Mosquitos!

[Caro]

I have two water butts, one on either side of my greenhouse. I'd notice the water smelt a bit rank on one side when I used the tap on the butt, so thought I'd investigate.

On lifting the lid, it appears that the water butt had been turned into a mosquito breeding swamp! The surface of the water was covered in them, most dead, but some alive. I whacked the lid back on and left the tap open to drain it, but of course it won't be totally empty. I suspect one managed to get in, but they couldn't get back out with the lid on.

And this is Scotland, for goodness sake! What are they doing here???

Any advice? Should I treat the water butt with anything (that won't render it useless for future use)?

Thanks

Caro

[Capsid]

Put a goldfish or two in it?

[Hans Mum]

someone on here (I think from memory Two Sheds but could be wrong) keeps goldfish in their's

[Two_Sheds]

yes, it's me. They love it.

[Alice]

Off course you can get mosquitos in Scotland Caro.
You're just lucky if you haven't had them biting lumps out of your ankles.
They breed in standing water but need 4 days - so any water which has been standing for 4 days or more is a potential breeding ground.
For water butts - you can do like Two Sheds and put some Goldfish in there to eat the larvae.
Or you can put a drop of oil on top of the water (any kind will do). This prevents the larvae from being successful (my preferred option).
Good luck with the mosquitoes.

[Caro]

Thanks for the tips. While I kinda like the idea of goldfish swimming about in the water butt, I can't help wondering what happens when the water freezes ... so I may go down the oil route. I'm assuming we're talking about olive or sunflower seed oil as opposed to petroleum based products (sorry if that's being dense, thought it best to check).

Alice - we've never really had mosquitos here on the west coast. I assumed the midges ate them all!

Caro

[Capsid]

Goldfish (carp) are very hardy and will survive a frozen water butt. Unless the entire butt freezes which is highly unlikely in our temperate climate. Fish are cold blooded so in winter they do very little and have very low oxygen and food requirements.

[Caro]

Mark,

Thanks for that. Does the water butt need to have the lid left off for goldfish? How many goldfish per butt?

It seems a really weird (to me, just my ignorance showing through) idea, but the more I think about it, the better it sounds. They must really keep the water nice and clear, eating larvae and any slugs that drown in the butt.

Thanks again

Caro

[Capsid]

The lid does not need to be off if you are thinking about oxygen demand. But perhaps the fish might like some light to see the mosquito larvae. The gap between the downpipe and the lid might be enough. I reckon 2-3 goldfish should be enough. You might end up with more if they are males and females!