Mosquito fish.

[JDaigle]

I just finished my first pond, it is quite small maybe 60 gallons, but I was hoping to be able to get some fish for it, and the most practical fish I could decide on was a mosquito fish. They eat mosquitoes and they are a kind of fish that I have gained an appreciation for their beauty.

Does anyone have any experience with them? They seem relatively easy to care for, but I want to make sure my pond meets requirements.

It is about 18"- 2' deep at its lowest point and about 9" deep at all other points. But I want to be sure that is deep enough for them to survive a "freezing winter" as i live in Massachusetts. Also, is it possible to heat a pond? Or is that not a good idea?

JDaigle.

 

[pondlady]

They do not eat the mosquitoes, they eat there larva. There are others that do the same job and do not swarm other fish as [gambusia ?] do. They have been known to kill other small fish. An air stone keeping the ice open works well as long as the fish are cold hardy.

 

[kirscp]

You would want to use a "pond heater / deicer". I wouldn't heat the pond, as it will get very expensive. I believe they suggest 3 feet for freezing ponds, but 2' should be okay, if done correctly.

If you are a DIY'r I can show you my pond deicer that I built.

I used this deicer in my pond for a couple of years.

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=8557

I have also used a 800gph pump pumping water straight up, it would keep the water open until it got -10f, then a bubble would freeze over. It would easily be busted or thaw once it warmed up a bit.

Keep an eye on deicers though. The one I showed is 100w, there are some 1000w ones, which will cost a bit more to run.

 

[JDaigle]

Thank you kirscp, I am looking at deicers now, and considering that my pond is so small I won't need any more than a 100W one to get it through the winter, I hope. I'm not sure if I'm going to do fish in my pond, I just don't want to get into the whole filtration thing, if I do get fish there will be very few so that my plants will be able to handle their waste.

Thank you all.

Justin.

 

[PHYLAL]

Thank you kirscp, I am looking at deicers now, and considering that my pond is so small I won't need any more than a 100W one to get it through the winter, I hope. I'm not sure if I'm going to do fish in my pond, I just don't want to get into the whole filtration thing, if I do get fish there will be very few so that my plants will be able to handle their waste.

Thank you all.

Justin.

The wattage is not related to the size of a pond, but too how cold it gets (and how quickly it gets cold). You are only keeping a hole open through the ice. If where you live gets very cold or gets very cold quickly a low wattage unit will not be able to keep up. However, a high wattage unit costs alot more to run. Talk to people in your area with ponds, see what they use.

 

[kirscp]

The wattage is not related to the size of a pond, but too how cold it gets (and how quickly it gets cold). You are only keeping a hole open through the ice. If where you live gets very cold or gets very cold quickly a low wattage unit will not be able to keep up. However, a high wattage unit costs alot more to run. Talk to people in your area with ponds, see what they use.

I used a 100 watt here in north central MN, and I used a DIY deicer that used 2 25 watt bulbs, kept the pond open through our -20f+ winter days last winter. It's how the deicer is made. The 100w I showed will work just fine, unless the temps are in the -20's for weeks at a time.

 

[Philanthropist]

I just finished my first pond, it is quite small maybe 60 gallons, but I was hoping to be able to get some fish for it, and the most practical fish I could decide on was a mosquito fish. They eat mosquitoes and they are a kind of fish that I have gained an appreciation for their beauty.

Does anyone have any experience with them? They seem relatively easy to care for, but I want to make sure my pond meets requirements.

It is about 18"- 2' deep at its lowest point and about 9" deep at all other points. But I want to be sure that is deep enough for them to survive a "freezing winter" as i live in Massachusetts. Also, is it possible to heat a pond? Or is that not a good idea?

JDaigle.

Don't even bank on their survival buddy. I live in Southern California and in my 80 gallon pond I used to have hundreds of mosquito fish that bred like flies. Now in the dead of winter nearly all of my mosquito fish have died. those little guys just can;t handle cold weather. If I were you I would consider attaining a eater for your pond just in case. The males do become very color when breeding while the females just become large and fat.

 

[c2c7390]

in my opinion i dont think that mosquito fish would survive a freezing winter...or take to it as well as koi

 

[pondlady]

I like rosy reds far better than mosquito fish, They do the same thin but are much prettier to look at and they survive here in zone 4 outside. I have tones and they are the coolest.