Mini Pond

[Curtainsforus]

I'd like to add some water to our small terraced garden, I'm thinking of a container - I don't want to go as far as installing a pond with a water pump.
I'm allergic to mosquito bites so it's important that I don't create a home for mosquitoes to breed. Has anyone successfully managed to achieve this?

Mosquitos breed in a bottle-cap’s worth of water, so you’ll definitely get them. The only way to naturally control them is with natural predators - frogs, newts etc. They will come, but it takes time and you’ll get the mozzies first. It’s also worth thinking about how you’ll ensure the water is clean and doesn’t go stagnant - are you going to fit a filter? Ponds generally do better with one.

If you put goldfish in then they will eat any mosquito larva. You can make a brilliant container pond. There are mini waterlilies you could add and loads of smaller water plants.

You can buy small solar powered pumps that keep the water moving enough to stop mosquitoes…

I’ve got a mini pond with pond plant in and a little solar pump and it’s fine.

I’ve also got a 3x2 pond in the ground with tadpoles, v excited….and so far no mozzies.

Goldfish need a big pond and filtration to be healthy, and it doesn’t sound like the OP has the capacity for the kind of setup they need.

Solar powered pump is a great idea - I was looking at the half barrel style containers - they suggest you need to keep the water fully topped up as any drop in water level might cause them to leak through wood shinkage - suggesting we might be safer to line the container just in case I forget or we're on holiday during a hot spell.

We do have frogs visit our garden already - have spotted a few whilst moving stuff around

Just make sure to put something in as a ladder for if anything falls in. The birds love our pond too.

There are fish much smaller than goldfish you can get to control mosquitoes in tiny ponds too. Although personally I’d wait for the frogs.

A mini pond in a container needs to be in partial shade, especially during very hot sunny weather.

If you don't want mosquito larvae you could have a water feature instead, and use chlorine in it to keep the water clear.

I didn't want a water feature I wanted to provide water for wildlife, I don't think chlorinated water would do the same job. 😞

No that's fine, it was just a suggestion and I didn't know that it was a wildlife pond you were after.

No worries - I might try the pond, the rippling created by a pump is supposed to help or maybe something lie this https://www.amazon.co.uk/Mosquito-Company-Breeding-Friendly-Harmless/dp/B0BNM1QG39/ref=asc_df_B0BNM1QG39/?tag=googshopuk-21&linkCode=df0&hvadid=641619825495&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=8392885497085859902&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9045090&hvtargid=pla-1967694886463&psc=1&mcid=d0f8b28d59313c52bfb3b9be3b7d7466
I'm always a little cautious as I am one of those people that always gets bitten even on nights where everyone else is fine. Sometimes I find wildlife enthusiasts are overly optimistic. If the mossies start breeding I can always use the container as a planter. It'll be a painful lesson though!

Don’t add goldfish they will die. White Cloud mountain minnows can live outside and will eat mozzie larvae. But you have to bring them inside over winter between the first and last frost days or they’ll die.

We have a very shallow water feature (a rectangular tray from Wilko - nothing fancy!) and the edges are surrounded by new bricks and then we’ve put large stones creeping up in two corners in case any wildlife fell in and got stuck (never seen any animal using it).

It has a solar powered fountain from Amazon and we’ve also found that putting some watercress (the larger stuff from the supermarket salad section) in the pond keeps the water clear from algae etc, but from time to time we need to thin this out as it grows well.

Here’s mine. @Curtainsforus this was it’s second year. I’ve never had mozzies in mine as the frogs tend to take over and live under the rim of the container. I did have trouble with green algae but solved it with a bag of Sainsbury’s So Organic Watercress.

I sunk a plastic tub in the garden. Then put some bricks inside with a large mossy log covering half the top. Took a few weeks for a frog to move in. I also dug a big hole close to it and filled with rocks, sticks and branches as a second home for other creatures. It’s behind our shed in a quiet corner.

That's very lovely! How big is it?

@Curtainsforus its 60cm diameter . I got it as a kit.

Once you get wildlife you won’t get mozzies, they’re a long way down the food chain

How allergic are you to mosquitoes?

@MereDintofPandiculation i won’t die but I’ll swell up quite badly, can’t sleep and be pretty miserable for a week. I am the person who gets bitten when there are apparently no mosquitos.
I’m thinking it’s a bad idea.

Hi OP
We have a fab mini pond in an old Belfast sink. No filters, fountains or chlorine required. I ordered a starter pack of pond plants and a tub of baby pond snails online and they are all thriving in their second year. I got some frogspawn from nearby pond and transplanted it and that does really well too, so many baby frogs! Tadpoles again this year.

Re. mosquito larvae. We got those last year- we bought 6 minnows from a pet shop and put them in, they ate up the larvae in seconds! Now we have to feed them fish food, they are hungry. They survived over winter absolutely fine I think they have actually reproduced as well.

This is exactly what I want to emulate. May I ask where you got your kit please?

@GlobalCitz

I got mine here about four years ago, it wasn’t cheap, but it supplied everything I needed plus the Lily food. They also give you choices of plants depending on where you will situate it.
https://www.watersidenursery.co.uk/?_gl=1a66ia0_up*MQ..&gclid=Cj0KCQjwiMmwBhDmARIsABeQ7xR99XZtlwSzanFarQSkjOFBVEDAyD033jK6zSbQPqCi2sldBNE1B3waAngOEALw_wcB

Fantastic, thank you so much.

It's exactly what I was looking for to give our frogs a little home.