Culturing Mosquito Larvae

[azn_fishy55]

Since I think my Betta is on a hunger strike. So I am trying to feed it live foods. Since mosquito larvae are it's natural food I thoght I should feed him it. But I don't know how to get them and I know my [acronym:e369eef7ef="Local Fish Store"]LFS[/acronym:e369eef7ef] doesn't carry them so can someone help...please ^_^

[greenmaji]

Do they use pestisides in your area? Leaving a some standing water outside should get you some larvae without much of a problem other then pestisides...

[azn_fishy55]

hmmmm...I don't know how would they use pestisides???

[greenmaji]

some areas spray with trucks.. and sometimes your neigbors will spray.. if you live near a field of an agricultual product.. ect. ect. ect......

[azn_fishy55]

Well I have not seen a truck spraying stuff in the air and I don't live by any farms ect. I don't know if neighbors spary. They might be annoyed by mosquitos becuase I live by a swamp/creek.

[greenmaji]

If there is a creek connected to the swamp there is likely some agg. runnoff... But if there isnt any spraying in the area you might be able to put out some standing water....

[azn_fishy55]

well they are kinda connected. During the spring it is a swamp(where you could catch tadpoles...its sooo fun [acronym:70d5e8803d="Laughing out loud"]LOL[/acronym:70d5e8803d]) and in the summer it just dries up. The swamp is formed by the creek which in spring overflows with water and it flows into the lower lands. And eventually it fillup to a small lake. But in the creek area it is wet all year round. I was surprised that the creek had a large amount of goldfish in it. It also had a turtle which I have been trying to catch for some time now....what is runoff?

[dr_girlfriend]

Go to this website to find out about spraying. Usually residents are informed of abatement programs, but doesnt hurt to double check. That really only applies if youre catching larvae in swamps and such. Usually they dont spray in your back yard. I've never done it myself, but leaving a small bowl of standing water should get you some larvae.

Are you sure youve tried everything else? Live food carries risks with it of parasites, so just be prepared. My betta didn't eat for almost 2 weeks when I first got him, so be patient.

Runoff refers to the chemicals and pesticides that farms and chemical plants can produce running down into streams and rivers from rainfall and gravity.

http://www.msmosquito.com/agencies.html

[greenmaji]

By the way.. If I were to feed live foods I would try with a clean culture of daphnia or white worms.. there is less risk with a clean culture.. [acronym:be7886cd57="Hope this helps (or) Happy to help"]HTH[/acronym:be7886cd57]

[azn_fishy55]

what about black worms. My [acronym:5751c6d04d="Local Fish Store"]LFS[/acronym:5751c6d04d] carries them.