mosquitoes in duck pond. How can I prevent this?

[kelvra]

Living in Arizona and the mosquitoes are finally a big nuisance here. Recently they have started to infest my small duck pond which is an issue because my son loves to feed and pet the duck on a daily basis. I have tried small fish, but my duck just likes to eat all of the fish within a day or so. Does anyone have a solution to this? My duck has a 10x10 foot run with an above ground pool that I built. I typically drain it once a week. My 6 month old duck doesn't seem to be eating them and once the mosquitoes have moved in the duck doesn't even go in the water.

 

[centrarchid]

Apply vegatable oil once per week to drown wrigglers and tumblers. Also consider another pond design where fish have a refuge.

 

[TESouthern]

we use mosquito dunks in our horse water troughs and dog water troughs and they work great. I would figure if they are safe for horses they'd be find for the ducks too.....but I havent used them in the duck pool because I just dump it and refill it every couple of days...so someone might be able to give you a better idea on that one

I probably wouldn't hesitate to use them in a duck pond though if we had the issue

 

[aart]

Apply vegatable oil once per week to drown wrigglers and tumblers. Also consider another pond design where fish have a refuge.

Seriously?!?! Wouldn't that kill a lot of other water dwellers?

 

[centrarchid]

Seriously?!?!  Wouldn't that kill a lot of other water dwellers?

I will kill many insects that must get oxygen from atmospheric air. The oil degrades the plastron which serves as an external lung in addition to siphons used by aquatic life-stages of mosquitoes and some beetles. Insects like dragonflies, damselflies and mayflies will not be affected. I use such treatment when stocking ponds with small fish more than two weeks after flooding mainly to control predaceous water beetle larva and water boatmen. With 1/10 acre ponds no more than a quart of oil is used. Spread of film is not complete and need not be because insects do not know to avoid it. Oil breaks down quickly. Used motor also works but not suitable for food-fish ponds.

Vertebrates seem not to be affected. Watch duck feathers as I never monitored such.

 

[aart]

Quote:
So it mainly kills prey insect rather than predators?.....any thoughts as to time of year, because of types of insects effected, when using this technique?

 

[centrarchid]

Insects I target normally go after fish so they are predators. I normally apply only when water is warm > 75 F when the larger predatory insects of concern are breeding

 

[patvetzal]

Would your duck eat 2' goldfish? Is the water warm enough for swordtails? What kind of duck are we talking?

 

[azahn]

Go to Lowe's and buy a package of Mosquito Dunks. (Garden section probably). It is a product designed to only kill mosquito larvae and is safe for fish, birds, etc. One 'cake' (Dunk) is enough to treat 100 sq feet of surface water. A package of 6 will run you about $10. Plus, mosquito season shouldn't last all year long - so a pretty good buy and it doesn't indiscriminately kill everything, just mosquitos. People often use these for bird baths. If there's not a Lowe's, Walmart or something near you, you can also order them over Amazon.

 

[permanoid]

I have a one acre pond. No fish and seldom see any birds. With mosquito dunks covering 100 ftsq per single "dunk", and at 43,560 ftsq in an acre, will I truly need 436 dunks every month?
I'm hoping somebody has experience with only "dunking" around the banks or perhaps some other way of treating the pond without a large cost. The thought about the dunks is that maybe mosquitoes only produce larva near the bank and not out in the middle. Maybe I'm crazy with that thought.
There are plans to clean up the pond, circulate the water, make it pretty and such, but until I take care of that improvement, how can I control the mosquitoes effectively (and inexpensively).
This is a big problem for me. Thanks much for your thoughts.