Everything is reusable even the lids . I got the ten pack of supplies in 2021 and I have never bought anything more except the culture medium . I am going to try instant mashed potato flakes - not the potato granules - as that is what this is anyway . The only thing they do to the potato flakes is add a fungicide and that may not be absolutely necessary except in the warm summer months if your fish room is hot like mine is . I am still operating with the original flies I got four years ago . Never have lost them or had to buy a new bunch . The only thing I deviate from the instructions on is I let a new culture sit two days instead of one before introducing the flies . This lets me see if the yeast is growing on the medium surface satisfactorily and gives me time to add water if I skimped or more medium if I got it too soupy . There’s a real thing there . Your culture medium can’t be too runny or the flies will drown . There’s only so much they can do to stay walking on the surface . I’ve had it happen a few times but by the time I poured in my flies it was too late . I let it sit and some sunk in like the LaBrea Tar Pits and a few escaped to perpetuate their kind by climbing the mesh perching material , which by the way , is nothing more than plastic fencing for gardening use cut up into six inch squares . Excelsior is messy . The plastic is better .
You have the perfect consistency doing it like you’re doing . That’s the same thing I do . You can get the plastic mesh at any yard and garden store . It’s what people use to train vines onto and make small pest barriers . The holes are about 1/2 x 1/2 inch square and you need a piece about 9 x 5 which you fold into an S shape to put in your container . I brush off the dried larvae husks , rinse and go again . Way cleaner than excelsior and doesn’t make a mess in the aquarium .
