[Live-foods] Re fruit fly medium, flies in worm cultures.

[Dan McMonigle <daphnia at sbcglobal_net>]

DIY fruit fly culture media are hard to make equal to the commercial one. You have to add a special mold inhibitor in very small controlled amounts and have it evenly distributed through out. Not easy to do without specialized equipment.
   
  You might opt for better flies. Different strains grow faster. In my experience wild (winged) fruit flies reproduce so quickly that the medium is consumed before any mold can start, and plain instant potato flake is all you need . I set the winged flies in the refrigerator to knock them out, but as soon as warm air reaches them, they revive, so you have to be quick and get them soaked before they can fly away. If winged flies are not for you, try several different wingless  or flightless strains until you find one or two that work best.
   
  Some of the flies that infest worm cultures are parasitic, laying an egg on each worm in the culture. I don't know if there are any versions of these flies that can parasitize Grindel worms, but since the parasitic maggots can be inside the worm eating them from inside out, even hand picking worms for a new culture might not be enough. There is special screen, smaller than normal window screen to keep these flies out of your worm cultures, however the brown paper bag idea sounds like it would work just as well and cost much less.. 
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