Non-toxic mosquito treatment for ponds

[Kristi Kelty]

Does anyone know of a good non toxic preparation that eradicates mosquitoes, that can be added to the pond that will not be harmful to animals or fish, plants?
Thanks!

 

[GreatDanesDad]

I think that mosquito fish would make for a great addition to any pond. They eat the eggs of misquitos, without adding much if any of a fish load on your pond. I however do not have any of those little fish. I like to have a couple fingerling koi or gold fish in the pond during misquito season. The misquito eggs hatch, but the fingerling koi eat the misquito larva like candy. When I first introduced fingerlings to my pond, it had ran for a week or two without any fish and the misquito larva were so thick you could see clouds of them surrounding the underwater lights. After introducing my fingerlings, it was like a ping pong game or pinball watching the little fish attack the larva with an amazing vigor. 24 hours, no more larva.

However adding a new fish to your pond is always a stress based on your fish load, so if you have a mature healthy pond, I think the little misquito fish are the right way to go.

Good luck eradicating those little vampires!

 

[Kristi Kelty]

Thanks GreatDanesDad!
Appreciate your help!
K
PS: My son is also a mechanical engineer--

 

[addy1]

I had mosquito fish in my arizona pond, here they won't survive so I use rosey reds, They do love those larvae.

 

[Kristi Kelty]

Thank you!!!
Where is a good place to buy Rosie Reds and also pond plants online? I live in an area will few retail options for this.
K

 

[addy1]

If you have a petsmart/walmart near they carry them. Sometimes as feeders, so make sure you isolate for a while. A lot of us will ship plants for postage, if we are in the we have too many plants stage. What are you looking for?

 

[sissy]

mosquito dunks are supposed to be non toxic but you can grow lemon grass in your pond and that helps .

 

[Kristi Kelty]

I think I would like to have some of each of the 3 types of pond plants.
Love the water hyacinths, lillies, anacris, Louisiana Iris, canna, sweet flag, Japanese Primrose, Papyrus, seedgrass, maidengrass, fountain grass, Japanese forestgrass, etc.

file://localhost/Users/kristikelty/Desktop/Pond%20with%20rocks4.jpg
file://localhost/Users/kristikelty/Desktop/Pond%20with%20rocks6.jpg
Thank you again for all the info!

 

[Kristi Kelty]

Here is what I have so far.....
I would like to consider using quickcrete to hold the rocks in place. (I also need to get larger boulders.) What do you advise about that?
K

 

[addy1]

I dug the edge of my pond back slanting away from the pond. The back slant keeps the rocks from falling into the water. To anchor some I used the expanding foam, that way you can still break them loose if you decide you want to change the way the rocks look.

If you feel like digging some more, drop the edge of your pond 2-3 inches below the water level, around 8-12 inches wide, slanted away from the pond. Place rocks on the ledge, the liner will go up and out behind them, you can than put more rocks on that liner. It will hide the liner nicely and the rocks are pretty stable.

 

[sissy]

You will need to cover all that exposed liner from the sun .Maybe you should have made the island with a dip in the middle and planted lots of plants in it .Would have been a nice place for lots of trailing plants to cover it .Lemon grass grows great in my pond and has that nice lemon smell to it .I use the lemon grass insect repellant in the can for mosquito's also .Non toxic .

 

[Kristi Kelty]

Thanks Addy and Sissy!
Will do the 3" shelf for the perimeter.
The center "island" will be used for planting, etc. but I just have not gotten to it yet. May just cover it with flat stone for now.......
Does anyone have any of the plants I mentioned above for sale if I pay for the shipping/postage?
I need to get some more river gravel rock today for the bottom.
K

 

[Mmathis]

Most of us would advise against putting rock or gravel on the bottom. It looks nice, but it attracts and holds onto the muck, making it harder to keep the bottom clean. This kind of muck will support growth of the bad bacteria that is harmful. You want to be able to easily scoop it out (pool skimmer nets work well for this).

 

[Kristi Kelty]

Thank you all SO MUCH! I added some water lillies, water hyacinths and about 25 reds to the pond-- plus one goldfish given to me for free. Should I rinse all the underwater roots off? There is some algae growing on the long tendrils of the roots of the hyacinths.....
K

 

[addy1]

I don't have the plants you listed, do have iris/lilies but not dividing them yet.