Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have a few questions about fruit fly medium. This is from an earlier post:

Kyle: Here is what I use from doylesdartden:
8 cups potato flakes
1 cup powdered sugar
1/2-1 cup brewers yeast

1:1 water:vineger

Q: Do you sprinkle bakers yeast on top?

Q: How many cultures does this make? How much per culture?

Q: How much water/vinegar mix per culture?

Thanks,
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Matt

Q: Do you sprinkle bakers yeast on top?

Yes, just a pinch

Q: How many cultures does this make? How much per culture?

A good number, never really counted. I use 1/3 cup for quart mason jars.

Q: How much water/vinegar mix per culture?

Normal is equal medium to liquid. I use 1/3 cup medium to 1/2 cup 1:1 water vinegar. I also use elixir which sucks up some of the extra liquid. If you were using smaller cultures and no elixir equal amounts would work fine.
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Kyle
www.kylesphotos.com
Dart Links - still a work in progress
1.2.0 D. leucomelas
1.1.0 D. azureus
1.0.1 D. imitators

What is the purpose of the yeast added to the media, i don't add any to my media and it seems to work fine. I just sprinkle it on top.
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Nate
1.1 alanis tincs
0.0.2 imitators
0.0.2 Azureus

Someone correct me if I am wrong, but the yeast helps convert things into sugars which is what the files eat.
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Kyle
www.kylesphotos.com
Dart Links - still a work in progress
1.2.0 D. leucomelas
1.1.0 D. azureus
1.0.1 D. imitators

Isn't that what the yeast that you sprinkle on top of the media does?
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Nate
1.1 alanis tincs
0.0.2 imitators
0.0.2 Azureus

I would guess they both help with the same thing. I think the difference is one is active and one is not. So the active yeast just gets things going, and the brewers yeast, and the rest is the fuel. Like I said just a guess.
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Kyle
www.kylesphotos.com
Dart Links - still a work in progress
1.2.0 D. leucomelas
1.1.0 D. azureus
1.0.1 D. imitators

Wrong. Yeast converts sugar into alcohol. My guess is that the purpose of the yeast is to create the alcohol to kill off other bacterias.

Sometimes I use it, sometimes I don't. Really haven't paid enough attention to tell you if there is any difference.

joe
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3.0.1 Tinc Patricias
0.0.2836 Pea Aphids
0.0.4392 Springtails
0.0.1842 FruitFlies
0.1.30 Dampwood Termites

The activated yeast that is sprinkled on top is the primary food for the flies. When you make a fly culture you're actually making a yeast culture to feed the flies. Live yeast is essential to fly reproduction. The reason that you can get production without adding this is that the flies themselves actually carry live yeast on their feet and can spread it from culture to culture. Many people add brewer's yeast to their media because it is high in protein and vitamins and many claim that it improves production. Brewer's yeast is the same species as activated/baker's yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) that has been killed leaving behind nutrients.

Hope this helps a little,
Nick

Kyle,

When you say "just a pinch" do you mean a pinch sprinkled over the entire surface of the media, or just a pinch in one spot? I use the same FF receipe as matt and initially I have one good ff harvest. The ff's I don't feed to my frogs right away die in a day or two and then I may get one more very small crop of flys and that's it. I was wondering if sprinkling on too much yeast could be the problem.

Gus

When I said "just a pinch" I was referring to the active yeast sprinkled on top,

Gus

I just sprinkle it around. I think too much can cause too much C02 and thus they flies die. I just use a small pinch on top of each culture and it has been great. My production is very high and I always have enough food.
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Kyle
www.kylesphotos.com
Dart Links - still a work in progress
1.2.0 D. leucomelas
1.1.0 D. azureus
1.0.1 D. imitators

I have read that 1/16 of a tablespoon is good....that isnt much
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Matt

Thanks guys,

The next cultures I make, i'll try sprinkeling less yeast on top. I'll go with the 1/16th tablespoon and see what happens.

Gus