Comment

Comment by Sheri Schmeckpeper on March 28, 2012 at 5:47pm

Oh, BTW, in our growing tanks, which are in a greenhouse, we don't have gravel. We only deal with that in our breeding tanks, which are inside the house. I wouldn't bother with gravel or sand in any other circumstance.

Comment by Sheri Schmeckpeper on March 28, 2012 at 5:45pm

Wow, I'm not sure how gravel at the bottom of a tank can add to mosquito problem, but I feel for you. We only have mosquitos during our monsoon, when it gets a little humid here. It's very mild compared to the Southeast, from what I understand.

I concur about the moving water. Mosquitos have to have pretty stagnant water to reproduce. We do get some laying in muddy areas, so it doesn't have to be water, either.

Comment by TCLynx on March 28, 2012 at 3:13pm

If the tank is still enough that mosquitoes are able to lay eggs in it, I would say the water is probably too still!  Aeration or flowing water tends to keep mosquito breeding to a minimum since they don't seem to be able to balance on moving water to lay their eggs I guess.  I've got all the troughs under my towers without fish and there are no mosquito larva in those.  If you are having mosquito larva show up in water, you need more aeration or movement of that water in my experience.

Comment by Michael Welber on March 28, 2012 at 2:13pm

I'm surprised your tilapia didn't eat the larvae. They are alleged to do so. I have screening on top of my tank (here in the Keys) but haven't had a problem with mosquitoes yet. 

Comment by SW on March 28, 2012 at 2:07pm

I removed all of my gravel several months back for several reasons.  As mentioned it is too hard to catch the fry, the poop cleanup is next to impossible but it also eliminated my mosquito problem when I removed the gravel.  My breeding tanks are all on my screened back porch and no amount of mosquito fish or mosquito rings could control them.

Comment by Sheri Schmeckpeper on March 28, 2012 at 11:52am

We tend to follow the same process after breeding, Dave. We're trying to find the "perfect" solution for us still.

The sand is cool, but here are some things to be aware of:

• If algae grows, it can make layers in the sand & looks uglier than with gravel, so keep algae down & clean it regularly.
• You have to go with a heavier sand than regular "construction" sand otherwise you'll vacuum the sand up along with the solids. A heavier sand will keeps the tank clear when the fish stir it up, which they do a lot.
• You have to rinse it many times over to get all silt out before putting it in the tank.

Comment by David Owens on March 28, 2012 at 10:41am

No little one's yet. The debris floating around in the picture is what's left over after I fed them the large outside layer of some head lettuce. I do like the gravel as I can see the nests when they build them but sand sounds a bit cooler looking. The fry do hide in the gravel and scooping them out is an exercise in hand to eye coordination and patience   I find it's easier to remove the male after breeding and remove the females after the fry are a few days old, then I give the fry a few weeks to gain mass and it becomes a lot easier to catch them

Comment by Sheri Schmeckpeper on March 28, 2012 at 9:27am

The nest is the territory they create, protect, and mate in. Once mature, the dominant fish will build a nest even when not mating. Or maybe I should say, he's always in mating mode, even if the females aren't. :)  They also hide in their nests, and the female, when in the mood, "tries on" the nest from time to time to make certain it's the right size and shape.

They like privacy, and clay pots are commonly used to give them that privacy. As you see in Dave Owens' picture, they don't build the nest in the pot. They build it just outside the pot, and they hide in the pot sometimes and watch out over their territory.

I like to observe their behavior and learn from it, so my breeding tank is a display tank as well. It's set up like any other in-home aquarium. I use sand, not gravel. The sand/gravel offers more of a natural environment for them. As a display tank, I vacuum it to remove the poop, which isn't a big deal since I do that during regular water changes. I have to do the water changes because this isn't a planted aquaponics system.

Overall, the fish are less skittish when they're in a tank with gravel, but if you're just going for function & not show, eliminating the gravel will make your life a lot easier.

Also, fry use gravel as a hiding place--they can actually swim in & out of the gravel when they're little. But trying to net them out is quite a project when they have hiding places, because they are very smart and learn very quickly how to avoid the net!

Comment by Lonnie Kirkman on March 28, 2012 at 8:37am

I am working on more breeders that will not have gravel

Comment by Lonnie Kirkman on March 28, 2012 at 8:36am

I like the gravel lets me know the male is getting the right Idea

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