Beverly,
All of the plants in my tanks are thriving, and I prune them on a weekly
basis. If a particular leaf begins to die, I remove it promptly. I clean
all of my tanks every week, and I make sure that anything that might attract
fungus gnats is removed (i.e. dead leaves, dead crickets, feces, etc.).
Where do you suppose these insects are finding rotting organic matter? I do
understand that they feed on such things, but my meticulous cleaning habits
leave very little for the gnats. Will the gnats feed on healthy roots?
Nathan "Wannabe Gnat Killer" Hall
----- Original Message -----
From: Beverly Erlebacher <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Tuesday, August 07, 2001 1:40 PM
Subject: Re: [Gecko] Fungus gnats
> > 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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