Download Native Fish - Logan City Council

Native Fish
Logan City Council provides 6 FREE native fish
to Logan residents each year. Other locally native
fish which can be released into ponds and dams
without a Fisheries permit are:
•
Agassiz’s glassfish or olive perchlet
(Ambassis agassizii)
•
Australian smelt (Retropinna semoni)
•
Bug-eyed goby (Redigobius bikolanus)
•
Duboulay’s rainbowfish
(Melanotaenia duboulayi)
•
Empire gudgeon (Hypseleotris compressa)
•
Firetail gudgeon (Hypseleotris galii)
•
Fly-specked hardyhead (Craterocephalus
stercusmuscarum fulvus)
•
Ornate rainbowfish (Rhadinocentrus ornatus)
•
Pacific blue-eye (Pseudomugil signifier)
•
Purple-spotted gudgeon (Mogurnda adspersa)
for Mosquito Control
DO NOT release
any fish into
any creeks and
waterways.
You may need a Fisheries permit to
introduce or relocate different types of
fish into some areas.
For more information contact:
Department of Agriculture and Fisheries
Phone: 13 25 23
Logan City Council Pest Management
213 Queens Road, Kingston
Phone: 3412 5397
Email: [email protected]
Web: www.logan.qld.gov.au
Logan City Council’s Pest Management team
provide Logan residents with native fish to help
control mosquitoes on their property. These fish
can be used to eat the mosquito larvae in ponds,
dams and other permanent and semi-permanent
water bodies.
Why does Council want
to control mosquito
numbers?
Mosquito control is carried out to prevent the
spread of mosquito borne diseases such as Ross
River virus, Dengue fever, Australian encephalitis,
Barmah Forest virus and Zika virus. Animals can
be susceptible to disease such as heartworm in
dogs through transmission from an infected host.
Mosquitoes can also be a significant pest, which
can ruin or prevent outdoor activities in the warmer
months of the year.
Residents are required under the Public Health Act
to prevent, control or eliminate mosquito breeding.
How does Logan
City Council’s Pest
Management team
control mosquito
numbers?
Chemical/Bacterial Control – Target specific and
environmentally friendly pesticides are used in ponded
water identified to have mosquito breeding.
Biological Control – Use of an organism to limit and
control another organism. Many species of fish and
some insects eat mosquito larvae as a food source.
Public Education – Residents are encouraged
to take action and prevent breeding on their own
properties. To find out how contact Council for a
mosquito control for households brochure.
Why do we use native
fish?
Native fish are already acclimatised to the local
environment and conditions. Exotic fish can cause
dramatic effects to an ecosystem and should not be
used in ponds, pools and dams. Mosquitoes require
water for egg laying and larval development, therefore
backyard ponds and dams can be ideal. Native fish
act as a biological control feeding on the larvae and
effectively controlling mosquito numbers.
What should you do with
the new fish?
•
Before adding plants and fish, make sure
equipment such as filters, fountains and waterfalls
are in working order.
•
Have vegetation such as lillies, in the pond prior
to releasing fish. Alternatively, grow your in-pond
plants in containers, as this will make removal
easier during routine maintenance. Plants can be
purchased from a reputable nursery to ensure
no prohibited pest plants are introduced. Allow
at least a week for plants to settle before adding
fish.
•
Take fish home immediately and keep them out of
the sun, in a cool place until they are released.
•
When introducing fish, float the bag or container
of fish in the pond to equalise the water
temperature for about 10 minutes.
•
Add frequent small amounts of pond water to
adjust the fish to other pond water conditions.
•
Do not feed your fish initially for 2 days. If there’s
not enough mosquito larvae present in the water,
then only feed them once a day with enough food
as they can consume in 5-10 minutes.
•
Once released into the new environment, the fish
should breed and increase in numbers providing
no predation or competitive fish species are
present in the water bodies.
How can pond design
prevent mosquito
breeding?
•
•
Design your pond or dam with a simple shape, ie.
square, circle or triangle. Complex pond shapes
increase the edge area where mosquitoes prefer
to breed.
The edges and bays should be steep and the
pond and dam deep to make conditions more
favourable for fish and predators that can feed on
the larvae.
•
Good water quality will ensure biological controls
are healthy and sustained.
•
Avoid emergent vegetation around the pond or
dam such as grass or reeds. Emergent vegetation
provides a safe haven for mosquito larvae.