Hi again group!

I have a 600-700 gallon pond with 3 small koi about the size of the 6 - 4-5"
goldfish and about 200 mosquito fish. The mosquito fish multiply like
guppies and in fact look a lot like guppies. Started with 15 a year and a
half ago and now have an estimated 200.

It would take me forever to try and net them to reduce the population not to
mention bothering all the plants and scaring the other fish.

My water is almost 80 degrees now so I was thinking about buying an Oscar
(smaller than the Koi and Goldfish) and see if he will thin out the mosquito
fish population. The other alternate idea I had was to go accross the
street to the lake and get a 2-3" largemouth bass and put him in there. If
he starts getting bigger than the goldfish or Koi I could just break out my
spinner bait, catch him and put him back in the lake.

I can see some of you now leaning back in your chair slapping yourself in
the forehead saying, "What is this guy thinking about??" *LOL* Give me the
pros and cons if you know what would happen.
Thanks,
BK

Don't net them. Try a 2 litre bottle with food in it. Cut a 2" hole in the
side for circulation and put a mesh bag around it. The fish will swim in by
the drove. No hassle. Lots of fish.

Jim
--
____________________________________________
Check out Jog-A-Thon fundraiser (clears $140+ per jogger) at:
www.jogathon.net
See our pond at: http://www.home.bellsouth.net/p/pwp-jameshurley
"bobkiely" wrote in message
news:j3oMa.116110$MJ5.54173@fed1read03...
Hi again group!

I have a 600-700 gallon pond with 3 small koi about the size of the 6 -
4-5"
goldfish and about 200 mosquito fish. The mosquito fish multiply like
guppies and in fact look a lot like guppies. Started with 15 a year and a
half ago and now have an estimated 200.

It would take me forever to try and net them to reduce the population not
to
mention bothering all the plants and scaring the other fish.

My water is almost 80 degrees now so I was thinking about buying an Oscar
(smaller than the Koi and Goldfish) and see if he will thin out the
mosquito
fish population. The other alternate idea I had was to go accross the
street to the lake and get a 2-3" largemouth bass and put him in there. If
he starts getting bigger than the goldfish or Koi I could just break out
my
spinner bait, catch him and put him back in the lake.

I can see some of you now leaning back in your chair slapping yourself in
the forehead saying, "What is this guy thinking about??" *LOL* Give me the
pros and cons if you know what would happen.
Thanks,
BK

On Tue, 1 Jul 2003 15:23:37 -0700, "bobkiely" wrote:

Hi again group!

I have a 600-700 gallon pond with 3 small koi about the size of the 6 - 4-5"
goldfish and about 200 mosquito fish. The mosquito fish multiply like
guppies and in fact look a lot like guppies. Started with 15 a year and a
half ago and now have an estimated 200.

You're going to have to educate me on this one.

If the Koi and gambusia live in harmony, the gambusia are doing you a
service by eating mosquito and fly larva.

If you consider them a nuisance or they are creating too much waste in the
pond, do the bottle trick. It works.

Bob

Use the bass. When it gets too big you'll be able to return from where you
got him. Having a large oscar sucks. Plus bas are built to catch fish like
you have.

Sam

"bobkiely" wrote in message
news:j3oMa.116110$MJ5.54173@fed1read03...
Hi again group!

I have a 600-700 gallon pond with 3 small koi about the size of the 6 -
4-5"
goldfish and about 200 mosquito fish. The mosquito fish multiply like
guppies and in fact look a lot like guppies. Started with 15 a year and a
half ago and now have an estimated 200.

It would take me forever to try and net them to reduce the population not
to
mention bothering all the plants and scaring the other fish.

My water is almost 80 degrees now so I was thinking about buying an Oscar
(smaller than the Koi and Goldfish) and see if he will thin out the
mosquito
fish population. The other alternate idea I had was to go accross the
street to the lake and get a 2-3" largemouth bass and put him in there. If
he starts getting bigger than the goldfish or Koi I could just break out
my
spinner bait, catch him and put him back in the lake.

I can see some of you now leaning back in your chair slapping yourself in
the forehead saying, "What is this guy thinking about??" *LOL* Give me the
pros and cons if you know what would happen.
Thanks,
BK

Don't know about the oscar, but the bass, being "wild caught" could have
more cooties on him than it's worth. Introducing him into your pond
population could have very negative possibilities. Lots of store-bought fish
(most?) have them, too. Maybe if you already have an oscar that you know is
"fit", that would do the trick?

Lee

"bobkiely" wrote in message
news:j3oMa.116110$MJ5.54173@fed1read03...
Hi again group!

I have a 600-700 gallon pond with 3 small koi about the size of the 6 -
4-5"
goldfish and about 200 mosquito fish. The mosquito fish multiply like
guppies and in fact look a lot like guppies. Started with 15 a year and a
half ago and now have an estimated 200.

It would take me forever to try and net them to reduce the population not
to
mention bothering all the plants and scaring the other fish.

My water is almost 80 degrees now so I was thinking about buying an Oscar
(smaller than the Koi and Goldfish) and see if he will thin out the
mosquito
fish population. The other alternate idea I had was to go accross the
street to the lake and get a 2-3" largemouth bass and put him in there. If
he starts getting bigger than the goldfish or Koi I could just break out
my
spinner bait, catch him and put him back in the lake.

I can see some of you now leaning back in your chair slapping yourself in
the forehead saying, "What is this guy thinking about??" *LOL* Give me the
pros and cons if you know what would happen.
Thanks,
BK

Well ok...remove the Koi
sprinkle with Derris Dust (contains rotenone) the gambusia are stunned not
killed and float to the top...scoop them out ...couple of hours the derris
is rendered inoperative ..reinstall koi ...and any gambusia you want to
reseed the pond with



"Bob Adkins" wrote in message
news
On Tue, 1 Jul 2003 15:23:37 -0700, "bobkiely" wrote:

Hi again group!

I have a 600-700 gallon pond with 3 small koi about the size of the 6 -
4-5"
goldfish and about 200 mosquito fish. The mosquito fish multiply like
guppies and in fact look a lot like guppies. Started with 15 a year and a
half ago and now have an estimated 200.

You're going to have to educate me on this one.

If the Koi and gambusia live in harmony, the gambusia are doing you a
service by eating mosquito and fly larva.

If you consider them a nuisance or they are creating too much waste in the
pond, do the bottle trick. It works.

Bob

Kayakkhan wrote:
Well ok...remove the Koi
sprinkle with Derris Dust (contains rotenone) the gambusia are stunned not
killed and float to the top...scoop them out ...couple of hours the derris
is rendered inoperative ..reinstall koi ...and any gambusia you want to
reseed the pond with
This is probably the only thing that will actually work. The bottle
trick will work to catch some of them, but I doubt it would even cut
into the breeding cycle. As you've found - they breed like tribbles.
From the way other things treat them, they must also taste terrible. We
used to have a bullfrog that would catch them and then just spit them
out. An oscar may eat them if it gets hungry enough.

Even this may not work. The fry are very tiny and easy to miss. And it
seems like there are always fry.

garyr

"Gary Rich" wrote in message
...

Kayakkhan wrote:
Well ok...remove the Koi
sprinkle with Derris Dust (contains rotenone) the gambusia are stunned
not
killed and float to the top...scoop them out ...couple of hours the
derris
is rendered inoperative ..reinstall koi ...and any gambusia you want to
reseed the pond with
This is probably the only thing that will actually work. The bottle
trick will work to catch some of them, but I doubt it would even cut
into the breeding cycle. As you've found - they breed like tribbles.
From the way other things treat them, they must also taste terrible. We
used to have a bullfrog that would catch them and then just spit them
out. An oscar may eat them if it gets hungry enough.

Even this may not work. The fry are very tiny and easy to miss. And it
seems like there are always fry.

My tinfoils barbs, and my (now deceast) gar loved chomping on rosies. My
rope fish does the same.

BV.

I put in 5 mosquito fish 4 summers ago. Now I have a million. They are
smart. I have tried several ways to catch them. All work for 4-5 days.
I've done commercial minnow traps, homemade nets that are baited, the
inverted bottle. I even resorted to putting a net on the end of a pole and
scooping them out. I catch about 11 on each pass. Reduces the population
for a day and makes me feel better.

If you find ANY thing that will eat them, get a patent.
--
Wendy* in N. California,
"If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be
happy, practice compassion." Dalai Lama


"bobkiely" wrote in message
news:j3oMa.116110$MJ5.54173@fed1read03...
Hi again group!

I have a 600-700 gallon pond with 3 small koi about the size of the 6 -
4-5"
goldfish and about 200 mosquito fish. The mosquito fish multiply like
guppies and in fact look a lot like guppies. Started with 15 a year and a
half ago and now have an estimated 200.

It would take me forever to try and net them to reduce the population not
to
mention bothering all the plants and scaring the other fish.

My water is almost 80 degrees now so I was thinking about buying an Oscar
(smaller than the Koi and Goldfish) and see if he will thin out the
mosquito
fish population. The other alternate idea I had was to go accross the
street to the lake and get a 2-3" largemouth bass and put him in there. If
he starts getting bigger than the goldfish or Koi I could just break out
my
spinner bait, catch him and put him back in the lake.

I can see some of you now leaning back in your chair slapping yourself in
the forehead saying, "What is this guy thinking about??" *LOL* Give me the
pros and cons if you know what would happen.
Thanks,
BK

Wendy Kelly Budd wrote:
I put in 5 mosquito fish 4 summers ago. Now I have a million. They are
smart. I have tried several ways to catch them. All work for 4-5 days.
I've done commercial minnow traps, homemade nets that are baited, the
inverted bottle. I even resorted to putting a net on the end of a pole and
scooping them out. I catch about 11 on each pass. Reduces the population
for a day and makes me feel better.

If you find ANY thing that will eat them, get a patent.
--
Wendy* in N. California,



Bullfrogs do a good job of keeping them in check in
my pond :-)

--
Bonnie
NJ
http://home.earthlink.net/~maebe43/

Oh Bonnie, I wish that were the case here. I have several bullfrogs & many
tadpoles. Mind you, I have a hard time telling the difference between
bullfrogs & greenfrogs. I have the photos, but it's no use with me, I can't
tell the difference.
--
Wendy* in N. California,

"No one can make you feel inferior without your consent." Eleanor
Roosevelt


"Bonnie Espenshade" wrote in message
...
Wendy Kelly Budd wrote:
I put in 5 mosquito fish 4 summers ago. Now I have a million. They are
smart. I have tried several ways to catch them. All work for 4-5 days.
I've done commercial minnow traps, homemade nets that are baited, the
inverted bottle. I even resorted to putting a net on the end of a pole
and
scooping them out. I catch about 11 on each pass. Reduces the
population
for a day and makes me feel better.

If you find ANY thing that will eat them, get a patent.
--
Wendy* in N. California,



Bullfrogs do a good job of keeping them in check in
my pond :-)

--
Bonnie
NJ
http://home.earthlink.net/~maebe43/

Yes, I had a bullfrog (remember the story I wrote about "Frankenfrog" when
he ate one of my goldfish?) but he never bothered the mosquito fish and now
he's been missing for 5-6 weeks (see other story - "Coon hunting
invitation"). I'm going to try the bottle trap first and see what that does.
I'd try the chemical treatment but I hate putting things in the water I
don't have first-hand experience witt. Plus it'll be a chore trying to catch
the koi and goldfish.
BK
"Wendy Kelly Budd" wrote in message
...
Oh Bonnie, I wish that were the case here. I have several bullfrogs &
many
tadpoles. Mind you, I have a hard time telling the difference between
bullfrogs & greenfrogs. I have the photos, but it's no use with me, I
can't
tell the difference.
--
Wendy* in N. California,

"No one can make you feel inferior without your consent." Eleanor
Roosevelt


"Bonnie Espenshade" wrote in message
...
Wendy Kelly Budd wrote:
I put in 5 mosquito fish 4 summers ago. Now I have a million. They
are
smart. I have tried several ways to catch them. All work for 4-5
days.
I've done commercial minnow traps, homemade nets that are baited, the
inverted bottle. I even resorted to putting a net on the end of a
pole
and
scooping them out. I catch about 11 on each pass. Reduces the
population
for a day and makes me feel better.

If you find ANY thing that will eat them, get a patent.
--
Wendy* in N. California,



Bullfrogs do a good job of keeping them in check in
my pond :-)

--
Bonnie
NJ
http://home.earthlink.net/~maebe43/

On Wed, 2 Jul 2003 14:31:11 -0400, "BenignVanilla"
m wrote:

My tinfoils barbs, and my (now deceast) gar loved chomping on rosies. My
rope fish does the same.

BV.

Oh man, ROPE FISH! I had forgotten about Cecil the sea serpant looking
rope fish! I had one in an aquarium and he eventually got out and
dried up, but what a gas he was while we had him. I wouldn't mind
having more...

Well yes Gary,
The root of the Derris Plant from which they make Derris Dust is a naturally
occuring material used by natives of Asia and Oceania for stunning fish for
harvest.
In an enclosed system like a pond however, I believe the fry would succumb,
while the adults, being more tolerant, would simply be stunned.
Because it degrades so quickly, a couple of treatments would clear the whole
thing up in my estimation, leaving no trace or degradation of the pond
environment.
Soap Wort can be crushed and used too, but it takes comparatively longer as
it is an asphyxiant, and I suspect the filter would render it useless unless
turned of for the duration of the cleanout, and I am uncertain of its
afterlife in the environment.
In Australia it is illegal to keep Gambusia for the reasons the ponder is
now experiencing, and they are not fry or spawn friendly.
We use Rainbow fish and or Pacific blue eyes, which are spawn and fry
friendly, but eat mosquitos at prodigious rates, and at all stages of
development, whilst reproducing more moderately.
Just FYI for the original poster, here are some links to batbox construction
plans. This would be a better idea, as bats will consume upwards on 1000
mosquitos a night.
http://dragonet.com/bat/images/bats/
http://www.r8web.com/Boone/bat.htm
http://www.lincstrust.co.uk/facts/batbox.html
http://www.caves.org/conservancy/ikc/batbox.htm
http://www.englishcottagegardens.com/batbox.html
http://www.nrw.clara.co.uk/photosBatbox.htm

Hope this helps



"Gary Rich" wrote in message
...

Kayakkhan wrote:
Well ok...remove the Koi
sprinkle with Derris Dust (contains rotenone) the gambusia are stunned
not
killed and float to the top...scoop them out ...couple of hours the
derris
is rendered inoperative ..reinstall koi ...and any gambusia you want to
reseed the pond with
This is probably the only thing that will actually work. The bottle
trick will work to catch some of them, but I doubt it would even cut
into the breeding cycle. As you've found - they breed like tribbles.
From the way other things treat them, they must also taste terrible. We
used to have a bullfrog that would catch them and then just spit them
out. An oscar may eat them if it gets hungry enough.

Even this may not work. The fry are very tiny and easy to miss. And it
seems like there are always fry.

garyr

Derris dust...I assume if it will kill fry, it will kill the aquatic
insects? I'd be tempted if it didn't hurt the insects.

Bats are not the 'only' answer to mosquitoes. We have bats that live in the
eves of our home (they used to be in our home, but that's a whole other
story). We also added a bat box. What I find interesting is, bats only
come out just *after* dusk. The mosquitos that live around here are tucked
in for the night by then. The bats are quite cute, in their own way.


-- Wendy* in N. California,

"It's hard to be religious when certain people are never incinerated by
bolts of lightning." -- Calvin and Hobbes


"Kayakkhan" wrote in message
...
Well yes Gary,
The root of the Derris Plant from which they make Derris Dust is a
naturally
occuring material used by natives of Asia and Oceania for stunning fish
for
harvest.
In an enclosed system like a pond however, I believe the fry would
succumb,
while the adults, being more tolerant, would simply be stunned.
Because it degrades so quickly, a couple of treatments would clear the
whole
thing up in my estimation, leaving no trace or degradation of the pond
environment.
Soap Wort can be crushed and used too, but it takes comparatively longer
as
it is an asphyxiant, and I suspect the filter would render it useless
unless
turned of for the duration of the cleanout, and I am uncertain of its
afterlife in the environment.
In Australia it is illegal to keep Gambusia for the reasons the ponder is
now experiencing, and they are not fry or spawn friendly.
We use Rainbow fish and or Pacific blue eyes, which are spawn and fry
friendly, but eat mosquitos at prodigious rates, and at all stages of
development, whilst reproducing more moderately.
Just FYI for the original poster, here are some links to batbox
construction
plans. This would be a better idea, as bats will consume upwards on 1000
mosquitos a night.
http://dragonet.com/bat/images/bats/
http://www.r8web.com/Boone/bat.htm
http://www.lincstrust.co.uk/facts/batbox.html
http://www.caves.org/conservancy/ikc/batbox.htm
http://www.englishcottagegardens.com/batbox.html
http://www.nrw.clara.co.uk/photosBatbox.htm

Hope this helps



"Gary Rich" wrote in message
...

Kayakkhan wrote:
Well ok...remove the Koi
sprinkle with Derris Dust (contains rotenone) the gambusia are stunned
not
killed and float to the top...scoop them out ...couple of hours the
derris
is rendered inoperative ..reinstall koi ...and any gambusia you want
to
reseed the pond with
This is probably the only thing that will actually work. The bottle
trick will work to catch some of them, but I doubt it would even cut
into the breeding cycle. As you've found - they breed like tribbles.
From the way other things treat them, they must also taste terrible. We
used to have a bullfrog that would catch them and then just spit them
out. An oscar may eat them if it gets hungry enough.

Even this may not work. The fry are very tiny and easy to miss. And it
seems like there are always fry.

garyr