Mosquitos in my Pond – Mosquito Control

Yesterday I went out to a granite outcrop near my house to collect some rocks to decorate around the pond that I installed a couple of months back. I managed to collect about 50 nice sized pieces and one very large feature rock.

Anyway, on returning I found there to be a swarm of mosquito larvae living in the water in my pond! The photo at that size does not show them that well (follow the link and you’ll see it bigger) but the little black specs are mosquito wrigglers.

Living in northern Queensland (Australia) where diseases like Ross River Fever and other mosquito borne diseases are rampant, the best thing I can do for the environment and my neighbors was to rid them from my pond.

Enter team mosquito control

My father suggested that I put a couple of drops of kerosene on the surface. The kerosene would cover the surface and prevent the wrigglers from getting any oxygen (they have no gills and need to come to the surface to breathe).
Nice idea, but I hoped to put fish in the pond one day and did not want to harm them.

A quick search around the net found that goldfish or guppies would eat the larvae and make a dent in the population.

Off to the pet shop to buy some fish! My fiance selected 4 small goldfish (two were black with bulging eyes) to go to fish paradise and eat themselves into big goldfish.

Mosquito control is everyone’s responsibility. Ensure that you check any standing water around your house (rain barrels, buckets, bird baths etc) for wigglers to prevent the spread of mosquitoes.