> From: "nathan hall" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> Date: Tue, 7 Aug 2001 15:43:01 -0400
>
> I have fungus gnats in all of my tanks with live plants and soil or peat =
> moss substrate. I know that they are harmless to my geckos, but I would =
> like to find out how I can get rid of these little pests. Do any of you =
> guys know how I can take care of this problem. They obviously thrive in =
> high humidity environments, but some of the tanks need to be misted on a =
> regular basis. It's really starting to BUG me (sorry, I couldn't resist =
> the pun). Please help!
Fungus gnats prefer rapidly rotting organic matter. It can help to use
substrates that aren't very 'rich', e.g. peat, sand, coconut fibre,
decayed wood, etc, rather than potting soil or other materials with a
high content of plant nutrients. These gnats especially thrive on
rotting plant material, so removing dead leaves and sick/dying plants
might help. They especially go for rotting plant roots. Even if you
mist frequently, try to keep the soil as dry as possible.
The yellow sticky traps sold for catching white flies work really well
for fungus gnats, too. If you want to use them inside a tank, you'll
have to rig up something to keep the geckos from contacting them. They
are non-toxic, but very sticky.
You can buy the spores of a disease that affects fungus gnats (I think
it may be called 'Gnatrol'), but I have no experience with it.
Small frogs will eat them avidly, but the geckos might eat the frogs!
Most of these suggestions will help keep the numbers down to a less
annoying level. I don't think you can eliminate them entirely as long
as you provide good conditions for them.
I hope this helps!
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