NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!! ?
MOSQUITOOOOOOOES!!!!
- Thread starter Moozillion
- Start date
Really? They usually devour them. In fact they literally eat their own babies sometimes.
I’m willing to give it a try- my guppies are kind of old and there’s only a few of them left.
HOLY FRUSTRATED BLOODSUCKERS, BATMAN!!!!! There are TONS of mosquitoes this morning but TRAPPED behind the cheese cloth covers draping the tanks!!!!!
thankyouThankYouTHANKYOU Zenherper for that suggestion!!!!!
I will be on the horn to Mosquito Abatement this morning as soon as their office opens!!!
thankyouThankYouTHANKYOU Zenherper for that suggestion!!!!!
I will be on the horn to Mosquito Abatement this morning as soon as their office opens!!!
ZenHerper
Well-Known Member
Holey moley.
You can bunch up the cloth and shake them outside. Repeat...
You can bunch up the cloth and shake them outside. Repeat...
Okay- making progress!
I talked to mosquito abatement. They were very interested since this is the first time they've ever had a call about mosquitoes breeding in an indoor aquarium. I don't know whether to be honored or embarrassed.
I drove to the next town over (Slidell, for any fellow Louisianians) and they gave me 2 plastic containers with 5 mosquito fish in each.
I mentioned to the person there that I was figuring I'd try using my shopvac to removed the live mosquitoes trapped in each aquarium. He said that was probably a good idea, since THEY use "aspiration" (a fancy word for vacuuming something up) in getting rid of them.
I got the fish home, managed to scoop out a cup or so of water from each tank to put in the containers so the fish could start acclimating to the current water conditions. I also set each container on a rock in the most shallow tank (the container lip was above the water so they couldn't escape just yet) to allow them time to adapt to the temperature. I used a net to transfer them to their respective tanks.
So we have achieved mosquito fish!!! YAY!
The next step is to figure out how to use the shopvac to remove the trapped adult mosquitoes.
Wish me luck!!!
I talked to mosquito abatement. They were very interested since this is the first time they've ever had a call about mosquitoes breeding in an indoor aquarium. I don't know whether to be honored or embarrassed.
I drove to the next town over (Slidell, for any fellow Louisianians) and they gave me 2 plastic containers with 5 mosquito fish in each.
I mentioned to the person there that I was figuring I'd try using my shopvac to removed the live mosquitoes trapped in each aquarium. He said that was probably a good idea, since THEY use "aspiration" (a fancy word for vacuuming something up) in getting rid of them.
I got the fish home, managed to scoop out a cup or so of water from each tank to put in the containers so the fish could start acclimating to the current water conditions. I also set each container on a rock in the most shallow tank (the container lip was above the water so they couldn't escape just yet) to allow them time to adapt to the temperature. I used a net to transfer them to their respective tanks.
So we have achieved mosquito fish!!! YAY!
The next step is to figure out how to use the shopvac to remove the trapped adult mosquitoes.
Wish me luck!!!
Gotta hand it to you for your dedication!
I set up four large water troughs to hold my 4 species of turtle while my pond is empty during road construction, and I put a couple handfuls of mosquito fish in each, but I guess I neglected to put any in the fourth trough. The next day there were millions of mosquito wigglers in that last trough. I netted out some mosquito fish from the fish trough, and the next day all the wigglers were gone.
Keep the cheese cloth over the tanks, and leave the mosquitos in there. They'll keep laying eggs and feed the fish! LOL!
I set up four large water troughs to hold my 4 species of turtle while my pond is empty during road construction, and I put a couple handfuls of mosquito fish in each, but I guess I neglected to put any in the fourth trough. The next day there were millions of mosquito wigglers in that last trough. I netted out some mosquito fish from the fish trough, and the next day all the wigglers were gone.
Keep the cheese cloth over the tanks, and leave the mosquitos in there. They'll keep laying eggs and feed the fish! LOL!
Well, I think most of y’all have seen that magic trick where there’s a table with a table cloth and a dinner set of China and crystal on it. The magician yanks the table cloth out from under everything so QUICKLY that the China and crystal don’t move.
I can tell you that ain’t nothing compared to how fast a badly aimed shopvac will suck unsecured cheese cloth off the top of a mosquito filled tank.
I can tell you that ain’t nothing compared to how fast a badly aimed shopvac will suck unsecured cheese cloth off the top of a mosquito filled tank.
ZenHerper
Well-Known Member
This thread wins the internet.
lol
lol
The second tank was a success!
(Which is a GOOD thing, since it was far more heavily infested than the first tank.)
I taped all the edges of the cheesecloth to the tank with blue painters' tape.
Hubby added hands and arms to press the cheesecloth to the tank rim while I used the shopvac, rolling the cheesecloth back as I went.
One or two bugs escaped here and there, but we got a BUNCH of them!
When I took the shopvac outside and opened it, the mosquitoes were all splattered against the inside of the vac! YAAAAYYY!!!
For the first time since we discovered this fiasco, I feel like we are getting a handle on things!!!
The fish are all pretty traumatized, and have been hiding all afternoon, but I'm hoping they pull themselves together and get to work on the larvae.
Regardless, I'm going to cover both tanks again tonight and see how they look tomorrow.
I've already got a much more powerful filter for the shallow tank, and plan to exchange the sand for gravel and install the bigger filter ASAP.
But this was a good lesson for me on keeping my tanks cleaner and changing the water more often.
Live and learn.
(Which is a GOOD thing, since it was far more heavily infested than the first tank.)
I taped all the edges of the cheesecloth to the tank with blue painters' tape.
Hubby added hands and arms to press the cheesecloth to the tank rim while I used the shopvac, rolling the cheesecloth back as I went.
One or two bugs escaped here and there, but we got a BUNCH of them!
When I took the shopvac outside and opened it, the mosquitoes were all splattered against the inside of the vac! YAAAAYYY!!!
For the first time since we discovered this fiasco, I feel like we are getting a handle on things!!!
The fish are all pretty traumatized, and have been hiding all afternoon, but I'm hoping they pull themselves together and get to work on the larvae.
Regardless, I'm going to cover both tanks again tonight and see how they look tomorrow.
I've already got a much more powerful filter for the shallow tank, and plan to exchange the sand for gravel and install the bigger filter ASAP.
But this was a good lesson for me on keeping my tanks cleaner and changing the water more often.
Live and learn.
I literally just read this post to my husband and he is LHAO! This has been a second reaction to your initial post. Thanks for some MUCH needed hilarity. I’m mostly glad that craziness happens to to others besides me!
Glad I could brighten your day!
Well, Mosquito Wars continue.
My mosquito fish don't seem to be eating many of the larvae at all, and Nelson's tank is really filling up with mosquitoes! :-( And since we've moved the cheesecloth several times when we vacuum up the mosquitoes in the tanks, parts are unraveling just enough to make holes and a few mosquitoes are getting out. But only a few.
I called Mosquito Abatement (they really are nice and try very hard to help) to discuss this. I got to talk to one of the entomologists. I learned a lot of new things.
1) Mosquito fish will NOT eat mosquito eggs or adults- only the larvae
2) They SOMETIMES eat mosquito pupae, but not often.
3) If they're already well-fed, they may not actually be very hungry for a day or so.
4) If they get fed regular fish flakes, they will often lose their taste for the larvae.
5) The mosquitoes hatching out in my tanks now were probably already in the pupae stage when I put the fish in, so that's why they didn't get eaten.
(((SIGH)))
Today's plan:
1) Buy a Bug Light/Zapper
2) Buy a roll of flexible window screen that I can cut and shape to fit the tank tops and probably put it on top of the cheese cloth and tape it down.
3) Roll back the cloth on the less infested tank, use the bug light to draw off the mosquitoes, transfer the fish to a tub with a bubbler, then DRAIN that tank and clean the walls.
Whether I put water back in it right now or not depends on how well the bug light works.
I removed Millie from that tank back when I decided to get the fish because the water is only 3-4 inches deep because she can't swim (mud turtles are poor swimmers and she's missing a foot). She is also an absolute SAVAGE when it comes to hunting critters, and I don't want her eating or damaging the mosquito fish. She's in an unfiltered tub in another room, and I change that water daily.
Off I go, FINGERS CROSSED!!!!
Oh, yeah- One of the fish in that tank just gave birth!!!!!! SOOOOO CUTE!!!
My mosquito fish don't seem to be eating many of the larvae at all, and Nelson's tank is really filling up with mosquitoes! :-( And since we've moved the cheesecloth several times when we vacuum up the mosquitoes in the tanks, parts are unraveling just enough to make holes and a few mosquitoes are getting out. But only a few.
I called Mosquito Abatement (they really are nice and try very hard to help) to discuss this. I got to talk to one of the entomologists. I learned a lot of new things.
1) Mosquito fish will NOT eat mosquito eggs or adults- only the larvae
2) They SOMETIMES eat mosquito pupae, but not often.
3) If they're already well-fed, they may not actually be very hungry for a day or so.
4) If they get fed regular fish flakes, they will often lose their taste for the larvae.
5) The mosquitoes hatching out in my tanks now were probably already in the pupae stage when I put the fish in, so that's why they didn't get eaten.
(((SIGH)))
Today's plan:
1) Buy a Bug Light/Zapper
2) Buy a roll of flexible window screen that I can cut and shape to fit the tank tops and probably put it on top of the cheese cloth and tape it down.
3) Roll back the cloth on the less infested tank, use the bug light to draw off the mosquitoes, transfer the fish to a tub with a bubbler, then DRAIN that tank and clean the walls.
Whether I put water back in it right now or not depends on how well the bug light works.
I removed Millie from that tank back when I decided to get the fish because the water is only 3-4 inches deep because she can't swim (mud turtles are poor swimmers and she's missing a foot). She is also an absolute SAVAGE when it comes to hunting critters, and I don't want her eating or damaging the mosquito fish. She's in an unfiltered tub in another room, and I change that water daily.
Off I go, FINGERS CROSSED!!!!
Oh, yeah- One of the fish in that tank just gave birth!!!!!! SOOOOO CUTE!!!
At least you are a lady of leisure and have SOOOOOOO much time on your hands…?
I might. The Mosquito Abatement people don't recommend them for in home aquariums- not sure why. They said it would cloudy the water. I would also worry that one of the turtles would try to eat it. But even the Abatement people said that the dunks are promoted as safe for fish, snails etc.
I've got a big assignment from work that I've got to deal with, so things may sit as they are for a couple of days.
Current status: half way there.
Today I just couldn't take any more waiting for the mosquito fish to do their job. They've had 4 days to work on the larvae, and they don't seem terribly interested.
So I used the shopvac to aspirate (that sounds nicer than "suck out" ? ) the mosquitoes in the tank that has the lesser infestation.
I caught the fish and put them in the other tank.
I removed everything: hides, heaters, filter etc. I even removed all the sand. I scraped down the sides with a razor blade, then wiped them and rinsed them. I mopped up residual water with paper towels. So now I have a totally empty tank, sitting DRY. Ain't NO mosquitoes there any more!
That is Millie's tank, and she is in a Rubbermaid tub with a hide, a heater, gravel and 3 inches of water in the back room. She can sit there a few more days, I reckon. I've bought a significantly more powerful filter and that will get installed, hopefully Tuesday (I have a big work assignment that I've been putting off, and Wednesday is my deadline, so I have to shift gears for now.)
Nelson's tank is Mosquito Central for now. I'm hoping that if we just keep the mosquitoes trapped in that tank for a few days, they'll die off. Regardless, once I'm out from under this work assignment, Nelson's tank will get the same treatment: remove HIM to a tub, the fish to another tub, remove and clean EVERYTHING in his tank, scrape down/ wipe the walls, remove the gravel and all the water.
I'll put everything but the filter back in- that tank will also have a significantly stronger filter.
Dang skeeters!!!!
Today I just couldn't take any more waiting for the mosquito fish to do their job. They've had 4 days to work on the larvae, and they don't seem terribly interested.
So I used the shopvac to aspirate (that sounds nicer than "suck out" ? ) the mosquitoes in the tank that has the lesser infestation.
I caught the fish and put them in the other tank.
I removed everything: hides, heaters, filter etc. I even removed all the sand. I scraped down the sides with a razor blade, then wiped them and rinsed them. I mopped up residual water with paper towels. So now I have a totally empty tank, sitting DRY. Ain't NO mosquitoes there any more!
That is Millie's tank, and she is in a Rubbermaid tub with a hide, a heater, gravel and 3 inches of water in the back room. She can sit there a few more days, I reckon. I've bought a significantly more powerful filter and that will get installed, hopefully Tuesday (I have a big work assignment that I've been putting off, and Wednesday is my deadline, so I have to shift gears for now.)
Nelson's tank is Mosquito Central for now. I'm hoping that if we just keep the mosquitoes trapped in that tank for a few days, they'll die off. Regardless, once I'm out from under this work assignment, Nelson's tank will get the same treatment: remove HIM to a tub, the fish to another tub, remove and clean EVERYTHING in his tank, scrape down/ wipe the walls, remove the gravel and all the water.
I'll put everything but the filter back in- that tank will also have a significantly stronger filter.
Dang skeeters!!!!
We have one of those, my wife loves it.
Sounds fun!!!
