How to Use Mosquito Larvae As Fish Food
Mosquito larvae make a good supplementary live food for freshwater fish. Mosquito larvae are high in protein and vitamins, which improve fish color and appearance. They also encourage natural chasing behavior because they wriggle away from the fish, and may induce spawning. Mosquito larvae are reasonably cheap to buy, or you can raise batches yourself.
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Instructions
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Position one or more large plastic buckets outside in the spring or summer.
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Fill the buckets about halfway up with rain or faucet water and add a little garden soil. Algae will arrive first, then mosquito larvae. You might notice rafts of eggs first. The larvae are easy to spot because they wriggle very quickly down whenever a shadow falls on the water.
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Catch the larvae as you need them using a small and very fine-meshed net.
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Release the larvae into a large bowl of fresh water. Then re-catch them by pouring the water through the net. This cleans the larvae without killing them and removes some pathogens.
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Empty the net out into your fish tank or pond.
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Tips & Warnings
If your fish eat all the larvae within a couple of minutes, you can give them more next time. Conversely, if it takes them more than five minutes to eat them, feed them fewer larvae in the future.
You can also catch mosquito larvae in existing bodies of stagnant water such as rainwater butts and birdbaths.
Check local regulations on raising mosquito larvae. If it is not allowed in your area, then either buy mosquito larvae from a fish supplier or try another live food such as daphnia.
