I’ve got a rain barrel under one of my downspouts and despite my best efforts, it is now filled with mosquito larvae. I want to kill off/control the larvae without using pesticides in the water (we use the water in the garden.)
If I get a few goldfish and release them into the rain barrel, will they eat the larvae?
If the barrell is full of mosquito larvae, a few goldfish will eat so much they die, especially if they’re the 10 cent feeder fishes that most pet stores sell.
go and get $2.00 worth and put them in the barell. Expect some to die in the first few days. If garter snakes can get inside the barrell expect them to eat a few fish for you too.
Yes, but you’ll need a pump or some other way to keep the water aerated, or the fish will croak.
A far easier way to control mosquitoes in rain barrels is with Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis), which you can buy in the form of little floating rings or sprinkles you shake over the surface of the water. The water will be perfectly safe to use in the garden.
Here’s a link to the kind of thing I’m talking about. I think even Lowe’s and the like carry them.
Thanks. I like that solution.
You’re welcome! I used to have a really cool arrangement of rain barrels linked by siphon hoses. I put the downspout in the first barrel, and a good storm would fill it and the other three.
Actually what you want is Mosquito Fish.
Mosquito fish (Gambusia affinis) are small fish in the guppie family, which are used extensively throughout the world by mosquito control agencies for control of mosquito larvae. A single adult mosquito fish can eat up to 500 mosquito larvae a day. The adaptability and hardiness of the mosquito fish, coupled with its ability to produce large numbers of fry (newly born fish) during their lifetime, has made them a valuable biological control agent. Female mosquitofish are 2 to 2 ½ inches in length, while the males seldom exceed 1 ½ inches. These fish are live bearers, producing 60 to 100 fry in a single brood. Under favorable conditions, the fry reach sexual maturity in 6 to 8 weeks…
Wouldn’t a lid keep out both pests and garden rubbish?
My rain barrels have a cover that keeps mosquitoes out. I do use Bacillus thuringiensis in other standing water (bird bath, etc) and have erected bat houses. Die mosquitoes!