standing water / mosquito control

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if I have standing water that I can't simply dump because the vessel is fixed, do you think I could add a small amount of bleach or ammonia to the water to kill the larvae?

kerosine. i put 1 teaspoon in a 10,000 gallon tank. it just floats on the top anyway.

Take off and nuke the entire site from orbit. It is the only way to be sure.

Best way to combat the problem is to eliminate standing water.

If you can't, get some mosquito dunk with Bti (bacteria specific to attacking mosquito larvae) and dissolve it in the water to kill larvae.

I don't know if bleach or ammonia will do anything...

What's the standing water in? If it's something animals could drink from it wouldn't be responsible to dump bleach or ammonia in it. Why can't you remove the water? If it doesn't need the water, you should be able to remove it with a hose the way that people use an unpowered suction hose to clean fish tanks... just get the water flow started and the water will suck itself out.

it's like an embedded bird bath into a stone wall. Birds don't use it. At least I've never seen them use it.

And I caught the Aliens reference! Very slick!

Put guppies in it. They reproduce like mad, and they love to eat mosquitoes

(PS. I'm not to blame in case you actually do try this)

Alternatively, if you want a more permanant solution, you could probably drill some drainage holes in it or something...or I guess just remove it altogether.

You could just cover it with a trash can lid or a piece of plywood to keep the rain from filling it up.

Fill it with garden soil and plant flowers in it ^^

At least, when I was living in Nigeria, we were advised to fill any gap/hole/etc. that could fill up with water (and thus attract mosquitoes) with sand etc.

some good suggestions!

I think if scooping it out doesn't work, I'll fill it with earth and make it a planter. That's an excellent idea! it just collects acorns and dead leaves anyway!

you know...this just occurred to me...

I have a betta and some plastic pipettes. Bettas love mosquito larvae!

they need warm water, cold water fish might do.

Get "mosquito dunks". Check the link. I realize it's a commercial site, but I'm not promoting it in any way. It simply has all the information you need. You can get this stuff at any hardware store.

http://www.pestproducts.com/mosquito_dunks.htm

Basically these things are little disks that contain the bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis, which will kill mosquito larvae before they mature. Easy. Non-toxic. I use them in my water-garden, and in other damp spots.

I was going to suggest Tadpoles!

Another organic idea is vegetable oil.
It will form a film over the surface and suffocate the mosquitoes...
I think, haven't tried personally.

I was going to go with the "fill it with dirt and plant something" idea, but I'm late as usual.


Lots of good ideas though.