# How to... raise mosquito larvae for fish food!



## Zapins

Ok I realize this sounds weird, but mosquito larvae are actually some of the best fish food out there for coloring up fish, breeding, and maintaining good fast, healthy growth. I have searched before for good clear directions on how to raise them effectively to get large numbers for feeding fish but have never been able to find the instructions... until now. I want to share the process with APC partly because I have little else to do at this time and partly because I found it so hard to find them on my own  Enjoy! (oh yes and I'll be trying this out myself!)

By the way... I just copied all the info here from wiki answers. See the end of the post for the original site.

Some fish require live food to survive; some require live food to breed. Raising mosquito or midge larvae for this purpose is free, simple to set up, and requires minimal work. After you've determined that doing this will not violate any local laws and regulations regarding public health [1] all you'll need is a bucket, water, and some sun.









*Steps*
1) 
Find a bucket or plastic barrel. A 5 gallon bucket will work, as will a 50 gallon barrel. It is possible to collect 30-40 larvae per day from a 35 gallon barrel.

A black bucket will get warmer earlier but it may get too hot in mid-summer. When the temperatures reach a high of 80°F, move the bucket to a place that is in shade all day. The indirect sunlight will still allow the algae to grow. Algae is the main food source for the larvae.

Alternatively, you can use a 5 gallon or 10 gallon fish tank so you can see the larvae better and reach the ones that escape to the bottom of the tank. An acrylic tank will be more suitable for outdoor use.

Two barrels which could be used.









2)
*Put the bucket outside* and allow it to fill with rainwater. Or, if it's wintertime, fill it with snow to melt in warmer weather. If you fill it with water from the garden hose, be sure to use a dechlorinator to neutralize chlorine and chloramines. Chlorine will prevent algae growth, which will deprive the larvae of food.

3)
*Put the bucket in the sun*. This will warm the water and allow algae to grow. You want your water to look like green pea soup. Algae growing on the sides of the bucket is not what your larvae eat. They need the algae that makes the water green.

Nice green water.









4)
*Wait until the midges and mosquitoes lay tiny rafts of dark brown eggs* (about the size of a sesame seed) on the surface of the water. If you can find the tiny, 3mm football-shaped, dark brown egg rafts, you found a bonus! Put these in your tank and the fish will eat the wigglers as they hatch into the water, usually within 48 hours.[2] If you don't move them to the fish tank, they'll hatch and the larvae (aka "wigglers") will grow and eat the algae. As the larvae mature, they become comma-shaped with two tiny antenna. When they reach this shape, be sure to feed them to your fish.

Remember, wigglers go from egg, to water larvae, to pupae ("tumblers"), then to flying adult. Whatever you do, do not let them reach the flying adult stage as mosquitoes and some midges are not only a nuisance, but they can transmit diseases to animals and humans alike. See Warnings below.

A cluster of larvae, and one pupa








Larvae and pupae









5)
*Net the larvae every few days to prevent them from developing into pupae* (and then into mosquitoes or midges). The warmer the weather, the faster they'll develop. While you're at it, look for other sources of standing water where larvae might be developing (old tires, driveway puddles, unfiltered fish ponds, empty flowerpots, and any item that can hold water for more than a few days at a time). Net out the larvae and dump the water so that mosquitoes don't breed there anymore. See Warnings below.

Larvae larvae larvae!









Net out larvae using a brine shrimp net. The netting is very fine and looks like t-shirt material. A regular fish net may not work as well because the larvae could slip through the holes.

Use one or more buckets (one empty, the other one(s) full of water and mosquito). Set the fish net on the rim of the empty bucket and pour the entire content through the net, letting the water drain into the empty bucket. All larvae of a certain size will be skeined back and can be fed to your fish. All the ones too small will slip through and continue to grow out. Using this method, you will need to collect at least every other day so that you do not allow the development of pupae and adult mosquitoes or midges.

A shrimp net.









*Tips*
Sometimes you will find little hollow mosquito shaped floaters. These are the skins. They are not dead larvae. Larvae need to shed their skins just like other insects.

Adult mosquitoes and midges look very similar and so do their larvae. It takes a microscope and highly trained biologist to tell the difference. Some midge larvae float on the surface like mosquitoes, some midge larvae are red and sit on the bottom of the bucket.

*Warnings*
* Be responsible. Allowing mosquitoes and midges to reach maturity poses dangers to you, your family, your neighbors, your pets, and wildlife. Some threats to be aware of (and avoid):

o encephalitis: humans
o West Nile virus: humans, horses, birds, and other animals
o Malaria: humans (Anopheles mosquitoes, the notorious malaria vectors, are common in North America as well as worldwide)[4]
o Heartworm: dogs and cats
* Make sure to harvest larvae every day to keep the population down. Make sure to catch the pupae ("commas") because they will hatch within 48 hours.
* Use a new or clean food grade bucket. Do not use one that has held paint, tar, or other chemicals as the chemicals will poison the algae or larva. Even if you clean it, traces of the chemicals will still be there.
* Some countries do not allow bringing up larvae, especially in South East Asia. Countries such as Singapore and Malaysia have very strict laws regarding raising mosquitoes and violations are strictly punished.

Taken from:
http://74.125.47.132/search?q=cache...ish+-"mosquito+fish"&cd=3&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us


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## HeyPK

You can enhance larval growth and get adults to lay more eggs if you add bacteria to the water. Put a tablespoon full of dry dog or cat food pellets in a gallon of water, let it stand for 2 days for bacterial development, and then filter it through your mosquito collecting net and pour the filtrate into the water in which you are raising the larvae. 

If you are collecting all the larvae and letting none reach adulthood, you are doing your neighborhood a service, because the mosquitoes that laid eggs in your set-up probably would have found some other place to lay their eggs where the offspring would have reached adulthood.

Excess mosquito larvae can be frozen for later.


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## Zapins

Hehe someone's tried this before  good tip!

HeyPK, how long does it take from when the female lays her eggs until they reach harvest size?


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## cbwmn

I have two rain barrels that I get mosquito larvae from.
I also am netting some midge larvae and later in the summer 
expect to get some daphnia also.
I don’t know how the daphnia get in there, they just start showing up.
I’m not familiar with the daphnia life cycle.
I use a regular six or eight inch fish net because I can catch more larvae quickly.
The only trouble is that I also net debris that I don’t want in the tank.
Charles


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## clearleaf

http://faq.thekrib.com/live-food.html

That has some good directions, as well. Not that I've ever tried it.


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## Zapins

Hehe I just set up 6 tubs of various sizes outside near the deck. I added a bit of nitrate to hopefully get some green water going. I didn't have any ammonia on hand (RATS!! I was at the shop just now and I forgot to get some arrghh!! I just remembered Grrr!!!). I'm hoping there will be some "visitors" soon in them 

On a different note... I searched the area and visited about 8 or 9 ponds, streams, and marshy areas around the neigborhood and found a huge pond that has hundreds of thousands of daphnia, freshwater shrimp (gammarus), and tiny freshwater clams (1/4th inch and white)!! I collected about 4-5,000 daphnia which my fish are still busy eating happily (I'll have enough for the week ). I'm hoping to breed the freshwater shrimp for food. I added some flake food and a few random plants to see if they will munch on them (as well as some clado algae).


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## Supercoley1

I have loads of wrigglers in a little water feature I built a few months ago. It has been hot here recently.

I wondered about this but thought about the possibility of transmitting something else into the tank from the outside water. What are the risks here?

AC


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## Zapins

The risks are low. Whatever is growing in stagnant tubs outside got there by floating spores on the wind. Your tank at home is exposed to the same spores.

Furthermore, the tubs are stagnant and have different parameters so it is unlikely the same algae will be able to establish itself in your tank.

I've been using the mosquito larvae and whatever algae that comes with them in the net for ~ 2 weeks now and no algae problems. The fish love the larvae!


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## armedbiggiet

I suggest everyone want to do this check there local health department to see what is up. I know some county in Maryland still have the threat under west nile virus.


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