Mosquito Fish

[AquaQueen]

West Nile has finally found its way into California. We just got some mosquito fish for our pond which were provided by the County. I was just wondering (cause I fogot to ask them) do I feed them or do they basically live off of bugs and mosquitos?

Nep

 

[William]

You can just feed them flakes as well, mosquito fish are pretty much the wild form of guppies which you see today.

 

[Alien Anna]

I thought they were called Mosquito Fish due to their appearance in "swarms" (very large shoals) rather than due to their diet? It seems strange they're related to guppies because they're a lot more tolerant of heat than guppies IME.

 

[crimsontsavo]

Mosquito Fish have been known to eat GF and Koi eggs.
They are ace at eating Skeeter` larva though.I catch mine wild and release them into my ponds. (not my breeding pond).If you are gonna get some, try adding a few to an aquarium, they have such character!(the will eat anything they can fit into their mouths fish wise, and some are fin nippers!)..mine nibble my fingers..You can also feed them to your larger fish.

 

[sandyd]

Hi I also have mosquito fish, both living in my pond and in a tank in the house. I feed the indoor ones, bloodworms and flakes. If you want them to multiply in your pond, you need to make sure there are places for the fry to hide, because these fish eat them as quickly as they come out. The outside ones, will eat mosquito larva as well as frog eggs and anything else they can get ahold of. They do look alot like wild guppies, and they also reproduce the same as a guppy, and just as quickly. Good luck. Sandy

 

[AquaQueen]

Whoa! Sounds like it might get interesting in the pond! The batemen must have dropped off about 50 of the suckers. I assume they are going to eat my Shubunkin eggs? DARN! Might have to breed some of those indoors.

Thanks for all of your info. I hope they eat all of the nasty bugs out there while they are at it.

Nep