RCS-safe fish that eats mosquito larva for an outside container pond?

**xenxes** · 02-19-2012, 09:13 PM

Thinking about doing a small 20-30g balcony container-pond to house/breed RCS, but I don't want it to become an insect cesspool.

Can anyone recommend some small relatively-RCS-safe fish that will eat the surface larva/insects without depleting the shrimp population too much?

Planning to heavily plant with hornwort, water hyacinth, and misc. clippings I have in my tanks. Plant-filtered only. Can't wire electricity to outside. Also have white fly, aphids, other insects, not sure what lays eggs in water.

GeToChKn · 02-19-2012, 09:49 PM

Mosquito fish? May eat the baby shrimp but if there is lots of fly larva in the pond, they may leave the cherry babies alone.

garfieldnfish · 02-19-2012, 10:21 PM

Mosquito netting over the container? I keep a 10 gal on my back porch to cultivalte green water in the summer and I just put a mosquito screen over it. The water temps in small outside containers gets very hot in places like FL or GA.

firefiend · 02-19-2012, 10:29 PM

Betta.

garfieldnfish · 02-19-2012, 10:57 PM

Excellent suggestion. I like the beta idea. One beta can only eat so much and they are not know for being fast swimmers, so the shrimp should be ok.

**shane3fan** · 02-19-2012, 11:01 PM

white cloud mountain minnows. they dont mind cold water and they wont eat all of your shrimp. ive got some in a 34 gallon tank with shrimp and i havent noticed them eating any shrimp.

**mistergreen** · 02-19-2012, 11:14 PM

Betta will eat adult shrimps, never mind babies.

**Aquarist_Fist** · 02-19-2012, 11:58 PM

Guppy. The original mosquito pro. Guppies will eat baby shrimp, but male fancies are slow and can't focus long enough to actually hunt for them. They also tend to hang out at the surface.

10gallonplanted · 02-20-2012, 12:09 AM

Male guppies work very well. Thats what I did in my outside pond for RCS. They usually always stay at the top and like they said they don't have a very long attention span.

junko · 02-20-2012, 12:59 AM

Hmmm.... I'm curious- would mosquito dunks be harmful to shrimp? They contain Bacillus thuringiensis israelensis as a larvicide.

TedP · 02-20-2012, 01:44 AM

Least Killi aka Dwarf Livebearer would be excellent in those circumstances. And less aggressive than Mosquitofish.

And they are free where you live.

LB79 · 02-20-2012, 02:21 AM

Hatchetfish? Halfbeaks? Neither go below three inches in the water column.

**xenxes** · 02-20-2012, 03:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by garfieldnfish

Mosquito netting over the container? I keep a 10 gal on my back porch to cultivalte green water in the summer and I just put a mosquito screen over it. The water temps in small outside containers gets very hot in places like FL or GA.

Lol, +1. Sometimes you overlook the obvious!

chiefroastbeef · 02-20-2012, 01:04 PM

If you plant it heavily, especially with mosses and java ferns, your shrimp babies will have plenty of protection. Some of them may get eaten, but the population should continue to thrive.

DogFish · 02-20-2012, 01:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mistergreen

Betta will eat adult shrimps, never mind babies.

My Betta gets my Cull shrimp.

I live the guppy idea. You still will need lots of cover for there shrimp, like a large portion of moss.

02-19-2012, 09:13 PM	#1
xenxes Gotta Catch 'Em All (View User Tanks) PTrader: (37/100%) Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: Miami, FL Posts: 2,663	RCS-safe fish that eats mosquito larva for an outside container pond? Thinking about doing a small 20-30g balcony container-pond to house/breed RCS, but I don't want it to become an insect cesspool. Can anyone recommend some small relatively-RCS-safe fish that will eat the surface larva/insects without depleting the shrimp population too much? Planning to heavily plant with hornwort, water hyacinth, and misc. clippings I have in my tanks. Plant-filtered only. Can't wire electricity to outside. Also have white fly, aphids, other insects, not sure what lays eggs in water. __________________ A: [2g x2] [5g] [5g-S] [6g] [9g] [20g] [24g] \| T: [Balcony] [Nano Wabikusa] \| Shrimp Blog

02-19-2012, 09:49 PM	#2
GeToChKn Planted Tank Guru (View User Tanks) PTrader: (1/100%) Join Date: Apr 2011 Location: Hamilton, Ontario, Canada Posts: 5,112	Mosquito fish? May eat the baby shrimp but if there is lots of fly larva in the pond, they may leave the cherry babies alone. __________________ 20g platy, , 2 x 10g shrimp, 3 x 20g shrimp, 7.5g shrimp and 1 great dane/mastiff puppy. Sump Pimp #2 My Tanks and my shrimps

02-19-2012, 10:29 PM	#4
firefiend Planted Tank Obsessed (View User Tanks) PTrader: (0/0%) Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Vancouver, WA Posts: 362	Betta. __________________ The Fraternity of Dirt # 9 My Dirty Office Nano My Dirty 5.5 My Dirty 10 DIY 10g Stand and Canopy / 46g Vivarium for Poison Dart Frogs

02-19-2012, 11:14 PM	#7
mistergreen Bow ties are cool (View User Tanks) PTrader: (12/100%) Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Cincinnati Posts: 12,895	Betta will eat adult shrimps, never mind babies. __________________ DIY High Tech Tank forum http://aquatictechtank.net A forum dedicated to design and program aquatic tanks

02-19-2012, 11:58 PM	#8
Aquarist_Fist Wannabe Guru (View User Tanks) PTrader: (6/100%) Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Portland, OR Posts: 1,186	Guppy. The original mosquito pro. Guppies will eat baby shrimp, but male fancies are slow and can't focus long enough to actually hunt for them. They also tend to hang out at the surface. __________________ Pimp Club Member #313 Originally Posted by macclellan my personal favorite is Random Capitalization. It is so Very fun and Surprising.

02-19-2012, 10:21 PM	#3
garfieldnfish Planted Tank Enthusiast (View User Tanks) PTrader: (6/100%) Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: Acworth, GA Posts: 672	Mosquito netting over the container? I keep a 10 gal on my back porch to cultivalte green water in the summer and I just put a mosquito screen over it. The water temps in small outside containers gets very hot in places like FL or GA.

02-19-2012, 10:57 PM	#5
garfieldnfish Planted Tank Enthusiast (View User Tanks) PTrader: (6/100%) Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: Acworth, GA Posts: 672	Excellent suggestion. I like the beta idea. One beta can only eat so much and they are not know for being fast swimmers, so the shrimp should be ok.

02-19-2012, 11:01 PM	#6
shane3fan Master algae cultivator (View User Tanks) PTrader: (14/100%) Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Athens Ga. Posts: 1,243	white cloud mountain minnows. they dont mind cold water and they wont eat all of your shrimp. ive got some in a 34 gallon tank with shrimp and i havent noticed them eating any shrimp.

02-20-2012, 12:09 AM	#9
10gallonplanted Wannabe Guru (View User Tanks) PTrader: (6/100%) Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Gainesville, GA Posts: 1,673	Male guppies work very well. Thats what I did in my outside pond for RCS. They usually always stay at the top and like they said they don't have a very long attention span.

02-20-2012, 12:59 AM	#10
junko Planted Tank Obsessed (View User Tanks) PTrader: (12/100%) Join Date: Sep 2011 Location: RI, USA Posts: 389	Hmmm.... I'm curious- would mosquito dunks be harmful to shrimp? They contain Bacillus thuringiensis israelensis as a larvicide. __________________ ~June 2500g koi pond, 300g frog/goldfish pond, 100g indoor "pond." Helping my daughter with her 10g 56g angel tank

02-20-2012, 01:44 AM	#11
TedP Planted Member (View User Tanks) PTrader: (4/100%) Join Date: Mar 2011 Location: Central, FL Posts: 279	Least Killi aka Dwarf Livebearer would be excellent in those circumstances. And less aggressive than Mosquitofish. And they are free where you live.

02-20-2012, 02:21 AM	#12
LB79 Wannabe Guru (View User Tanks) PTrader: (0/0%) Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: South-central Washington State, USA Posts: 1,784	Hatchetfish? Halfbeaks? Neither go below three inches in the water column. __________________ "It's not who you are that makes you great; it's what you do." –Batman Begins

02-20-2012, 01:04 PM	#14
chiefroastbeef Planted Tank Enthusiast (View User Tanks) PTrader: (0/0%) Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: Hong Kong/Dallas, TX Posts: 783	If you plant it heavily, especially with mosses and java ferns, your shrimp babies will have plenty of protection. Some of them may get eaten, but the population should continue to thrive.

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