Use Fish for Natural Mosquito Control

Reader Contribution by Anna Twitto
Published on November 13, 2017
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Your fish pond or container can be as elaborate or as simple as suits you. 

Many sources suggest combating mosquitoes that lay their eggs in ornamental ponds by introducing a few predator fish, usually gambusia. It certainly works, but around here we have taken this a step further. We set up an outdoor fish tank on purpose to attract mosquitoes, the eggs and larvae of which will serve as a feast for the fish. The local population of mosquitoes is thus reduced. 

Usually, it is recommended that pond water should be agitated, for example by means of a small waterfall, to discourage the mosquitoes, as they prefer still water for laying their eggs. In this case, however, we do exactly the opposite – the water is quite still, to lure as many mosquitoes as possible into our trap. Whenever the water level falls due to evaporation, we simply top the tank up using our garden hose.

It really works – our entire neighborhood is plagued by mosquitoes, but we hardly see any, even at the height of season, and hardly ever get bitten. And it’s not as though we’re immune – as soon as we step out of our little protected zone, we might suffer from some very nasty mosquito bites. 

It’s possible to make your anti-mosquito fish domain very aesthetically pleasing, in the form of a natural-looking pond bordered by local rock, aquatic plants, etc., and it’s something that’s been on our to-do list for a while, but for the time being we make do with a simple old kiddie pool. It doesn’t look a treat, and the water is green with algae, but it’s doing its job. The fish sure don’t seem to mind, and breed at an astonishing rate on no other food than the insects attracted to the water. 

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