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Good Morning Everyone!
I just went to check our water level and a swarm of mosquitoes came out of the cistern. I have been Googling and have yet to find any help on how to deal with them other than pouring vegetable oil into the cistern. The oil is supposed to smother them. I am thinking that would work, but am concerned the veg oil would go rancid over time. Does anyone have any ideas?
Thanks for any help!
Posted : May 9, 2011 2:45 pm
chlorinating your cistern to a level of about .05mg/L will help. Be sure that the roof drains and overflows are screened. stat with about an ounce per 200 gallos
Posted : May 9, 2011 3:25 pm
Put screens over all openings to your cistern.
Posted : May 10, 2011 11:03 am
I think most mosquitoes enter the cistern by laying eggs in the standing water in the gutter and then getting washed in with the next rain, and any screen that's small enough to stop mosquito eggs will also prevent water from passing through it quickly enough, causing gutters to overflow. Putting too small a screen on the overflow may also inhibit speedy outflow, causing flooding in the house.
Another idea is to put tape, sticky side out, inside the cistern on the sides of the hatch opening. The mosquitoes will eventually land on it and get stuck there. Or if the closed hatch has gaps big enough for mosquitoes to get out, then seal the opening with tape from above (put the tape on the floor, sticky side down, over the gap). We do that, and there are always dead mosquitoes stuck to it when we open it. Because we have gaps, it also keeps the mosquitoes from entering the room when the hatch is closed.
Posted : May 10, 2011 1:19 pm
Topic starter
Thanks!
Posted : May 10, 2011 7:00 pm
add Gambusia(mosquito fish) to your cistern.They eat the wigglers as they hatch.
Posted : May 10, 2011 7:21 pm
