It’s summertime
and with the fine weather we have access to mosquito larva which should be a
welcomed treat for your fish.
I have
heard arguments about not using these as a food source due to pollution and bacteria
in the water but I have personally never had any problems deriving from the use of
these.
The fish
love them and it’s nice to see the fish’s natural hunting instincts kick in
when they are added to the aquarium. They are also very good for conditioning
fish prior to spawning.
Regarding
the pollution issue it’s really up to each aquarist to decide on if they want
to use them or not. I personally harvest mine from plastic containers filled
with rainwater and believe this to be a safer option than collection from a pond
(depending on location).
A shallow
preferably dark plastic container filled with water and placed in a shaded area should be enough to
attract female mosquitos to lay their eggs on the surface of the water.
Depending
on the temperature the mosquito larva can be harvested on a more or less regular
basis by using a fine meshed net. I do rinse them under running water after
harvest and place the larva in a glass container filled with clean water or
tank water (as seen above). The larva can then be fed to the fish with a
baster.
Just make
sure to harvest regularly and discard any larva you don’t use as otherwise you
will have a mosquito problem on your hands.
Happy
hunting!
