Mosquito Larva Snack?

[lbiminiblue]

Does anyone have any experience with using mosquito larvae as food in their tanks?

I realized that mosquitoes are probably Miami’s greatest natural resource, so I want to experiment with them.

Curious to see if anyone has tried culturing and feeding them to reef fish before, and if anyone knows about dangers of parasite transmission.

 

[lbiminiblue]

Bump

 

[Mr Fishface]

I am following as I am also very curious! I never would have thought about it honestly. Usually because I panic and empty the water when I see mosquito larvae outside. But it would definitely be easy for me to culture them outside during the summer months in Idaho..

 

[Daniel@R2R Verified Admin]

I would think most any parasite you would worry about would die when transferred to saltwater.

 

[Peace River]

The freshwater fish in my outdoor tanks enjoy mosquito larva and many other types of naturally occurring foods resulting in better coloring, faster growth, and better breeding in comparison to my indoor tanks. However, like most freshwater live food (cultured or naturally occurring) I haven’t found that they live for any amount of time to be useful when transferred to saltwater.

Although it doesn’t apply to the mosquitos in my area of inland Florida, there are species of mosquito larva that can live in saltwater. If you decide to experiment then let us know how it turns out!

 

[SandJ]

@VKP01 Did you feed mosquito larvae to you fresh or saltwater?

 

[WMR]

I used to feed frozen mosquito larvae to my sw fish, whether it had nutritional value, idk, but they ate them. I would feed them, bloodworms, daphnia to my fish along with other sw frozen foods, just for variety. My fw fish loved them of course

 

[ScottR]

Typically I don’t feed anything to my saltwater fish that is not part of their diet. There are some controversial foods out there but I stick to things from the sea. I’m not aware of mosquito larvae hatching in saltwater so I’m assuming it’s not a snack for saltwater fish. Especially since most of our fish originate away from shore and don’t feed from the surface. But good question.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Absolutely yes especially as a live freshwater food. They have protein and do not stay still attracting fish to them. They survive in SW for a short time.
As a child I used to put out lg cups of water as bait for skeeters to lay their eggs and then feed the WIGGLERS to my fish

 

[NeutronMan]

Seems there’s probably easier ways to give treats to your fish.

 

[link81]

Seems there’s probably easier ways to give treats to your fish.

and less itchy lol

 

[NeutronMan]

and less itchy lol

And no Malaria or Zika.

 

[lbiminiblue]

Typically I don’t feed anything to my saltwater fish that is not part of their diet. There are some controversial foods out there but I stick to things from the sea. I’m not aware of mosquito larvae hatching in saltwater so I’m assuming it’s not a snack for saltwater fish. Especially since most of our fish originate away from shore and don’t feed from the surface. But good question.

In Miami the mosquitoes seem to thrive in brackish water that hosts fully saltwater fish. Will give it a shot and report back.

 

[Peace River]

In Miami the mosquitoes seem to thrive in brackish water that hosts fully saltwater fish. Will give it a shot and report back.

Just remember that the larva hatching into unpleasant critters after a few days so be careful where you keep them! :eek:

Don't ask me how I know! :oops:

 

[lbiminiblue]

Just remember that the larva hatching into unpleasant critters after a few days so be careful where you keep them! :eek:

Don't ask me how I know! :oops:

Of course, I live in south miami and have become densensitized to mosquito bites. I’ll be on top of it [emoji23]

 

[ScottR]

I try to keep my home as mosquito free as possible :p They love to eat my little ones.

 

[Josh_boss]

I kNow the post was a while ago, but any update on feeding the larve to your sw fish. I have a clown goby who isn’t eating anything but live baby brine and was hoping to feed it mosquito larve. @lbiminiblue

 

[vetteguy53081]

I kNow the post was a while ago, but any update on feeding the larve to your sw fish. I have a clown goby who isn’t eating anything but live baby brine and was hoping to feed it mosquito larve. @lbiminiblue

From the 70's , skeeter larvae has been one of the top foods in the industry. I believe as in the everglades, they can survive long enough in seawater to be consumed.

 

[serwobow]

I have experience with this for feeding freshwater fish. Several years ago, while I was a starving student and wanted some budget fish food, I raised the larvae by placing a bucket of fertilized "green" water on my porch in Berkeley. It quickly became occupied by a large population of mosquito larvae. They were easy enough to fish out of there, and I put a bunch in my tank. Turns out mosquito larvae are very tough and their escape instinct is strong. So, the fish tried to eat them, then they spit the larvae out, the larvae quickly swam to the bottom of the tank, and the fish ignored them after a while. Several days later, many of the larvae hatched out into my apartment, and got revenge on me and my room-mate. Room-mate was not pleased, to say the least! So, I can't say I recommend it, at all.

 

[Josh_boss]

I have experience with this for feeding freshwater fish. Several years ago, while I was a starving student and wanted some budget fish food, I raised the larvae by placing a bucket of fertilized "green" water on my porch in Berkeley. It quickly became occupied by a large population of mosquito larvae. They were easy enough to fish out of there, and I put a bunch in my tank. Turns out mosquito larvae are very tough and their escape instinct is strong. So, the fish tried to eat them, then they spit the larvae out, the larvae quickly swam to the bottom of the tank, and the fish ignored them after a while. Several days later, many of the larvae hatched out into my apartment, and got revenge on me and my room-mate. Room-mate was not pleased, to say the least! So, I can't say I recommend it, at all.

But I don’t think they will survive saltwater ?!? I wanted to feed it to my salt water tank.

I might give it a try @vetteguy53081