Guppies Down on the Farm

When I went in search of my first guppies, a neighbor laughed. What? Going to ranch guppies now, are you? I think people look forward to my next wacky idea. But this one works!

Difficult to photograph guppies in a pond,
but you can make out a few against the white coral rocks. 

Mosquitos can be a real nuisense here. Their numbers aren't nearly as bad as what I had to put up with in NJ, but even one buzzing little critter can drive hubby crazy. His tolerance level is close to zero.

We learned to be really paranoid about mosquitos where we lived before. Encephalitis was a bit of a problem that most people ignored. Most people never got very sick. But then West Nile showed up. When kids and adults started dying, people took notice. Sales of mosquito controlling devices and chemicals boomed. The state sprayed the marshes, prompting the environmentalists to scream. Then a "bt" that worked on mosquitos was developed (aka: dunks). The state began treating every spot of standing water for mosquitos. West Nile cases still occurred but not at the rate that had been predicted. But it was still scary although not as newsworthy. Then one of hubby's co-workers lost her spouse to West Nile. Our group of friends took notice and became avid mosquito killers and avoiders. Paranoid is another way of puting it.

I've found that it is impossible to treat every standing water source here on the farm.  Little cups of water exist high in the crotches of trees. Thus I opted to make traps to kill as many of the larvae as possible. The idea was to entice the females to lay their eggs in places that I could treat with dunks.

Walking around the farm, I searched for places where water collected. I emptied natural bowls and filled them in with dirt. All items that could collect water were either eliminated or put under cover. Tarps were stretched tight to avoid bellying. Rain gutters were either reset for more pitch, or treated with dunks as needed. Catchment tanks were also put on the dunks treatment list. I found an underground lava tube that was a rich mosquito breeding area, the Hilton Regency for the critters,  that I now treat with dunks.

I began making breeding areas for mosquitos. Yes, on purpose. I now have several little ponds and mini-ponds. Plus livestock watering troughs. The mosquitos love them. All I needed to do was add some mosquito gobbling fish. Thus the reason for the guppies.

I didn't learn about "mosquito fish" until after I bought a half dozen guppies. But it turned out that the guppies were a better choice for the small water containers. But I did go collect some mosquito fish from a local pond and put them into my large irrigation catchment tank. I did it just to have something different. But I could have waited until I had more guppies.

The guppies reproduce on the farm on a regular basis. I'm surprised that it not too cold here for them. So far I've produced enough guppies to stock new ponds with them. And I'm always willing to give some away to other people who want them.

I'm often asked if I need to do something for the guppies. Air stone? No. Filters? No. Heaters? No. Feed them? Well, no. But I do. Since I want them to increase in numbers and not eat their young, I give them a little food. Right now it is a small pinch of ground meat or canned cat food. If the population should ever grow large, then I would consider making a self feeder -- a floating fly trap. But I haven't needed i

Mosquito Control

One of the first things I was amazed by when I came to Hawaii ( no, I didn't discover the Tahitian canoeists until later) was the low mosquito population. Coming from New Jersey, I expected to see scads of the nasty buggers. Especially in southern Jersey, one gets eaten alive during the warm months, with the worst time being spring before the state has treated the bogs and ponds. And although some places here had a few, some more than others, nowhere came even close to what I was used to. That all being said, we hate the little biting buggers and take steps to control them.

Totally eliminating mosquitos in my area is probably impossible. That's because there are spots that tend to hold water in around here that allow them to breed in remote locations in the woods. We have small lava tubes just below the surface of the ground where water tends to pool. I lifted the top off of an open one once and found hundreds of very active mosquito larvae in the water. Water cupped in a tree crotch, water at the base of bromilliads, water in cupped lava formations all can be breeding grounds. 

I've been fairly successful in reducing their numbers around the house. I noticed that they tend to hang around semi-shady areas, so that's where I concentrate my battles. I make water traps so that I can destroy the larvae before they molt into adults. Small basins, or anything that 
will hold water, make good traps. An inch or two of water does fine. I have around a dozen of these basins set around. I empty them each week, eliminating a good chunk of potential mosquitos. Then they are refilled with fresh water. 

Along these same lines, I made two decorative little fish ponds amid the landscaping. Each is a home to guppies. Since I never, ever see mosquito larvae in the ponds, I'd say that the guppies are  100% effective. 

I make sure there is no pooled water about. No tin cans, tires, buckets, cups, etc that could hold water.  No tarps stored outdoors. No wheelbarrow just sitting out there when not in use. That sort of thing. 

Rain gutters......I was surprised when I looked. Dozens of larvae! The pitch is not enough to prevent water from pooling in spots. The gutters really need to be reset, but it's a job that I can't get to right now. So I use a hose the flush them out once a week. 

Dunks. You can buy them at the store. I use them in the catchment tanks. Even though I have covers on the tanks, they don't keep mosquitos out. (That's why I dont care if I flush the gutters into the cotchment tank.)  Dunks work great in killing the larvae. 

Livestock tanks, like the catchment tanks, become a haven for mosquitos. I could use dunks, but guppies works just fine. A lot cheaper and self maintaining. 

The field catchment tank that I use for the garden has mosquito fish in it. True to their name, they hunt mosquito larvae and eat them. 

Occasionally some of the little biting buggers get into the house. The best way we've found to kill them is one of those bug zappers that looks like a tennis racket. It's rather satisfying to hear them explode. 

I've never tried one of those mosquito machines, the kind that has a lure, fan, uses a propane tank. I've heard from people that tried them that they work so-so. Since I have the majority of our mosquitos under control, I don't see the need to spend lots of money buying a machine, paying for lure and maintenance, buying propane. 

A trick I learned back on the mainland...... Well, I don't use it here because I don't need to, but it worked back in Jersey. I noticed that mosquitos were really attracted to our dogs. I could put one into a wire dog crate and use it as mosquito bait. At the end of the crate opposite the door I'd set up a box fan so that the air blew away from the crate. I made a billowy cover out of old ,women's stockings for the box fan, so that when it was turned on the cover filled out like a four cornered sock. So..... I'd put a dog in the crate, cover the top and sides with a sheet, turn on the fan. The dog slept in comfort on a hot night and the fan caught hundreds and hundreds of adult mosquitos. I think there is a commercial version of this idea advertised on the Internet. I'll see if I can find it and post a photo.