The pond tank

[Jessie J.]

So near where I live there's a big pond (actually divided by a road to make two), and I got some mosquitofish from there. It's being drained and trees around it are being torn down because houses are going to be built soon.The deforestation stinks, but my dad and me might be going there soon to get some plants/snails/etc. before it dries up completely. The beavers got irritated and left because their dam broke so it's drying up even faster. Yesterday was a quick trip and I got some duckweed and azolla (fairy moss, water fern), + an unknown plant or two and some pond snails. But next time we are going to explore the nether ponds up the hill in addition to those. The water's pretty shallow so I don't think there are many fish besides minnows, but it'll still be fun. I have a 5-gallon already set up with aged water (no filter) in case there are some fish that are not compatible with the others or if they prefer stagnant water. I live in zone 7. What fish will be in the shallow water? It's December but we're having a warm break and the nights are warmish. I know 5 gallons is not that big (pond fish won't really fit well), so I am ready-ing an outdoor pond and they can go in there after they get checked out.
I don't have any mudboots so I'll have to stay close to shore. BTW, there might be some aquatic turtles there if I got one (for the outdoor pond) what would I feed it? If I get turtle brittle/etc. how do I wean it off natural foods? Would it be okay with a few small feeder fish and a lot of mosquitofish larvae to eat? Should I supplement with veggies? I a totally okay with having an ENCLOSED mosquito aviary/culture in one of the tanks to grow natural food. Thanks!

 

[Jeremy180]

Sorry, don't know much about turtles, but I can help you with the pond.
Stock tanks tend to be about a dollar or a dollar and a half a gallon, and I just saw a 700 gallon one for 850$ these are usually more durable, and can end up being less expensive than preformed pond liners.

 

[Colin_T]

Don't keep turtles and fish together. Turtles will eat anything they can catch including fish, tadpoles, frogs, shrimp, crayfish, plants, etc. Big turtles don't touch insect larvae but baby turtles will try.

Do not make an enclosure to culture mosquitoes because it is illegal and not necessary. If you have containers of water sitting around the backyard and leaves fall into the containers, you will probably get mosquito larvae in them and you should use a fine mesh aquarium fish net to scoop them out and feed them to the fish.

Mosquitoe fish (Gambusia) are horrible unpleasant fish that should not be kept with anything else and they don't eat many mosquitoe larvae. Think of them as aggressive livebearers that eat anything.

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If you want to survey water ways, get a few bait traps, see link below. You put a bit of food in them and tie a string to them and put them in the water. Wander around for 30 minutes or so then come back and carefully lift the trap and put the contents into a bucket of water.

Some countries and states have different regulations on using them so check with your local fisheries office (fish and game) before using them. Just send them an email asking if you can use bait traps to survey water ways on the side of the road.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Fishing-Ba...73216019462?hash=item3f9cf19c06:rk:5:pf:0&var

 

[Jeremy180]

Gambusia, aka mosquito fish, are highly aggressive for their size, and invasive, making releasing them outside their native range irresponsible
However, Both Jessie and I live in that range.