Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Gambusia affinis

Todays Gulfport Ms. paper has an article about these fish that eat mosquito larvae. From what the article indicates they multiply very fast, would they take over a pond or would the large mouth bass control these fish? They will eat 100 mosquito larvae a day. They are a surface breather and bear 50 to 100 young per brood.Another question I have is, they also eat algae but since carp do this would a person be better off having carp since most fish will eat the mosquito larvae?

Hey Deaner,

There was a ongoing thread about a week or two ago in regards to gambusia and fatheads (I will try to find it and edit it to this post).
Did the article in the Gulfport paper have any reference in regards to pool stocking? The reason I ask is due to the overwhelming amount of gambusia affinis that we shipped to the southern Miss. and southern La. area. So many people were driven from their homes by Katrina leaving behind swimming pools that are now hotbeds for mosquitos. Various cities are stocking the gambusia in an effort to prevent an epidemic. The incoming phone calls we were receiving as recently as a week ago were astounding. The city of New Orleans alone has stocked well over 100,000 of these fish at a rate of 250 per pool from various suppliers. That of course is not counting the individual home owner orders and the care groups that are in the area.
Sorry to go off pond topic, but I was curious if that article had an underlying meaning to help out pool owner's who were not aware of what was happening in their abandoned pools (and in turn what could be done about it).

Deb

Found it Gambusia versus fathead

deaner,

I really like Gambusia. Not so much for the mosquitos because if you also have BG they will also control mosquito larva. I like them for the low end food chain. Small LMB love them as do all kinds of medium and large BG. The GG's are particularly fond of them, as I have learned in an experiment.

For some reason, which I haven't figured out, many of the pros on here scoff at Gambusia, with the exception of Debra who offers them as part of their program. I have ponds something like 75 years old that have never been re-stocked with Gambusia and yet they have thriving populations of them all around the banks.

As far as grass carp eating algae, I'm afraid you will be disappointed. In my experience they will not eat algae if there is anything else at all to eat...and I'm not sure they would eat it even if starving.

Deaner,
I have been very happy with the Gambusia in my pond. During the two year construction of the pond (1.5 acres) , they found their way in and reproduced excessively. Prior to stocking the LMB and bluegill, I was worried that I had too many (they were EVERYWHERE). Over the following 6 months they were heavily preyed upon. Entire schools would jump out of the water almost constantly. Going on 3 years now (post stocking) and they are still around, but in much fewer numbers. I don't know if fatheads would have been better, but I don't have any complaints!

Sarc

My pond is almost 80 years old and it has them. I've seen them every year for the last 3 years. The max size they'll grow to is about 1"-2" with predation. They are very aggressive and reproduce fast. I've heard of many situations where they became the dominant fish and wiped out native fish in their respective niche. In ponds with predators they relate more toward the shore and stay subsurface all the time, but that's just from what I've seen. They're not surface breathers and they don't eat algae. I've heard that they are omnivores, but I still think they are carnivores. If they grew any bigger they'd probably compete with LMB.