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Lessons Learned "Quick Hits"
We are soliciting short lessons-learned from hobbyists: events that possibly left you sadder, but measurably wiser. Have a good one? Please send it to the . Here is a brief diatribe from the Webmaster:
Mosquito control: goldfish pond keepers need to be careful that they are not also unintentional mosquito breeders. Besides the unpopularity of boosting the mosquito population, there are also health risks associated with mosquitoes that should be enough incentive to take this seriously. The common wisdom is that goldfish will avidly eat mosquito larvae. And indeed they will, if they know they are there and can get at them. But bigger goldfish and well-fed fancies are often not very diligent about patrolling after the mosquito larvae and eating them all. Also, since just about everything eats mosquito larvae, the mosquitoes have gotten pretty clever about not getting eaten. They tend to place their eggs in places where the larvae will have a good chance to mature. As a result, the larvae appear inside filters, in neglected buckets, in dishes under potted plants and anywhere else there is some water.
What can you do? Empty containers with standing water and no fish once a week. Clean filters once a week, particularly if you find mosquitoes under the cover when you open the filter up. Consider putting a few small fish in any container you can't easily empty. If you use fish to control mosquitoes, they will need some daily supplemental feeding ... you want them hungry but you also need the fish to outnumber the mosquito larvae, so that they all get eaten. There are also products based upon the BT bacterium that you can add to the container, which typically kill the larvae for several weeks. Experience has shown that these do not generally seem to harm the fish, though you certainly want to keep them from eating the treatment.
If you want to strictly use only fish for mosquito control and all your fish are are larger than 3 or 4 inches, then you may need to introduce smaller fish solely for the purpose of controlling the mosquitoes. You need to be careful that the fish will not bother the goldfish; watch for fin nipping or other harassment. Conversely, the goldfish will certainly eat these fish if they can catch them, so don't make them anything very valuable. Young goldfish, rosy red minnows, gouramis, guppies, etc. are all possibilities. As always, quarantine fish (especially bait/feeder fish!!) before adding them in with your prized pond fish.