collecting mosquitoe larvae

[tanksalot]

I set out a kid's pool and an old laundry tub and waited...

Now I am netting live food and rinsing it off and dumping straight into the tank. I don't think I'll get enough to freeze, but I wish I could! The ponds I 've looked into seem too murky to find anything.

My fish LOVE it, it is so much fun to watch them go nuts for live wiggling food. Their true hunter spirit comes out, they suddenly seem motivated and purposeful and happier :-)

Is anyone else collecting? Where? How? Are you freezing?

Wish it was summer all year long!
/tanksalot

(edited because I looked up the stages of mosquitoe larvae and realized the larger ones are mosquitoe pupae, the fish love both of course!)

[Migs]

Your backyard must be delightful in the evening shade...  Do your neighbors know you're doing this?  I'm sure they will be very happy to know that you're breeding mosquitos!   :twisted:  LOL
Must be great food though....

[tanksalot]

We live in the woods, so there's lots of good 'breeding stock' ;-)

The neighbors are breeding mosquitoes too in the nearby swamps (they just aren't collecting the larvae). So I figure we're ahead of the game (lol)

Now my husband is trying to figure out a way to keep it going in the winter!!! He said we can all offer our arms for blood now and then to keep it going! ha ha ha (there is a limit to how much I love my fish!)

[gvv]

For winter... Maybe the best way is to freeze some?  

[Rick]

In summer I put mosquitoes, with some clean water, in ice cube trays. In winter I simply float an ice cube in the tank and as it melts the frozen mosquito larva fall away from the ice. The fish follow the cube and eat the larva. I collect them in two 45 gallon barrels.