is probably just their droppings. You should have a frightening number of flies in a week or two.

And a happy betta.

 

[sharkweek178]

In a week or so, I'll use some of the fruit flies from this culture to start another one. And I'll feed from the old culture while the new one establishes. I don't have enough fish to eat that many of these things. So I might have to just dump some outside to keep the culture from crashing.

 

[sharkweek178]

Looks like you have some maggots and pupae. The orange stuff is probably just their droppings. You should have a frightening number of flies in a week or two.

Today is that day. I happened to look over at the culture and it was really dark. Looked closer and it was filled with fruit flies. I fed some to the fish and dumped some out because there were so many.

 

[Colin_T]

Today is that day. I happened to look over at the culture and it was really dark. Looked closer and it was filled with fruit flies. I fed some to the fish and dump some out because there were so many.

If you have too many to feed in one session, freeze the rest in a plastic container with a lid and use them later on.

 

[sharkweek178]

If you have too many to feed in one session, freeze the rest in a plastic container with a lid and use them later on.

I might do that. Right now I'm counting on having an ongoing supply of live ones. But you never know. The cultures might crash or I could lose them some other way. Or maybe I could just share them with other fish keepers.

 

[WhistlingBadger]

I might do that. Right now I'm counting on having an ongoing supply of live ones. But you never know. The cultures might crash or I could lose them some other way. Or maybe I could just share them with other fish keepers.

The culture will crash eventually, in my experience usually after a few weeks. That's why I try to keep two or three going at a time. I think mine crash simply because so many pupae shells accumulate that the remaining flies can't reach the food, so they starve. But by that time, things are usually getting stinky, so it's time to freeze the bottle, wash it out, sanitize it, and start a new culture.

 

[sharkweek178]

The culture will crash eventually, in my experience usually after a few weeks. That's why I try to keep two or three going at a time. I think mine crash simply because so many pupae shells accumulate that the remaining flies can't reach the food, so they starve. But by that time, things are usually getting stinky, so it's time to freeze the bottle, wash it out, sanitize it, and start a new culture.

I always have more than one culture. Just in case something happens to one or the other. I actually started another culture a few days ago. I'll start a third one in about a week. I'd prefer to just have two since I don't really need that many. But I want to get an idea of how long they last first before settling on that.

 

[sharkweek178]

The culture will crash eventually, in my experience usually after a few weeks. That's why I try to keep two or three going at a time. I think mine crash simply because so many pupae shells accumulate that the remaining flies can't reach the food, so they starve. But by that time, things are usually getting stinky, so it's time to freeze the bottle, wash it out, sanitize it, and start a new culture.

My first culture did crash. As expected. I decided to start a new one each week and have 4 rotating cultures.
I was going to clean out the crashed culture and reuse the cup. But it was absolutely disgusting. It's going to take a little time to get used to that.

 

[WhistlingBadger]

My first culture did crash. As expected. I decided to start a new one each week and have 4 rotating cultures.
I was going to clean out the crashed culture and reuse the cup. But it was absolutely disgusting. It's going to take a little time to get used to that.

OK, full disclosure: I like the idea of washing out the glass bottles and reusing them. But thus far, I have simply thrown them away, treated myself to a frappuccino, and started over with a new bottle. There, it feels good to have that off my chest.

 

[sharkweek178]

OK, full disclosure: I like the idea of washing out the glass bottles and reusing them. But thus far, I have simply thrown them away, treated myself to a frappuccino, and started over with a new bottle. There, it feels good to have that off my chest.

Can you post a picture of one of your bottle cultures? I'd like a better idea of how you do this. And I want an excuse to drink more frappucinos.

 

[Back in the fold]

Your culture looks good in post # 16 . The medium will change color after the flies have been actively breeding for awhile . @Fishfunn steered you right by recommending www.fruitflyshop.com . That’s where I get all my supplies . Their website has all the information you need to get started and keep going . Don’t let your culture go too long because you need a couple dozen from it to start your new culture . When the medium drys out and cakes up it’s too late unless you act fast . Keep a spray bottle handy and lightly mist the culture occasionally but be careful not to drown your flies . Lightly mist don’t soak . Once you’ve done this a few times it is very simple .

 

[Back in the fold]

This is the container , the perching material , the nifty breathable lid and the single serving food all from The Fruit Fly Shop out of San Diego , California . The culture shown was started July 26th and has about run its course . Some flies made their escape as I took the picture but a house spider in my fish room will hunt them down .

 

[sharkweek178]

View attachment 347573View attachment 347574View attachment 347575View attachment 347576View attachment 347577This is the container , the perching material , the nifty breathable lid and the single serving food all from The Fruit Fly Shop out of San Diego , California . The culture shown was started July 26th and has about run its course . Some flies made their escape as I took the picture but a house spider in my fish room will hunt them down .

That all looks reusable. Maybe not the lid. I notice that the piece of coffee filter I tape over a hole in the lid gets stained. I use excelsior for perching. I have to get over how disgusting the crashed culture is then I can reuse the cups.