breeding time for mosquito fish

[electrikat]

title says it all. We bought two mosquito fish for a small tub pond, but the water was getting too hot, so we moved them to the big pond. That was maybe 3 weeks ago, now we have several babies about 1/4 inch long. Do you think one of them was already prego or maybe we have a male and a female?

 

[Fluff]

Mine have gone crazy too. I really need to get rid of some. I started out with about a dozen and have about ten times that many now. It's been about two months since I added them. I know there were a good many prego ones though.

 

[zacdl]

Your koi and goldies will keep the mosquito fish in check. That and winter.

Most of them die during the winter but a few live to keep the population going.

 

[Fluff]

The ones I have are supposed to be cold tolerant but I'll be bringing in a some over the winter just in case. And my koi and goldies don't bother them at all.

 

[electrikat]

I don't think we will have much winter here in central Texas.

 

[krap101]

when i build my pond im probally going to order some. are you guys willing to ship

 

[Fluff]

PM me when you are ready.

 

[krap101]

okay

 

[zacdl]

Karp, they are pretty darn cheap. Could prolly buy several for the price of shipping.

They breed like rabbits.

Fluff I wouldnt worry about them. A few always live over the winter for me, and a few multiply to many in a matter of weeks. The fish DO eat them, you just dont know it. They are born really tiny, and the fish do eat them. Most of them are eaten by the fish, and a few are able to hide in the plants and make it big enough to venture out.

They are about a buck each over here. Shipping for priority would be what $8?

When I first got mine I bought like 4 and within 2 weeks I had 20.

 

[Fluff]

My fish haven't eaten them yet. I have a pond dedicated to just mosquito fish. But, I do have about six in a pond with comets and koi that got tossed in with some plants that I moved around. I see them every day. It's been about three weeks and they are growing fast but I do a head count every time I feed and they are still there. I guess they may get gulped down if they were in mass numbers like the other pond. They are so prolific, they should come with warning labels.

 

[zacdl]

Oh well if you dont have them with comets of course they wont get eaten

Goldfish tend to not eat the larger ones, just the smaller ones.


I see babies all the time in my pond, but you will be surprised how many I actually see make it to the "Adult" stage. Very few actually make it.

 

[electrikat]

I actually thought they were mosquito larva at first. They were swimming in the water poppy and I was getting mad that all those fish weren't eating the larva, but then they started getting big and we realized they were fish. They are only 50 cents apiece here.

 

[Jaxom_Ruatha]

Mine also just had babies I was suprised to get home from a 2 week vacation and find tons of little mosquito fish swimming all around when their were only like 7 when we left.