Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have read a lot of differing info about mold. Many sources say to throw out mold without opening the culture if it is black mold, but blue or green mold is o.k. Does the mold hurt the dart frogs? Or just ruin your cultures? And yes, I did use a homemade mixture with no mold inhibitor. I think I will order from saurian next. Is that the best site for flies? Thanks!

Different fly places will add different stuff to the media to try and place theirs above the rest(color enhancers for the frogs, vitamins, algae, etc.). The important thing is to find a media that has a mold inhibitor. The majority of media sold online will have this in it (the stuff I sell does, saurian's does, Ed's does, etc.). Keep in mind that how you make the media will be different depending on your climate (here in michigan we have very humid summers so i use less water, whereas if you were in arizona where they have almost no humidity you would need to add more water. I have found that when cultures are dry they are more suseptible to mold).

To cut down on mold use vinegar (I think it makes the culture smell unbearable) or use a media with a mold inhibitor in it. Also keep them away from your AC unit as they are notorious for spreading mold spores.
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Josh Willard
www.joshsfrogs.com

I use Saurian's media--just get the kit, which is very simple to set up and use. I've never had particular problems with mold affecting the fly production. I think he sells only the D. melanogaster flies, which are smaller than the D. hydei that I think I got from Ed's Fly meat. I've noticed that if they are allowed to accidently cross breed, you may get a number of fully flighted flies.
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Patty
Pahsimeroi, Idaho

4 D. auratus blue
5 D. galactonotus pumpkin orange splash back
5 D. imitator
6 D. leucomelas
4 D. pumilio Bastimentos
4 D. fantasticus
4 P. terribilis
4 D. reticulatus
4 D. castaneoticus

Just to clarify what patty wrote...

If you cross two cultures of D. Mel you get fliers. Hydeii and D. Mel cannot breed with each other.

I know this is what you meant, but before I reread your post I thought you were saying you could cross hydeii with D. Mel.
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Josh Willard
www.joshsfrogs.com

This doesn't happen often, just rarely. I'm wondering if they aren't just getting contaminated with wild flies? This happens in the melanogaster cultures and the flighted flies can resemble either the melanogaster or be somewhat larger and black like the hydei.
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Patty
Pahsimeroi, Idaho

4 D. auratus blue
5 D. galactonotus pumpkin orange splash back
5 D. imitator
6 D. leucomelas
4 D. pumilio Bastimentos
4 D. fantasticus
4 P. terribilis
4 D. reticulatus
4 D. castaneoticus

I got fliers one time. It was weird. I looked at this culture and the flies were...flying. In stupidity I opened it. Bad idea. After I hastily put the top on, I noticed the back was cracked (I have since changed to a softer plastic that won't crack). So, I assume some of the flies walking around my apartment that escaped the tanks got in the culture and I got fliers.
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Josh Willard
www.joshsfrogs.com