Female mosquitoes like to lay their eggs in quiet water or along the shoreline where plants may be in the water or overhanging the edge of the pond. The eggs float on the surface and hatch into larva in about 48 hours. It takes about 10 days for the larva to develop and then it will change into a pupa. The pupa also floats on the surface and in approximately two days the adult mosquito will emerge. Mosquitoes don’t require a lot of water to lay eggs, but the more water the larger the area for mosquitoes to breed.

In larger bodies of water removing floating vegetation, algae mats, overhanging vegetation will help to eliminate breeding grounds. Frogs, Dragonflies, bats and larvae eating fish are all natural predators of the mosquito larvae. Examples of fish that will feed on the larvae are Koi, Goldfish or Mosquito Fish in a smaller Water Garden Pond and Bass, Bluegill or Catfish in the larger bodies of water. So, keeping your fish a little hungry, by not overfeeding, will encourage your fish to use the mosquito larvae as a food source.

Once again, aeration in any body of water, such as waterfall, fountain or aeration system will not allow the water to become quiet and stagnant. This coupled with natural predators and a little pond maintenance will help to keep the mosquitoes to a minimum. For a little extra help to gain control, use Mosquito Dunks or Mosquito Bits.

These products are not recommended if the water is used for drinking.

-Sue

Good question, from my knowledge of goldfish, some of them are born black and will change colors 6 – 8 months later (sometimes much longer). I read an article quite a while back where it took a few years before the goldfish turned colors.

Either way, it is completely normal for a goldfish to change colors.

The rule of thumb that I’ve used quite often is 1 fish for every 10 sq. ft. of water. This is a conservative rule of thumb, but it works. But again this is a rule of thumb that changes based on the filtration system, # of aquatic plants, whether you use natural bacteria or not. That sort of thing.

I’ve seen big ponds with thousands of koi, a massive filtration system and clear water, but i’ve also seen a smaller water garden with 3 small koi, no filtration system and green water. So it all depends.

The green moss is probably string algae. A little string algae isn’t a bad thing at all, its when it over takes the water garden where it can pose an issue.

Hope this helps answer your questions!

Good comment!

So how many errors am I committing?

I have no algae problems and right now my water is crystal clear. I do however have a green moss -like growth on the sides of the pond that the fish eat and is stuck like glue – not floating around. Is this beneficial? What is it and does it mean my pond is balanced or in trouble? I have no mosquitos because I use aeration and have a ton of Purple Martins within a few feet. My fly problems is diminished also. (Amen!)

Thanks for your help and info.

Lois