Hi all,

I filled up the half barrel with water, placed a water lilly inside,
some oxygenator plants, and the Obedient Plant is standing by until I
get the right bricks.

In order to not encourage disease carrying mosquitos, I've read and
heard of a number of ways to do this. Fish, pumps, (fountains?),
wired cloth, flooding the container when baby mosquitos are in there
(as long as they're not microscopic!), and mosquito dunks. Though I
am a little more interested in eliminating the risk nearly entirely by
not having the water stagnant. And neighbors et all can actually hear
and see the evidence, without worry.

Some questions:

1) How much of a mosquito dunk would be needed for the half whiskey
barrel? Have there been reports of mosquitos building up a resistance?
How can I be sure all are gone? My idea is to flood first, and then
add the dunk.
2) Would placing a suitable wire/cloth mesh to keep mosquitos out
bother the water lily very much?
3) Could I add a fish or two right now and they be healthy, or do I
still need to wait a couple of days to a few weeks to give the water
garden a probationary period? I already added dechorinator. No rocks
at the bottom, though. Any other aquatic scenery I could add to make
them happier? The container gets afternoon sun, by the way, is
positioned on a lone patio stone, and I'm in the South. Any idea of
pH and temperature levels before adding fish would help.
4) I'm not quite as interested in filtration as I am as in keeping the
water not stagnant, or at least making the water as unfriendly to
mosquitoes as possible while at the same time preserving the plants
that are in there. I would hope a filter/pump combo won't catch the
floating plants that are in there! Perhaps a fountain would also do?
5) Is this time of the year really the time to worry about mosquitos?
6) Any alternate, more cost effective ways to control mosquitos
without a pump?

Daniel Phillips

[+]bandito[-]spam = [-]toppler.[+]zworg.com
Be warned, may mistakingly bounce back as spam.

Daniel wrote Some questions:

Hi Daniel! :-)

1) How much of a mosquito dunk would be needed for the half whiskey
barrel?

I use Mosquito Bits, same product as Mosquito Dunks and I use them about every
two weeks in my fishless frog bog and three container ponds. Half a dunk though
would be fine for a barrel.

Have there been reports of mosquitos building up a resistance?

I have not heard this.

How can I be sure all are gone? My idea is to flood first, and then
add the dunk.

You can see them as they must hang out on the surface to breathe. Flooding does
not work, I tried that once ;-) ran the hose for a full hour and the darn
things somehow managed to hang in there.

2) Would placing a suitable wire/cloth mesh to keep mosquitos out
bother the water lily very much?

I don't think it would keep mosquitoes out.

3) Could I add a fish or two right now and they be healthy, or do I
still need to wait a couple of days to a few weeks to give the water
garden a probationary period? I already added dechorinator.

I would still wait a bit. Two weeks to be extra safe but many people have added
fish the same day, no problems.

No rocks
at the bottom, though.

Don't add rocks, they trap gunk.

Any other aquatic scenery I could add to make
them happier?

The fish would appreciate someplace to hide, especially at first before the
lily sends up pads. You can get an aquarium toy or lay a small clay pot on its
side.

The container gets afternoon sun, by the way, is
positioned on a lone patio stone, and I'm in the South. Any idea of
pH and temperature levels before adding fish would help.

Not my area of expertise. Hey, someone! ;-)

4) I'm not quite as interested in filtration

But your fish are, especially if you have more than one. Plants will filter the
water. A test kit for ammonia will help until you get the right balance of
plants to fish going.

as I am as in keeping the
water not stagnant, or at least making the water as unfriendly to
mosquitoes as possible while at the same time preserving the plants
that are in there. I would hope a filter/pump combo won't catch the
floating plants that are in there! Perhaps a fountain would also do?

Water movement is important to keeping the oxygen levels for fish. Especially
if your water gets too hot in the afternoon. Also plants stop producing O2 when
the sun goes away. Water movement helps the fish survive the night.
If you have a lily you do not want violent water movement but a spitter will do
fine. Depending on the size of your container pond a bell fountain will work
too.

5) Is this time of the year really the time to worry about mosquitos?

Yes. But more so as spring wears on and summer gets here. Mosquitoes winter
over as eggs and they are hatching.

6) Any alternate, more cost effective ways to control mosquitos
without a pump?

The dunks or bits. I use them as I have four bodies of water without fish or
pumps.
I like the bits especially for my bog as it is full of plants and nooks and
crannies. I can broadcast the bits to get to every part of the bog.



kathy :-)
A HREF="http://www.onceuponapond.com/"Once upon a pond/A

"Daniel Phillips" wrote in message
...
Hi all,

I filled up the half barrel with water, placed a water lilly inside,
some oxygenator plants, and the Obedient Plant is standing by until I
get the right bricks.

In order to not encourage disease carrying mosquitos, I've read and
heard of a number of ways to do this. Fish, pumps, (fountains?),
wired cloth, flooding the container when baby mosquitos are in there
(as long as they're not microscopic!), and mosquito dunks. Though I
am a little more interested in eliminating the risk nearly entirely by
not having the water stagnant. And neighbors et all can actually hear
and see the evidence, without worry.

Some questions:

1) How much of a mosquito dunk would be needed for the half whiskey
barrel? Have there been reports of mosquitos building up a resistance?
How can I be sure all are gone? My idea is to flood first, and then
add the dunk.
2) Would placing a suitable wire/cloth mesh to keep mosquitos out
bother the water lily very much?
3) Could I add a fish or two right now and they be healthy, or do I
still need to wait a couple of days to a few weeks to give the water
garden a probationary period? I already added dechorinator. No rocks
at the bottom, though. Any other aquatic scenery I could add to make
them happier? The container gets afternoon sun, by the way, is
positioned on a lone patio stone, and I'm in the South. Any idea of
pH and temperature levels before adding fish would help.
4) I'm not quite as interested in filtration as I am as in keeping the
water not stagnant, or at least making the water as unfriendly to
mosquitoes as possible while at the same time preserving the plants
that are in there. I would hope a filter/pump combo won't catch the
floating plants that are in there! Perhaps a fountain would also do?
5) Is this time of the year really the time to worry about mosquitos?
6) Any alternate, more cost effective ways to control mosquitos
without a pump?

Daniel Phillips

[+]bandito[-]spam = [-]toppler.[+]zworg.com
Be warned, may mistakingly bounce back as spam.

I use AquaBac it's a biological larvicide, made of bacillus thuringiensis
israelensis. you apply it at the rate of .5ml sq metre of water surface
area, for the size of water garden your are talking about you'll need about
1ml applied at the beginning of mosquitoes breeding season, and whenever the
water is substantially changed or diluted. a 200G pack costs about $cdn25.

In such a small pond, a gold fish or two would keep the mosquito population
down. Just get the cheap 25c feeder goldfish. You could also use mosquito
fish (Gambusia affinis).

You could also break a mosquito dunk into quarters and every few weeks just
toss in a new dunk fragment.

Sameer

Thanks for your answers!

The water lily seems to be working its way to the surface more already
(buoancy, or does it really grow that fast?). I positioned an
upturned pot in the barrel to give the blooming Obedient Plant some
leverage. Unfortunately, two of the three bunches of oxygenating
plants I placed in there came apart, and I'm not sure exactly where
the other bunch is--perhaps in there, under the pot, or maybe even
taken by a bird which has frequently happened in the past with my
potted seedlings. I plan to gather them up and give them their own,
weighted pot.

After visiting my local pond supply store again, I came up with some
more questions.

1) I was told by a representative that mosquito dunks and fish won't
co-exist happily with each other, as the fish may eat the dunks and
die from it. Even if the label says its safe for fish, although I
have little reason to doubt the store representative. I got dunks
anyway, though, and put them in because I have to wait before adding
fish anyway. What do you think? Will they also kill useful insects
like spiders and dragonflies?

2) What can I place around the container to fight the mosquitoes? I've
read marigold can work (in my case potted, of course, if possible). I
placed the container near a fence, so couldn't I get a bunch of those
bug zappers/sticky tubes and line them around? And how might I be able
to encourage spiders (one spider apparently was already constructing a
web on the Obedient Plant)? I think if I can get a fine line of spider
web wherever possible, the mosquitoes won't have a chance. Anything I
can do to work with nature, compensating myself for what the container
garden lacks as opposed to its real life counterpart, I think will be
benefecial. I believe the marigold can even provide some shade, as
right now I think the water garden has an O/D of afternoon sun.

3) I have a bird feeder many feet away. Is this and the container
water garden an explosive combo as far as West Nile goes? I'm not sure
if it would make much of a difference, because of the trees/shrubs I
have as well as the line of trees and shrubs across the street
frequently have a choir of birds anyway.

4) I read how-stuff-works.com articles about mosquitos. I'm going out
each day to watch the container. On the second day of having the
plants outside in water (this was Wednesday when everything was
seperate and the half whiskey barrel wasn't filled), I saw two black,
thin bugs mating in the water. Mosquitos? This evening I saw tiny
black gnat-like things congregating some feet away from the barrel,
but I think I've also seen them before near my driveway where there
was no water that I saw.

How will I know if the dunk isn't working? Can someone please tell me
what I should watch for and timetables, monitoring the water garden so
to speak? This is day two of having the barrel filled up with
water--the other two containers have had its contents scattered around
the lawn.

5) As a last resort, instead of giving up my plants I could simply
move them inside as there is a sun room, or just give them their
required sun time outside before bringing them back inside to keep the
mosquitoes at bay. If I go this route, do you think it'll work and
what schedule should I set for the plants? The lily I have is more
like a miniature lily.

6) I could of course also just drain the container weekly and refill.
Might take its toll on the water bill, but that'll be less expensive
than say, a hospital bill, lawsuit, or fine. Will this take a toll on
the plants as well? What if I want to recycle water, but filter out
harmful mosquitos?

I'm glad I feel really good and excited about doing this, despite my
mosquito concerns, because I always wanted a water garden, not to
mention the fact that I'm doing this for a college project. I just
felt like being out there all day tending to it, but of course the
money investment vs. time is very equal in this case. Building my own
pond one day in the future, I think, will give me a lot of
satisfaction as I'm sure it has you all when building your pond.

I may have to invest in a field guide of bugs. I've read that some
bugs do look like mosquitos, but aren't.

Thank you!

Daniel Phillips

[+]bandito[-]spam = [-]toppler.[+]zworg.com
Be warned, may mistakingly bounce back as spam.

Hi again, Daniel,

1) I was told by a representative that mosquito dunks and fish won't
co-exist happily with each other, as the fish may eat the dunks and
die from it. Even if the label says its safe for fish, although I
have little reason to doubt the store representative. I got dunks
anyway, though, and put them in because I have to wait before adding
fish anyway. What do you think? Will they also kill useful insects
like spiders and dragonflies?

First, don't always trust someone who works at the store... many of us have
horror stories to tell about bad advice that has been given at various retail
establishments.
The dunks will not hurt fish, or spiders or dragonflies. They take out one
other aquatic larva, can't remember which it is but believe me you won't miss
it ;-)

2) What can I place around the container to fight the mosquitoes? I've
read marigold can work (in my case potted, of course, if possible). I
placed the container near a fence, so couldn't I get a bunch of those
bug zappers/sticky tubes and line them around?

Your pond will attract dragonflies and damselflies and they can eat literally
millions of mosquitoes over a summer.

And how might I be able
to encourage spiders (one spider apparently was already constructing a
web on the Obedient Plant)? I think if I can get a fine line of spider
web wherever possible, the mosquitoes won't have a chance.

The spiders will come on their own. Watch for fishing spiders, they run on
water and snatch up bouncing gnats, very fun to watch!

Anything I
can do to work with nature, compensating myself for what the container
garden lacks as opposed to its real life counterpart, I think will be
benefecial. I believe the marigold can even provide some shade, as
right now I think the water garden has an O/D of afternoon sun.

3) I have a bird feeder many feet away. Is this and the container
water garden an explosive combo as far as West Nile goes? I'm not sure
if it would make much of a difference, because of the trees/shrubs I
have as well as the line of trees and shrubs across the street
frequently have a choir of birds anyway.

With dunks, fish, dragonflies and damselflies will not be a problem.

4) I read how-stuff-works.com articles about mosquitos. I'm going out
each day to watch the container. On the second day of having the
plants outside in water (this was Wednesday when everything was
seperate and the half whiskey barrel wasn't filled), I saw two black,
thin bugs mating in the water. Mosquitos?

No. Probably backswimmer bugs or boatman beetles. Not mosquitoes. They probably
flew in overnight as this is when these critters fly and watch for water by the
light reflecting on the water.

This evening I saw tiny
black gnat-like things congregating some feet away from the barrel,
but I think I've also seen them before near my driveway where there
was no water that I saw.

How will I know if the dunk isn't working? Can someone please tell me
what I should watch for and timetables, monitoring the water garden so
to speak? This is day two of having the barrel filled up with
water--the other two containers have had its contents scattered around
the lawn.

Mosquito larva hang out at the surface of the water to breath. When disturbed
they violently wriggle away and then will come back to the surface.

5) As a last resort, instead of giving up my plants I could simply
move them inside as there is a sun room, or just give them their
required sun time outside before bringing them back inside to keep the
mosquitoes at bay. If I go this route, do you think it'll work and
what schedule should I set for the plants? The lily I have is more
like a miniature lily.

I doubt you'll have to worry about mosquitoes. Growing plants indoor is a whole
'nother matter and not my area of expertise
;-)

6) I could of course also just drain the container weekly and refill.
Might take its toll on the water bill, but that'll be less expensive
than say, a hospital bill, lawsuit, or fine. Will this take a toll on
the plants as well? What if I want to recycle water, but filter out
harmful mosquitos?

No. Don't do that. Bad for fish. Use dunks, use fish, you'll be fine.

I've had ponds in my yards for years and actually can't remember the last time
I got bit by a mosquito!

I may have to invest in a field guide of bugs. I've read that some
bugs do look like mosquitos, but aren't.

There are some excellent books out there and very interesting! About 5,000
species of insects spend part or all of their life in water.




kathy :-)
A HREF="http://www.onceuponapond.com/"Once upon a pond/A

On 09 Apr 2004 02:42:14 GMT, EROSPAM (Ka30P) wrote:

Hi again, Daniel,

1) I was told by a representative that mosquito dunks and fish won't
co-exist happily with each other, as the fish may eat the dunks and
die from it. Even if the label says its safe for fish, although I
have little reason to doubt the store representative. I got dunks
anyway, though, and put them in because I have to wait before adding
fish anyway. What do you think? Will they also kill useful insects
like spiders and dragonflies?

First, don't always trust someone who works at the store... many of us have
horror stories to tell about bad advice that has been given at various retail
establishments.
The dunks will not hurt fish, or spiders or dragonflies. They take out one
other aquatic larva, can't remember which it is but believe me you won't miss
it ;-)

Thanks again! :-)

Black Fly larvae?
http://www.westnile.state.pa.us/

Daniel Phillips

[+]bandito[-]spam = [-]toppler.[+]zworg.com
Be warned, may mistakingly bounce back as spam.

Black Fly larvae?

Yup, that sounds like them!


kathy :-)
A HREF="http://www.onceuponapond.com/"Once upon a pond/A

On Thu, 08 Apr 2004 22:31:37 GMT, "Snooze"
wrote:

In such a small pond, a gold fish or two would keep the mosquito population
down. Just get the cheap 25c feeder goldfish. You could also use mosquito
fish (Gambusia affinis).

You could also break a mosquito dunk into quarters and every few weeks just
toss in a new dunk fragment.

Sameer

Would two of those goldfish need a pump? Would I need to suppliment
their insect food with other food?

Daniel Phillips

[+]bandito[-]spam = [-]toppler.[+]zworg.com
Be warned, may mistakingly bounce back as spam.

Would two of those goldfish need a pump? Would I need to suppliment
their insect food with other food?
Daniel Phillips

Is your concern the cost of power or getting power to the pond? If the cost
of power, you can get air powered filters that will bubble in the pond,
look in the aquarium section, you'll probably want a powerful pump so you
can run 2-3 of filters, as they're small.

I run a little 90g/hr pump in a DIY bucket filter with a bell fountain, I'm
sure it uses less power than a 50 watt bulb.

IMO, get small fish, rosie reds, or guppies, that you don't have to feed.
The feeders probably would do okay without being fed, but don't put dunks
in the pond, or they won't get much food. ~ jan

See my ponds and filter design:
http://users.owt.com/jjspond/

~Keep 'em Wet!~
Tri-Cities WA Zone 7a
To e-mail see website

"Daniel Phillips" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 08 Apr 2004 22:31:37 GMT, "Snooze"
wrote:

In such a small pond, a gold fish or two would keep the mosquito
population
down. Just get the cheap 25c feeder goldfish. You could also use mosquito
fish (Gambusia affinis).

You could also break a mosquito dunk into quarters and every few weeks
just
toss in a new dunk fragment.

Sameer

Would two of those goldfish need a pump? Would I need to suppliment
their insect food with other food?


If you only put 2 small fish, like guppies, mosquito fish, minnows, rosies,
the plants will be the filter just fine. Maybe you'll want a pump to
circulate the water to aerate it. But 2 guppy sized fish in a 20 gallon
barrel most likely won't have o2 level problems.

Just get a sprig or two of anacharis to aerate the pond, they do a good job.

As for a filter to remove the muck, just make a siphon out of a section of
1/2 tubing and you can vac out the stuff on the bottom periodically.

Sameer

there must be a MACHINE out there can control the mosquitoes in teh pond... right
MEN?


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List
http://puregold.aquaria.net/
www.drsolo.com
Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Unfortunately, I receive no money, gifts, discounts or other
compensation for all the damn work I do, nor for any of the
endorsements or recommendations I make.

Yup - I read about it on a webpage somewhere - called a Binford 2000 Skeeter
Eater - Ruff, Ruff, Ruff :~
Gale :~)
wrote in message
...
there must be a MACHINE out there can control the mosquitoes in teh
pond... right
MEN?


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List
http://puregold.aquaria.net/
www.drsolo.com
Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Unfortunately, I receive no money, gifts, discounts or other
compensation for all the damn work I do, nor for any of the
endorsements or recommendations I make.

A good skimmer would probably do the job, but that would be too simple....
but than again, for a barrel pond, over the top, so maybe a skimmer with
with 1,000 gph pump in a barrel pond would make the guys happy? ;o)))

Yup - I read about it on a webpage somewhere - called a Binford 2000 Skeeter
Eater - Ruff, Ruff, Ruff :~
Gale :~)

A skimmer with teeth? Gale, I think you could market it with a name like
that! ) ~ jan

wrote in message
there must be a MACHINE out there can control the mosquitoes in teh
pond... right
MEN?


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List
http://puregold.aquaria.net/
www.drsolo.com
Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Unfortunately, I receive no money, gifts, discounts or other
compensation for all the damn work I do, nor for any of the
endorsements or recommendations I make.


~ jan (Do you know where your water quality is?)

On Fri, 09 Apr 2004 07:04:52 GMT, ~ jan JJsPond.us
wrote:

Would two of those goldfish need a pump? Would I need to suppliment
their insect food with other food?
Daniel Phillips

Is your concern the cost of power or getting power to the pond? If the cost
of power, you can get air powered filters that will bubble in the pond,
look in the aquarium section, you'll probably want a powerful pump so you
can run 2-3 of filters, as they're small.

I run a little 90g/hr pump in a DIY bucket filter with a bell fountain, I'm
sure it uses less power than a 50 watt bulb.

IMO, get small fish, rosie reds, or guppies, that you don't have to feed.
The feeders probably would do okay without being fed, but don't put dunks
in the pond, or they won't get much food. ~ jan

See my ponds and filter design:
http://users.owt.com/jjspond/

~Keep 'em Wet!~
Tri-Cities WA Zone 7a
To e-mail see website
Pretty much the cost of the pump itself, and the accompanying
extension cord I would need to get to my outlet. Because of trees and
shade, though, I picked a spot further away from the power outlet.
Here, the sun beats down on it much of the day (not sure whether that
would be good for fish or not). Currently, though, the plants seem
not to be suffering much.

I did see some small pumps for 19.99, although tubes and I think a
filter if it even can have one are seperate. The store told me that a
pump itself won't stop mosquitos, but between the pump and the dunk it
would....

A solar powered one would really be excellent for me, I believe, but
the price of the pump itself is pretty steep. Don't mosquitos mate in
the water? What can I feed guppies if I decide to keep the dunk in my
container (as fish can only eat so much, especially when something's
wrong with them)?

The most ideal thing for me, the ultimate extinguisher of all concern
while still keeping my water garden, would be this (Mosquito Magnent):
http://www.rittenhouse.ca/tech_cente...ge.asp?LID=144

At their price, though, while not 1,000.00 as I was expecting, is
still pretty steep. Might be well worth saving up for, though. It
would give me glee to create a death trap for mosquitos in my own
backyard.

Daniel Phillips

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