# Critters



## JamesM (9 Jul 2010)

I noticed some little critters in my water butt today when I went to water the garden...

Would they make an ideal treat for fish? Or best leave them alone?






Any ideas guys?


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## samc (9 Jul 2010)

i believe they are mosquito larve mate  

i used to harvest them in a tub in my garden. they fish loved them. great food for them


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## Nick16 (10 Jul 2010)

if they are mosquite larvae all fish go mental for them. even my huge koi jump about a foot out the water to grab the actual mossies as they come near the water!


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## dw1305 (12 Jul 2010)

Hi all, 


> i believe they are mosquito larve mate


 they certainly are. I grew my own, a builders bucket of rainwater and a good handful of grass-clippings, placed in shade/semi-shade in the garden and with a cork floated in it (the female mosquito needs something to perch on). After about a week top quality food for free. You should see lots of black "velvety" bits floating on the water surface, these are the eggs and they hatch to form the larvae you can see. If you want a large size use a coarse net to harvest. The mosquito larvae dangle at the surface until your shadow falls on them, then they somersault downwards. Same bucket will also produce Bloodworms, and if you add a starter colony Daphnia as well.

cheers Darrel


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## vauxhallmark (12 Jul 2010)

Feed them ALL to your fish - if they can't eat them all tip the but out and lose the water - otherwise you'll have adult mosquitos coming out and biting you!

On a serious note, feed what your fish will eat, and net the rest out and kill them. More adults will lay more egs, so you'll have more in the future.

They are most small tropical fishes favourite food   

Mark


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## JamesM (12 Jul 2010)

Many thanks guys, totally forgot I posted this tbh


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## Ben M (26 Jul 2010)

cheers dw1305 for letting me know how to set up a tub for them.   i've been thinking of doing it for a while. i did have loads of the eggs in a tank outside that i had left with just water in, but when i put my damselfly larvae in it ate them all when they hatched.   it's amazing the bugs you can get in a tub of water. i 'borrowed' a water bottle full of pond water from a pond, and now i have thousands of bugs.


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