Richard Posted December 7, 2002 Report Share Posted December 7, 2002 well... i have left my 2 pails of water outside for almost 2 weeks now... added some yeast... but i still dont see any larvae... there are lots of dead insects in the water though... and lots of black dots in the water... dunno if they are eggs... but no signs of larvae at all... am i doing anything wrong? also...the water is evaporating quickly... only half full now...should i add water? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pegasus Posted December 7, 2002 Report Share Posted December 7, 2002 Hi Richard, Can't see it NOT working after two weeks he he. I set up two more containers yesterday, and already they are swarming with mozzies. Did you use old tank water, or straight from the tap ? The water should be greenish by now in this weather. The black dots could be egg baskets and may turn into mozzies. The mozzies swim below the surface at the slightest disturbance, so if you sit quietly you will see them come up for air after about ten seconds. Yes.... You should keep the pails topped up, but don't add more yeast. You will get all sorts of dead insects on the surface..... no probs, and No.... you are doing everything right it seems :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ira Posted December 7, 2002 Report Share Posted December 7, 2002 I've had the same problem trying to get bugs. I put a bag full of daphnia into my pond and they all seem to have died. In fact, the only bugs I've seen in it are a few mosquito larvae that only appeared in the last few days. The hygro. polysperma(I think) that I threw in there seems to like it though, it's turning red. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Posted December 7, 2002 Author Report Share Posted December 7, 2002 I used water from the tap...as i dont have old tank water... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Posted December 7, 2002 Author Report Share Posted December 7, 2002 oopsss.... stupid me... it just caught me... were u by any means talking about water from my fish tank when u said old tank water??? :oops: :oops: hehhee... i thought u just meant old water in the water tank or something... stupid me... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted December 7, 2002 Report Share Posted December 7, 2002 The black dots are probably eggs. Wait for a warm sunny day and see if anything happens. Those insects are good fish food too as that's what they eat in the wild. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pegasus Posted December 7, 2002 Report Share Posted December 7, 2002 Sorry Richard, Should have been a bit more precise..... Old Aquarium Water works best Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Posted December 11, 2002 Author Report Share Posted December 11, 2002 Well... Mondays weather was really good... the sun was out all day... when I got home from work I noticed the water had turned green... On Tuesday while doing my water changes.... I filled up the tank with my old tank water... since then I have been keeping a close eye... it looked like there were eggs on the surface for the past few days... however... it looked like air bubbles.... so I am not 100% sure.... today...those eggs/ bubbles were gone... but still no sign of larvae... getting quite a colony of dead insects on the surface though... I am just wondering... could it be possible that there were larvae in the pail... just that they were at the bottom and i could not see them? or are they too tiny? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted December 11, 2002 Report Share Posted December 11, 2002 The larvae and daphnia can be seen with the naked eye. It may be that conditions where you live are not conducive to growing daphnia without a starter culture. PM me with your address and I'll get some daphnia to you. Or, my son lives in ChCh (St Albans) and is coming up here at the weekend. I could get him to take some back with him for you to pick up if you like. Our club also hopes to make a club trip to ChCh on Jan 11th. We will put a notice in this forum so anyone in the area is welcome to join us for the day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pegasus Posted December 11, 2002 Report Share Posted December 11, 2002 You must live in a Bugless area Richard if you don't have some mossies by now. Even when they change and fly off they leave some behind. Take a scoop with a net and see if you have any wrigglers in it. The conditions are perfect by the sound of things. If all else fails, the green water will feed any fry you might have. How about trying some brine shrimp.... now thats sure to hatch Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Interfecus Posted December 12, 2002 Report Share Posted December 12, 2002 "Pails" : Yours aren't metal, are they? If they're made of certain metals then they could be making the water toxic to the larvae. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pegasus Posted December 12, 2002 Report Share Posted December 12, 2002 Hey.... Good point Interfecus.... Never thought of that :oops: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Posted December 12, 2002 Author Report Share Posted December 12, 2002 Thanks for the offer Caryl... will let u know if i need help... but i think it should work within this week... the water is really green now... and there seems to be some mold/ algae growth...and there really are lots of insects and wings floating in the water dead...even dead mosquitos... so they must lay eggs sometime??? my pails are plastic... so that should not be the problem.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted December 12, 2002 Report Share Posted December 12, 2002 The daphnia will not be floating on the surface they wiggle about lower down. Look on the sunny side of the bucket Mine are growing in a fibreglass pond and always congregate in the sunny patches. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Delta Posted December 12, 2002 Report Share Posted December 12, 2002 Hi Richard, If it's mossie wrigglers your after, just something to be aware of they need to breathe air from the surface through a tube on their rear, so if you have a lot of scum or slime floating on top they will not survive. I collect the eggrafts and bring them inside to hatch and the newly hatched wrigglers are really tiny and you won't catch them with a normal net until they grow bigger, so you might have some there they could still just be too small to net yet. Dianna Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajbroome Posted December 12, 2002 Report Share Posted December 12, 2002 Folks, Just a data point. I *never* find mosquito larvae in green water. Always in clear(ish) old water with some organic content (dead leaves etc). Usually I get the best results from partially shaded (ie under trees) containers. Andrew, with plenty of mossie larvae at the moment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pegasus Posted December 12, 2002 Report Share Posted December 12, 2002 My tubs outside are a deep green colour. Bill... with tons of mossies at the moment Well Richard, you've tried everything else.... don't know what to suggest. From around 9am my tubs get full sunshine till around 6:30pm. I have another tub that gets sun from sunrise to around 8:30am. The latter one hardly gets any mossies in it. Must admit, when my green water gets a bit thick I tip about half out of the tubs and top up with fresh water, but normally a good downpour does this for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Interfecus Posted December 12, 2002 Report Share Posted December 12, 2002 Use a tea strainer to catch smaller mozzies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ira Posted December 13, 2002 Report Share Posted December 13, 2002 I just went to catch some mosquito larvae out of my pond because I noticed there were a few. And when I was doing it I noticed there are buttloads of daphnia in there. For any of you not up on technical lingo that means somewhere between heaps^2(Heaps&heaps) and bazillions. I think it might be because of what Caryl said, that hers seem to stay in the sunlight. This is the first sunny day in a while and all the other days I've looked have been cloudy days. Maybe when it's cloudy they hide at the bottom of the pond where you can't find them? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pegasus Posted December 13, 2002 Report Share Posted December 13, 2002 WOW Ira.... You are so lucky... all that live food he he. Might be time to check the dams around the area. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted December 13, 2002 Report Share Posted December 13, 2002 I think on cloudy days they disappear into another dimension! On sunny days they are thickly huddled together in the sunny bits but trying to find any on a cloudy day is an exercise in frustration Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john1 Posted December 13, 2002 Report Share Posted December 13, 2002 Hi Isn't it strange. We fishkeepers look for mosquito larvae for our fish. And then go out to the supermarket and spend a fortune on moquito repellants. John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajbroome Posted December 15, 2002 Report Share Posted December 15, 2002 Caryl said... > On sunny days they are thickly huddled together in the sunny bits... It's called 'positive phototropism' (which translates as 'moving towards the light'). Since daphnia swim towards a light source, they tend to concentrate in parts of the culture container that are better lit. John1 said... > ... go out to the supermarket and spend a fortune on moquito > repellants. I don't. If the mozzies can sneak a feed off me then they're welcome to it. Of course, we don't really have much in the way of disease carrying mosquitoes here. Which is just as well since one of the local hobbyists had (has?) Malaria a few years back. Andrew. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted December 16, 2002 Report Share Posted December 16, 2002 I see. So you don't die these days, you engage in positive phototropism. :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ira Posted December 16, 2002 Report Share Posted December 16, 2002 That'd be negative phototropism or antiphototropism. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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