zeebee Posted January 18, 2012 Report Share Posted January 18, 2012 I have a troph in the paddock and a few ice cream containers full of water. There are plenty of mosquito's around but can't find any larvae. Is it the right time of year? I thought in summer there would be plenty Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blueether Posted January 18, 2012 Report Share Posted January 18, 2012 There are plenty around atm, I hope you find some Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stella Posted January 18, 2012 Report Share Posted January 18, 2012 They like tannin-stained water, so look for troughs and things with wood or leaves in it, making the water a bit brown. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zeebee Posted January 18, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 18, 2012 Thanks, me too! my fish would love them if I could find them Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Squirt Posted January 18, 2012 Report Share Posted January 18, 2012 I found mine in the pots outside, just rainwater :dunno: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sophia Posted January 18, 2012 Report Share Posted January 18, 2012 I have lots at the moment in my trough/pond and have had enough through winter to feed a few once a week. They like all sorts of water if you go by the different states of the troughs at Cornwall Park. The first lot I hatched lived in pretty stagnant vege cooking water before even they got stunk out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrahamC Posted January 18, 2012 Report Share Posted January 18, 2012 Have wrigglers in Wgton. I put out a plastic box earlier last year for the chooks to get fresh water ... and now it has leaves and other stuff in it including duckweed with the long root systems ...maybe 4cm. Have some pond snails which hitched a ride with the duckweed. Interestingly I don't see any algae on the sides of the box. I noticed some wrigglers there end of last year and have been harvesting a few each day for the WCMM, and now for the very choosy angelfish that refuse flake I see that the recommended method is to pour from one bucket to another thru a brine net but that would catch all the leaves, snails and duckweed, so I use a turkey baster to suck them out .... very time consuming! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rcon021 Posted January 18, 2012 Report Share Posted January 18, 2012 Put out fish tank water along with some grass clippings or dead leaves in the shade. It has to be in the shade in summer. U will get 100s Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sophia Posted January 18, 2012 Report Share Posted January 18, 2012 I have a tea strainer attached to a wooden rod that I use for fishing the larvae out Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stella Posted January 19, 2012 Report Share Posted January 19, 2012 I have a tea strainer attached to a wooden rod that I use for fishing the larvae out :lol: I still have my battered brown plastic tea strainer that I used to spend hours with catching skeeter larvae when I was a kid :sage: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkLB Posted January 19, 2012 Report Share Posted January 19, 2012 I float small pieces of poly in my outdoor containers. The larvae cling around the edges, it's called 'rafting'. Then all I have to do is scoop out the poly/larvae with a fish net. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sophia Posted January 19, 2012 Report Share Posted January 19, 2012 The polystyrene would look like icebergs :gigl: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zeebee Posted January 19, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 19, 2012 Well... turns out we have another troph.. Went looking in there and BINGO! found heaps! Fish loooveed them Yay! my rummy nose went the brightest red i have ever seen them Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supasi Posted January 19, 2012 Report Share Posted January 19, 2012 Make sure you have a piece of wood or something floating that the Mossies can land o to lay their eggs. They cannot land directly on the water. You will know if you are laying as you will see little floating black bits that look like ash. They are the egg rafts. I collect these and raise them in jars. That way I can grade the sizes and feed out as required. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrahamC Posted January 20, 2012 Report Share Posted January 20, 2012 Interesting .. I don't recall seeing egg rafts .. will have to look harder. Is it Culex quinquefasciatus ? And what do you feed the larvae on? Algae? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sophia Posted January 20, 2012 Report Share Posted January 20, 2012 the rafts are black to start with I think, then they go brown like bits of leaf. As the eggs hatch they break up so you might only find bits of them about if you search for a thread called Mosquito Larvae 2010 or such like you will find some photos as I posted some when I first discovered some in my trough Simon, my bugs don't have anything to land on, though they can land on the sides of the trough and put their bottoms in the water?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrahamC Posted January 20, 2012 Report Share Posted January 20, 2012 I'd like to see a reference to support that statement. This link http://physicsworld.com/cws/article/news/30558 says mosquito feet can repel water with a force of 600 µN – roughly 23 times the mosquito's body weight – before breaking the surface. So, using another surface to land on seems redundant. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted January 20, 2012 Report Share Posted January 20, 2012 The mossies at my place form big rafts all by themselves, not attached to anything. Looks like blobs of soot on the water surface. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sophia Posted January 20, 2012 Report Share Posted January 20, 2012 maybe at Simon's house his mozzies are so big and fat and heavy they have to have a landing pad or they get sucked under 8) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supasi Posted January 20, 2012 Report Share Posted January 20, 2012 I'd like to see a reference to support that statement. This link http://physicsworld.com/cws/article/news/30558 says mosquito feet can repel water with a force of 600 µN – roughly 23 times the mosquito's body weight – before breaking the surface. So, using another surface to land on seems redundant. Look its not a contest to see who can out research each other. Every post you seem to try to outdo people with scientific mumbo jumbo. Does not really make me want to help you with your untold questions you ask. I simply say this as you will find that the mossies will lay more eggs if you have something for them to land on. Yes they may be able to walk on water but if there is something on the water surface to land on then they will most likely do so. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danval Posted January 20, 2012 Report Share Posted January 20, 2012 I do agree with Simon. More places to land... more eggs. And GrahamC.... Just sieve through the info off here that you find usefull. Simon is a very experienced member here. Test it for yourself... One with nothing to land on and one with something.... then you be the judge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrahamC Posted January 20, 2012 Report Share Posted January 20, 2012 Seems reasonable ... more surface material, more potential food for the larvae. I'm trying to rapidly upskill myself in this area so I don't lose any more fish ... providing citations so I can check back on these threads later on. If this is against board etiquette I didn't know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zeebee Posted January 20, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 20, 2012 Woww didnt know mosquito larvae was such a technical discussion :sml1: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supasi Posted January 20, 2012 Report Share Posted January 20, 2012 Woww didnt know mosquito larvae was such a technical discussion :sml1: Its not really unless you make it such. Just a bucket or container filled with aged water, throw in a few leaves and or grass clippings, float some small bits of drift wood or similar ( drift wood adds tannins which the mossies like) Leave if for a week or so then keep an eye out for egg rafts. image borrowed from mother google These will then slowly get smaller as the eggs hatch and you should begin to see the larvae wriggling. Depending on the size you need as to how long you leave them before harvesting. As mentioned above, I sometime take the eggs inside in a jar of the water and hatch them inside, The newly hatched larvae are great for fry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
karynjoy Posted January 26, 2012 Report Share Posted January 26, 2012 I have lots of mozzarella larvae here! What kind of fish eat them please? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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