I'd love to have a small pond in my garden, but the big problem is I live in Tiger Mosquito Central. Yes, they are worse than a big problem around here and while every year I spend a small fortune to eliminate them from my garden, the council and the other people in the area seem to think their money must be spent differently.

I know Mosquito Dunks work well against the critters and are safe for wildlife to boot, but unfortunately they are not available here and importing them from the US is prohibitively expensive (last experience: two blues cds totaling $30, paid €14.58 in import fees).

Any alternative I should be aware of? No fish suggestions please: I have no intention of keeping them, this would be exclusively a wildlife and plant pont.

Thanks.

Most mosquitoes don't like moving water surfaces, but tolerance varies by species and I don't know about yours. (Also, some plants don't like the moving water surface, like water lilies.) So running water streams, pondless waterfalls, etc. might be a possibility. A lot of marginals can live in boggy soil (no standing water) if you want to set that up with a liner under the soil, possibly in conjunction with the above.

Fish and BTI (active microbe in mosquito dunks) are really the only control I use here. Some fish can live off of algae, and will just snack on any larvae that show up, so don't require any care. I don't know of any other biological controls that are efficient enough to make sure none of the larvae mature.

Wish I could offer more suggestions. I live next to a river delta here and we're very conscious of mosquito-born diseases in the area, so I know it can be a serious problem. Short of sealing an actual mosquito net over the pond, I don't know how to stop mosquitoes themselves.

Thank you very much for your reply.. I don't think I will begin my "pond project" until the Fall at least, so there is plenty of time to explore alternatives.