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Pls suggest: Natives for small pond in SE MO. Mosquito eaters namely.

Started by Guest_bunny_* , Mar 17 2013 06:44 PM

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9 replies to this topic

#1 Guest_bunny_*

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Posted 17 March 2013 - 06:44 PM

Hello all,

Just joined. Hope you might help me with your experience and knowledge.

Some very good fortune came the way of my fella, in the way of a small rural house. It has a small acreage now, and we expect to be able to add to it (connecting land) in the future. It needs a lot of work, but it's all good. He's native to the locale, so we're good with everything related to the area.

I haven't seen it yet, but he tells me there is a small area that will lend itself to being a full time pond, since it currently is a part time pond when irrigation ditches fill it. He feels it wouldn't be unreasonable to re-work it to make it a "real" pond.

The place is surrounded by farmland. A lot of it is rice - which leads to ... mosquitoes.
Near the house is a commercial chicken operation ... flies.

I've done loads of research on what it will take to contend with each of those pests. So far so good.

Then I came to the pond issue. There are already a lot of native dragonflies, likely due to the rice fields. They must be keeping the flies relatively manageable, because this place isn't nearly as bad as some places near commercial chicken houses. It's likely they may like our pond. I know the winged ones eat all the types of pests we'll have. Their nymphs love mosquito larva. Great.

However, could we supplement the pond with some native fish that could also help?

I read that pygmy sunfish are local to SE Missouri, but I don't know much about them.

I don't think regular mosquitofish might be a good idea - as they seem to not actually eat as many mosquitoes as their name might suggest (per some studies that call them invasive pests. I dunno if that's true.)

I thought maybe the Least Killifish would be good. (Heterandria formosa) - but then I see they probably wouldn't like winter in the pond.

I thought maybe regular bluegills would be fantastic - I mean - you could actually eat the extras - until I read that only the babies eat the mosquitoes and the adults might eat other mosquito eating critters.

\ Bummer.

What might you suggest for us? It's SE Missouri - near the corner - by Arkansas, Kentucky, and Tennessee.

PS: This is important - we are going to have various small farm animals - in limited number. Some will be muscovy ducks - which are mainly land-ducks, but they don't mind getting into a pond now and then. Will they decimate the fish if we let them in there? They're fantastic fly eating machines - the muscovies. I think it could be possible to keep them out of there and give them their own wading pool. (They're not as water oriented as other ducks.)

Edited by bunny, 17 March 2013 - 06:53 PM.

#2 Guest_Skipjack_*

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Posted 17 March 2013 - 07:31 PM

Dry land ducks. Can't go wrong with muscovies. Won't hurt your fish at all, and will not spend much time in the water. Clip a wing on each, or they will fly, and roost wherever the decide. They raise ducklings well, and taste fantastic. They are fly eating machines. Ours barely even touch our pond. Look at muscovy breast pricing, very expensive. IMO one of the best livestock for a small farm.

As far as the pond goes, diversify it as much as possible. Use bluegills, rather than hybrid bluegills. The hybrids will produce some offspring, which many will look like green sunfish. These will continue to reproduce more greens. Most people do not like greens in their ponds. Might want to look at http://forums.pondbo...ds.php?ubb=cfrm

#3 Guest_bunny_*

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Posted 17 March 2013 - 08:22 PM

Thanks, Skipjack. Glad to hear your thoughts - and really glad to know your experience with the Muscovies. Noted about the bluegills. Off to read that thread you linked now.

#4 Michael Wolfe

Board of Directors

North Georgia, Oconee River Drainage

Posted 17 March 2013 - 09:55 PM

SE Mo makes me think of the convention and the Great Mingo Swamp. And there were very cool Fundulus there. Dispar I think. Wouldn't they make great bug eating machines?

Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing. - Benjamin Franklin

#5 Guest_FirstChAoS_*

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Posted 18 March 2013 - 02:03 AM

I have read a few things online about killifish for mosquito control, most places mention mosquitofish. But a couple sources of info on mummichogs I read did mention occasional use for mosquito control so apparently fundulus species might do the job.

#6 Guest_swampfish_*

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Posted 18 March 2013 - 09:31 AM

I've conducted research on the types of fish that eat mosquito larva. Essentially all of the minnows and similar-sized fish, inlcuding goldfish control mosquito larvae. Koi are ornamental carp and do not eat mosquito larvae very well. Mosquitofish (Gambusia) are excellent mosquito eaters, but they are predators on other fishes' young. Topminnows are excellent for mosquito control. Although the starheaded topminnow mentioned above is excellent, it is much easier to find the blackspotted topminnow. They were common in the ditch next to the motel in Cape Girardeau where we stayed for the convention. Even bait minnows purchased from a bait shop provide excellent mosquito control. They are usually fathead minnows and golden shiners, both were excellent in controlling mosquito larvae in my research. For more colorful fish, seine some nearby ditches and creeks as essentially any minnow or topminnow that you find will be excellent choices.

Phil Nixon
University of Illinois

#7 Guest_bunny_*

Guests

Posted 19 March 2013 - 10:47 AM

Thank you all. Sorry for the delay, I guess I didn't turn on forum notifications. Must fix that.

I'm going to look up all the suggested fish. I like the idea too of netting from nearby ditches too - since they're likely to be really suitable for this exact purpose.

Cape is only about 35 minutes (maybe more?) east of where we'll be, by the way.

Phil, your comments are VERY helpful in particular - for all the details.

Is there anything online you recommend for learning about developing this pond? I'm hoping NOT to need to put in mechanical equipment like a pump, filtration, etc. If possible, it would be nice if it would be it's own self sufficient little eco-system. I'd never been able to make that work on a tiny scale with an aquarium, but I'm hoping this larger size makes it more realistic. Plants are likely important towards that.

Edited by bunny, 19 March 2013 - 10:54 AM.

#8 Guest_bunny_*

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Posted 19 March 2013 - 10:49 AM

By the way - is that conference always held in Cape? That sounds fascinating.

#9 Michael Wolfe

Board of Directors

North Georgia, Oconee River Drainage

Posted 19 March 2013 - 12:47 PM

No, the conference is held at a different location around the U.S. This year it is in Kentucky, last year Ohio, before that VIrginia, etc.

I am not sure about how big your pond is or other parameters, but it is very possible that with sufficient plant growth, you may not need any additional filtration.

Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing. - Benjamin Franklin

#10 Guest_bunny_*

Guests

Posted 19 March 2013 - 01:00 PM

Glad to hear natural may be possible. We're undecided yet about the final size of the pond. I say about the size of one olympic swimming pool. My other half said he'd like it to be the size of at least two olympic swimming pools. Unknown about depth yet. I still need to research how this thing should be created. Lots of stuff up in the air until we really get working on the land and house. He'll be working on fencing and the house starting in April. I'd like not to run the poor guy into the ground with too much - he's got this "I can do it all attitude right now" - but I'd prefer to make things easier where possible. The pond is one thing that I'd like to simplify and go small with, if possible.