Advice for Newbie

pladecalvo

I have a 6000 litre open water storage tank in my garden which is used to irrigate the garden. I live in Spain so unfortunately, this tank is regularly infested with mosquito lavae. I'm considering getting a few Goldfish to try to solve the problem. The tank is in sun for most of the day but there is always some part of it that is in shade but because of the sun, there is a large amount of green, slimey algae growing in the bottom of the tank and floating on the top of the water although the water generally is very clean as it is used and refilled at least once a week.

I have never kept fish before so I don't know the first thing about them. My questions are:

1. Are the Goldfish likely to solve the mosquito lavae problem?
2. Will the algae be harmful to the fish?

mHeinitz57

Goldfish will eat mosquito larvea but i'm not sure how well they keep a mosqito population down. I know here in the US you can get Mosquito fish that do a great job (hence the name). A lot of state governments give them away for free at distribution sites or through pet stores so they can keep mosquito populations down in their states. They look almost exactly like your common Guppy and will do fine in your outdoor environment.

pladecalvo

Put six Goldfish into the water tank yesterday afternoon. Checked last night and they were all swimming around near the surface and poking their heads out of the water. This morning.............all dead!

Lupin

I believe the ammonia spike resulted in your goldfishes' death. I don't think you should be using the Goldfish to eliminate the larva. They may be hardy but most often, being heavy waste producers they are very likely to pollute the water thus killing themselves.

Is the water there stagnant most of the time? Vigorous surface movements with the use of a pump will guarantee your tank free from larva. Fish are not the options here.

pladecalvo

When you say "ammonia spike" do you mean the long strings of green algae? The water isn't stagnant as it's used to irrigate the garden and the whole 6000 litres would be changed about once a week. Do you think tadpoles would work? :D

mHeinitz57

ammonia spike means high levels of ammonia, a chemical that is toxic to fish.

Lupin

I have not seen tadpoles eat larva, however, neither have I seen any larva in the same habitat where they breed during rainy seasons. This may be worth a try.

Dale

All small fish & things eat fly larvae.