# Frogs & Toads > Dart Frogs (Dendrobatidae) > Beginner Discussion >  Alternatives to fruit flies?

## otofrog

I am looking into getting a breeding pair or trio of some type of dart frog, preferably one of the larger species. I already know the basics as I have experience setting up vivariums and paludariums, but these will be my first dart frogs. I don't want to feed fruit flies because I just find them inconvenient and I heard that they are masters at escaping. So are there any other alternatives to fruit flies? I have heard of bean weevils and they seem easy enough to culture, but I heard that they are great at escaping as well and they can fly. Pinhead crickets would be the best food for me because i can pick them up whenever i go to get crickets for my tree frogs, but the problem is that i don't know if a small frog would be able to eat pinhead crickets.

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## Dan

My adult phylobates terribis and bicolor take pinhead crickets. They are also large and very bold. However as froglets they would only take fruit flies. Fruitflies are unfortunately a necessary evil when it comes to dart frogs and are generally considered the best staple feeder. Also, if you plan on breeding you’ll need a supply of micro feeders for your froglets anyway.  Unless you acquire an adult pair of phylobates, odds are you’ll need to incorporate  fruitflies into your feeding regiment.

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## otofrog

I'll do fruit flies, but I really hate them. The thing that puts me off the most is having to make a new culture every few weeks. What would be the bare minimum of cups to have for them? Doesn't seem like two would be enough

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## Dan

I agree it is a pain. If you’re keeping a pair or a trio I’d advise that you keep at least 3 cultures at a time. One producing that you can feed off, one to seed new cultures and one as a backup. Culturing hydei can be tricky as they boom or bust. I’d make new cultures each week so you don’t run out.

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## otofrog

Sorry if this is a common or easily answered question, but why do you need to dispose of cultures after a month? Is it because they eat all the yeast or something or is it like humidity build up?

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## Dan

Generally what happens is the flies consume all the media and foul the whole culture with their waste. Also disposing of old cultures cuts down on the population of grain mites. Grain mites are harmless but can compete with the flies for the media and are an outright nuisance. After about two blooms you’ll notice the cultures are ready to discard. They dry up and stop producing.

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