Water bugs, insects and worms....

Hello guy's...
I have started a new fish pond... Which is 1200+ gallon...
Now I am having trouble with Water Striders/Skeeter's... I keep throwing them out with net and killing them but they keep coming... They pose threat to small surface level dwellers like guppie.... Please help...

 

Hello guy's...
I have started a new fish pond... Which is 1200+ gallon...
Now I am having trouble with Water Striders/Skeeter's... I keep throwing them out with net and killing them but they keep coming... They pose threat to small surface level dwellers like guppie.... Please help...

If I'm not wrong, those bugs can only float like that because of the surface tension of the water. I would think if you found a way to have constant surface agitation they wouldn't be able to stand on the water and as such would be less of a problem.

 

I tried that... But they move toward's... Floating plant's... Where water is not moving much or stick to the side's.

 

Unless you don't like them they shouldnbe fine. From what ive been reading they're just part of the ecosystem. They do have benefits, they eat mosquitos, spiders and other bugs even wasps. Some people actually enjoy them. They should cause no harm to your fish.

 

water surface agitation will not help,we have them in our creek and the waters moving pretty good

I don't know any way to get rid of them (other than chems) so id just enjoy them,I don't think they are a big threat to the guppys so don't worry.

 

I saw one with a dead guppy... Sucking on its body.... Guppy was very small... That's why I am concerned and keep killing them.

 

If there catching guppies its either cause it died or it was sick. They normally eat other insects, but as with other creatures it also an opportunistic eater.

 

just want to get rid of them... Any fish that will eat them..?

 

None that I know of unless the fish are starving and even then, they may not try to eat them as they don't have a very good taste due their scent glands of the thorax.

Temperatures lower than 22 C will keep them away. Warmer water, 25C or more are quite favorable by them. Birds such as petrels, terns and some marine fish are know to feed on them but as far as I can tell, there's no freshwater fish that takes a liking to them.