Mosquito control - Biofilter

[sachinsoni]

Hello,

I have a 150 gallon rubbermaid stock tank as my bio-filter absed on the skippy modified design of koiguy. I have extra oxygen being pumped to the filter with an aquarium pump, so the water is generally bubbly and not stagnant. I still have mosquito and mosquito larvae issue. Initially I kept the top of the rubbermaid covered using a plastic tarp but I realized that when it was covered, there were swarms of mosquitoes inside. So, now I do not cover the filter but I still have the larvae and mosquito issue (although much lesser than before). Does any of you have this issues and how do you correct it?

I do not have mosquito fish yet.

Sachin

 

[hewhoisatpeace]

I just have some minnows in my pond, they eat anything on the surface. I have my skippy style set up with 2 venturis attached to the two arms right before the "swirlers" in the bottom of the filter. 3/4" PVC pipes the air down to where the venturis are, and I pipe that 3/4" lines to the back side of my filter, so I don't hear the air hiss.

This keeps the surface of the filter so bubbling and moving I don't think mosquitos could lay there. Too busy.

 

[addy1]

Hello,

I have a 150 gallon rubbermaid stock tank as my bio-filter absed on the skippy modified design of koiguy. I have extra oxygen being pumped to the filter with an aquarium pump, so the water is generally bubbly and not stagnant. I still have mosquito and mosquito larvae issue. Initially I kept the top of the rubbermaid covered using a plastic tarp but I realized that when it was covered, there were swarms of mosquitoes inside. So, now I do not cover the filter but I still have the larvae and mosquito issue (although much lesser than before). Does any of you have this issues and how do you correct it?

I do not have mosquito fish yet.

Sachin

I was just visiting an engineer with huge koi tanks in his house. The bio filters managed to get some mosquitoes in them. He put fine screen over the filters, tight with clothes pins, He said they can't complete their life cycle, ie bite, and will die out.

But you need to make sure it is bug tight like a screen door.

 

[DoDad]

Buy mosquito fish

 

[hewhoisatpeace]

I just caught 4 minnows from a local stream. Quarantined them for a week, while dosing heavy with malachite and formalin, and medicated food. Introduced 'em to the pond, now I've got a pack of about 100 biological skimmers. Delectable mosquito larvae would never make it in my pond. Plus, instant free fish, just add water. :lol:

 

[sachinsoni]

Thanks guys. My problem is on the skippy filter from where the water flows back to the pond under gravity. So if I put mosquito fish in the filter, wont they also flow through the exit of the filter and in to the pond? Has anyone tried this?

Is there any other way of controlling these damn mosquitoes. I liked 'hewhoisatpeace' idea but not sure how Id do it now that I already have the filter working and all without disrupting the cycle. (SInce I have jsut started the pond).

 

[bsr8129]

i have the same issue, have mosquitos in the filter. placing mosquito fish in the pond will not help the ones in the filter. even with moving water they still seem to find away to lay thier larve. i have toyed with the idea of putting mosquito fish in there, but when added some small gold fish they just washed right on out to the pond, i even put some plastic grate to try to keep them in and they went right through it. I have not been able to find a small enough grate to keep them in and not restrict water flow.

Currently i have some extra pond liner over the top of mine, im too afraid to look in and see how many mesquitos are in there. Only plus i have lots of spider webs on the back side next to my filter so hopefully they are getting a majority of the mosquitos.

 

[KennethO]

I too use minnows. But I prefer the Rosy Red's that you get at the pet store(same kind, just albino). Being white, they add a little color and are eazy to see. I have about 2 dozen and are only about 10 cents each at the store. They look pretty cool when they school.

As for the filter. You can get cheese cloth in the paint isle at the local hardware store. Small enough to keep them out. But you have to cover the top and any spill way entrance. Window screen works to. Something I find to work well is batling. My top layer of the filter is polyester quilt batling. The stuff you put into quilts and bed covers. I have it covering the entire top and sticking slightly out of the water. They try to lay their eggs but the lavae doen't have a place to swim, therefor they die.

I'll post a picture if I can find my camera.

 

[lauraleellbp]

If you use feeder fish, I"d make sure to quarantine them for a good long time before putting them in your pond- feeders are typically full of parasites and diseases b/c they're not treated well and usually have really poor genetics (extremely inbred from being mass-produced, etc).

 

[hewhoisatpeace]

Winter's on it's way, your bacteria in the filter will die anyway, great time to pull out the media and make changes. If you really need to do it now, just get a few big clean trashcans you can fill with pondwater to put your media in while you do your thing, then replace it. Also, window screen will let water pass and keep minnows or any other fish in the biofilter. Just make sure if it clogs that you have a higher (above water) overflow that will also spill into your pond, or a good low water shutoff.

 

[sachinsoni]

I just asked the Vector control department for some mosquito fish and they will be delivering that tomorrow. I like the wndow screen idea and wil use that to block the exit from the bio filter.

'hewhoisatpeace', do you have a picture of the venturis that you have close to the swirlers? I cannot understand how you have made that and how does the venturi keep the surface bubbly.

 

[hewhoisatpeace]

I'll get back to you about the venturis, just make sure to use plastic window screen, really cheap at hardware stores, not metal. Metal might leach some bad stuff into your water, I'm not sure. Up to you.

 

[koiguy1969]

Why not just drop a couple misquitoe dunks in the filter to float?

 

[sachinsoni]

thanks hewhoisatpeace.

koiguy, I am trying to cut maintenance and not keep doing things repeatedly. I read that mosquito dunks you ahve to keep buying and adding since 1 lasts only 30 days.

 

[bsr8129]

No winter here filter runs all year round