Mosquito Larvae in my Pond

[PamS]

Good morning all. My first post so be nice

We dug my pond 3 years ago this month. It's come on nicely, but I still have mosquito larvae.

The first year we bought 3 goldfish in the hopes they would help clear them up, but the first 2 died within a month. The last one did an admirable job, even supplying me with baby goldfish...Don't ask me how, since he was on his own for well over a year before the babies showed up..lol.

Anyways, Goldie and the babies all died in the ice this year and now the pond is over-run with larvae.

We have a couple of live-in frogs, and several that visit at night from next doors pond, but they don't seem to have made a dent in them.

My question is How do I get rid of them?

I have no waterboatmen, though there are maybe half a dozen pond skaters. My waterlily is thriving this year, I love to count the leaves as they appear..15 so far on the one, and for once (crossed fingers) I have no blanket weed YET this year.

But the great thing is I watched a damselfly laying eggs last year so hopefully I'll have nymphs this year.

Thanks in advance all

PamS

[Dogghound]

Hi welcome to WAB. First how big is your pond? If its 3ft or deeper then Ice should not pose a threat to your fish, if its any shallower than this then I wouldnt advise you keep fish. Why do you want to get rid of the mosquito larvae? They are often the basis to attract other animals to the pond. Do you want it as a wildlife pond or as a fish pond? Its ideal to have one or another as fish cause alot of disturbance. If you do want fish then I would advise golden orfe as a better species for removing mosquito larvae.

[Hedge Witch]

First of all, welcome to WAB, Pam.

I have no fish in my main pond but no mosquito larvae. I am always absolutely amazed by this and wonder how it happens. I set up an upturned bin lid filled with water to one side to see if I could attract them. Yes, no problem, they turned up exactly as planned. But there is something in my pond that eats them/removes them. Possibly a type of leach.

All I'm saying is that you do not necessarily need fish to reduce their numbers, in my experience.

[Tursiops2]

Hi PamS, welcome to WAB

In my experience, an excess of mosquito larvae is usually a consequence of one of two things; either a), a lack of oxygen in the water (stagnation), or b), a lack of natural predators (often a consequence of (a)).

Could you provide some more info about your pond? Dimensions, construction, siting, planting etc. Photos would be nice.
T2

[Kayleigh]

Originally Posted by Hedge Witch

First of all, welcome to WAB, Pam.

I have no fish in my main pond but no mosquito larvae. I am always absolutely amazed by this and wonder how it happens. I set up an upturned bin lid filled with water to one side to see if I could attract them. Yes, no problem, they turned up exactly as planned. But there is something in my pond that eats them/removes them. Possibly a type of leach.

All I'm saying is that you do not necessarily need fish to reduce their numbers, in my experience.

Its your newts HW

[Kayleigh]

Tursiops2 is right its all about balance prob why the fish died too as they are less tolerant if oxygen levels drop.
Get lots of oxygenating plants and a few marginals the water depth has to be at least 18" for any wildlife to survive and forget the fish.
The predators will move in and don't forget not all midges are the biting type·

Welcome to WAB..

[PamS]

Sorry for not replying sooner and thank you for all the replies.

I can't supply photo's just yet but the pond the roughly 10 x 9 x 3 1/2ft.
Has lots of greenery but I would like more and a couple of live-in frogs. Also lots of rocks and wood surrounding it.

The reason I'm worried over the mosquito's is because there are just so many of them this year. And they seem really big compared to last year. I don't think there is anything in there to eat them other than the frogs and they are full on slugs

You are probably right about the balance. The water does look pretty stagnant, was going to get a solar fountain but just never seemed to get around to it. Two of the fish were covered in a sort of furry mold, which since the largest one had gotten over it I thought they would to. In the end though the largest one kept grounding himself on a patch of ice and having more ice form over him so's when we got him out he would be in a gap of about an inch of water, with ice below and above him, that caused a few worries about getting him out..lol.

The problem I think is the liner. It's not a liner but a large piece of roofing plastic, could this be passing anything into the water?

Oh and something my daughter just reminded me, none of my frog spawn lived. I didn't have a huge amount, maybe a 6in patch, which for the amount of mating frogs in the pond at the time was a really small amount. The spawn turned grey over a fortnight and disappeared, also tried some from next doors pond and they died too.

Thanks again for the replies.

PamS

[Kayleigh]

Sounds to me like you need to clean it out get rid of old leaves and get lots of oxygenating plants in there..
The fish has a fungal infection implying water quality is not up to scratch..
Forget the fountain moving water kills some wildlife I read that but it didn't say what..
put in some marginals..

Roofing plastic...

To be honest I would dig it all out and start again..
Something could be leeching out into the water it does sound contaminated..

[Tursiops2]

I agree with Kayleigh, that's not a healthy pond . Time for a re-think and a re-work. Some photos would be very helpful.
T2