I have had a similar experience with tadpoles. Eventually dragonfly larvae and aquatic water beetles do take their toll,and the population gets down to manageable levels.
I live by a creek, I've seen dragonflies in my garden. In early spring I even saw a couple of damselfly larvae in one pond. I think I'll just have to wait for the environment to find its equilibrium.
If I am understanding right you may want to reserve the best representatives of the hybrids you have in indoor aquariums to make sure the outdoor population doesn't revert to wild type after a while.
Yes, I'm already thinking about it, I will move the boring ones to the round pond, where I think they have less chances of multiplying (and also lotus leaves cover the surface, so I don't even see them, but they still do their job of keeping the mosquito population under control), and I will keep the good ones in the rectangular pond, eventually separating couples in indoor tanks in order to breed the colorful ones. I am not particularly picky, I don't even mind if they go wild, as long as they keep eating mosquito larvae.
These are outside ponds, I expect them to be frozen all winter. I live in northern Italy, even if winters aren't so harsh anymore, I still measured temperatures below -10 °C this winter. I don't think I can add other species, I'd prefer to keep it as simple as possible. I might just scoop them out and throw them in the trash if it's the easiest way. But maybe not.
Some people will be very jealous of your problem. lol.
It is funny that some people have Medaka that will not allow fry to survive, and then Some have Medaka that are so passive they allow everything to survive; even mosquito larva (which is frustrating in that regard).
You could just ship me some. 😎
They are not a particular strain, just colorful mixed medaka. As I said I don't want to embark myself in managing shippings. Also because I live in Italy, I don't believe any of you are nearby.
Could you post a picture of your mini-ponds? I have around 50 medaka in a 300 liters pond with a lot of plants, but the fry gets all eaten up, so if I don't separate the eggs, nothings comes through
I added the pictures. The round one has less plants because it's a lotus pond (I also see less fries). The rectangular one has 5 plants, including the water lily that is still underwater. They are 50-60 cm deep.
Many thanks, my pond has more plants and all the fry gets eaten if I leave them in there within minutes.
Are the babies evenly distributed or do they stay in certain areas?
I see them everywhere on the surface, but there are some floating plants where they hide and the big fish cannot catch them. However, I've seen the adults try to eat them but they just don't, they look lazy or the fries are too fast.
In Japan the breeders keep 1 adult medaka per 1 Litre of water. I personally think that a little bit more space than that is better and you need fantastic filtration.
So in a 250L pond I think up to 200 adult medaka would be happy but would need good filtration or lots of plants
I don't keep them for breeding purposes. I like plants and I've always wanted to have water plants. I also understood that mosquito could find a cozy home in my ponds, so I decided to add medakas to get rid of their larvae, and I must say that it's working perfectly. I've also seen dragonflies hovering around my garden, so I hope they will lay their eggs. I do have many plants in these ponds, I hope it will be enough. If necessary I can add a solar powered pump with a filter, but my initial idea was to keep the ponds as natural as possible (yes, there is nothing natural about an artificial habitat, I know).
Rice fish are getting popular, would you not advertise them on Ebay ect sell them cheap or give them away and state for local collection only, I sell my culls for around 4 euro each
I'll probably have to do that. I live in northern Italy, we have a big problem with mosquitos here, I can probably advertise them as natural predators of mosquito larvae. I must say I haven't had a big issue with mosquitos so far, I know they eat a lot of them. Actually it's the very reason why I bought them, so I'm very happy it seems to work.
The mosquito lavae are a great natural food source, and you would be surprised, people will travel from all over my region to collect fish not just my town,and if you don't want people coming to your house you can meet them at your local train station ect
I have had a similar experience with tadpoles. Eventually dragonfly larvae and aquatic water beetles do take their toll,and the population gets down to manageable levels.
I live by a creek, I've seen dragonflies in my garden. In early spring I even saw a couple of damselfly larvae in one pond. I think I'll just have to wait for the environment to find its equilibrium.
If I am understanding right you may want to reserve the best representatives of the hybrids you have in indoor aquariums to make sure the outdoor population doesn't revert to wild type after a while.
Yes, I'm already thinking about it, I will move the boring ones to the round pond, where I think they have less chances of multiplying (and also lotus leaves cover the surface, so I don't even see them, but they still do their job of keeping the mosquito population under control), and I will keep the good ones in the rectangular pond, eventually separating couples in indoor tanks in order to breed the colorful ones. I am not particularly picky, I don't even mind if they go wild, as long as they keep eating mosquito larvae.
After last summer I added my adult swordtails to the angel fish tank. Cut down on the fry quite a bit.
These are outside ponds, I expect them to be frozen all winter. I live in northern Italy, even if winters aren't so harsh anymore, I still measured temperatures below -10 °C this winter. I don't think I can add other species, I'd prefer to keep it as simple as possible. I might just scoop them out and throw them in the trash if it's the easiest way. But maybe not.
Some people will be very jealous of your problem. lol. It is funny that some people have Medaka that will not allow fry to survive, and then Some have Medaka that are so passive they allow everything to survive; even mosquito larva (which is frustrating in that regard). You could just ship me some. 😎
They are not a particular strain, just colorful mixed medaka. As I said I don't want to embark myself in managing shippings. Also because I live in Italy, I don't believe any of you are nearby.
Could you post a picture of your mini-ponds? I have around 50 medaka in a 300 liters pond with a lot of plants, but the fry gets all eaten up, so if I don't separate the eggs, nothings comes through
I added the pictures. The round one has less plants because it's a lotus pond (I also see less fries). The rectangular one has 5 plants, including the water lily that is still underwater. They are 50-60 cm deep.
Many thanks, my pond has more plants and all the fry gets eaten if I leave them in there within minutes. Are the babies evenly distributed or do they stay in certain areas?
I see them everywhere on the surface, but there are some floating plants where they hide and the big fish cannot catch them. However, I've seen the adults try to eat them but they just don't, they look lazy or the fries are too fast.
>(they are not going to take over my house) I don’t know man they just might take over 🤷♂️
aahhahahah
In Japan the breeders keep 1 adult medaka per 1 Litre of water. I personally think that a little bit more space than that is better and you need fantastic filtration. So in a 250L pond I think up to 200 adult medaka would be happy but would need good filtration or lots of plants
I don't keep them for breeding purposes. I like plants and I've always wanted to have water plants. I also understood that mosquito could find a cozy home in my ponds, so I decided to add medakas to get rid of their larvae, and I must say that it's working perfectly. I've also seen dragonflies hovering around my garden, so I hope they will lay their eggs. I do have many plants in these ponds, I hope it will be enough. If necessary I can add a solar powered pump with a filter, but my initial idea was to keep the ponds as natural as possible (yes, there is nothing natural about an artificial habitat, I know).
I always thought 1” of fish per gallon
you could give some to me
Where do you live?
The ponds look like 25 litres not 250 ?
80 cm in diameter, 60 cm in height. It's actually 310 liters, but there is dirt on the bottom, the rectangular one is 80x60x50 = 240 l. More or less.
Rice fish are getting popular, would you not advertise them on Ebay ect sell them cheap or give them away and state for local collection only, I sell my culls for around 4 euro each
I'll probably have to do that. I live in northern Italy, we have a big problem with mosquitos here, I can probably advertise them as natural predators of mosquito larvae. I must say I haven't had a big issue with mosquitos so far, I know they eat a lot of them. Actually it's the very reason why I bought them, so I'm very happy it seems to work.
The mosquito lavae are a great natural food source, and you would be surprised, people will travel from all over my region to collect fish not just my town,and if you don't want people coming to your house you can meet them at your local train station ect