Smell

[ian]

I am wondering, how smelly will the culture get? Cause when I used to purchase fruit flies, those were not smelly at all.

I wish if I am culturing on my own, my culture will smell like that will be good.

 

[russ]

I'm using the recipe on the original post in the previous thread, except that I use Quaker oats (not instant). There is never a smell, at least not one you can detect with the lid on.

 

[justin]

I used to use Carloina mix and thin it out with potato flakes, then add spirulina and brewers yeast (bit of smell but good for them). That method is much cheaper than using strictly commercial mixes and it's always yielded good outputs for me in the past. I used that mix for about 4 or 5 years. If you like commerical mixes and want a good one I like EDs Fly Meat or Carolina (if you can get it).
j

 

[ian]

I found a page saying that we should not add potato flake, since they smell very bad after a few weeks. And it also suggest to use brewers yeast instead of bakers yeast.

Are these true?

 

[edward]

Hi Ian,
If you use straight potato flakes then yes they can smell bad particuarly if the culture has too much moisture. If you mix potato flakes with powdered sugar, brewer's yeast and a commecial media then it doesn't tend to get that foul odor unless it gets contaminated.

In a simplified answer, brewer's yeast (which is dead) to add extra protien, baker's yeast is alive and will provide the stimulus for the flies to lay eggs.

Ed

 

[justin]

Ed, isn't it true that D. melanogaster also feed on the yeast whereas D. hydei feed more on media? Also I think I will have your wife ("the evil one") comment on how your cultures smell from time to time...
j

 

[alan]

I never encountered a Drosophila culture which didn't smell. Oh sure, some smell worse than others, but even the best leave a musty smell in the room. In my case, the solution was to keep them in a cabinet (I'm using an old wardrobe, but I grow a LOT of Drosophila cultures also containing a thermostatically controlled heater and an aquarium airpump which dumps the smell outside the house and keeps the cabinet under slight negative pressure.

 

[edward]

The cultures that smelled were the potato flake ones..... not the commercial mixes or the commercial mixes that I "thinned" with potato flakes, powdered sugar and brewer's yeast.....

I would say that both species ingest the media to get at the yeast and by doing so digest the media. Hydei seem consume more of the media but this could be due a lot of different factors.

Ed

 

[ian]

I heard of a media with apple sauce, banana, oat meal and baker's yeast from my visit at the local reptile show. I tried to smell it. it does not smell any stronger than a beer smell. Anyone tried this media before?

 

[alan]

I recently experimented with adding honey (on the grounds that it is antibacterial) to my cultures. It did reduce the smell, but in my hands it also reduced the yield of flies by ~50%, so I stopped using it.

 

[edward]

Alan,
Try using some cinnamon in a couple of your cultures to see if it makes a difference. I have heard it makes them smell better.
Since I started microwaving cultures, I have had very few bad smelling cultures (and those I can toss).

Ed