Mossies in my water feature

filmbuffy

Hi there wonder if anyone can help. I have a small water feature in my  garden that i keep finding mosquitos in. I thought keeping it on would help but the water doesnt move in all parts of it. I also have pets so can not put anything toxic in. Can anyone reccomend something to kill and keep them out?

 

SwissSue

A drop of vegetable oil will spread over the surface and suffocate the wrigglers. Judging by the colour of the water, it might be an idea to put fresh water in.

Fairygirl

I've got a little makeshift bird bath just now as I have no pond and it's the same fb. The water's shallow so it's getting hot very quickly which is ideal for the mozzies. I just flush mine out every other day with fresh clean water, and I moved some pots next to it to create a bit of shade which works quite well but possibly not feasible for your feature. As Sue says, if you empty it and refill with clean water -after giving it a scrub with a brush first - it should be fine  

filmbuffy

Thanks guys i must admit it does need a good scrub. But oil sounds great. Wont hurt the pets and better then washing up liquid i tried before. Created too many bubbles 

Welshonion

Put in a goldfish.  It will eat the larvae of the mosquitos. I'm not sure putting oil on the surface is a good idea.  And, yes, fill it up, preferably with rainwater

filmbuffy

Hi welsh onion. No room for a goldfish. Its a small water feature. I think the picture makes it look much bigger. Why not oil?

fidgetbones

wet tropical countries with major malaria problems found that a tiny bit of oil sprayed on standing water reduced all the mozzie breeding grounds and thus reduced incidence of malaria. And yes I do know that we don't have malaria in uk, just soddin annoying mozzies.