Pond design for mosquito control

Good pond design can reduce mosquito populations around your home and neighbourhood. This prevents the spread of mosquito-borne disease to humans and animals.

Design considerations

A well designed pond will have:

  • a simple shape - for example square, circle, or rectangle. Detailed pond shapes provide more edge area for mosquitoes to breed on
  • steep edges and bays with a deep dam – these conditions are ideal for fish and predators that eat mosquito larvae
  • no emergent vegetation around the pond or dam, like grass or reeds. Removing vegetation means there is no safe-haven for mosquito larvae
  • native fish that eat mosquito larvae
  • good water quality and in-pond plants to keep fish and predators healthy.

Keep native fish in your pond

Native fish eat mosquito larvae in your pond before they can emerge as adult mosquitoes. This controls mosquito numbers around your home. Unlike exotic fish, they do well under local conditions and benefit our ecosystem.

We can provide you with 6 free native fish each year. Contact us to request fish for your pond.

Native fish species you can release into ponds and dams without a permit include:

  • 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).

3 native fish species

How to introduce native fish to your pond

Before you add fish to your pond:

  • Make sure filters, fountains and waterfalls are working.
  • Add in-pond plants like lilies to the pond and allow at least a week for plants to settle before you release fish.
    • Buy in-pond plants from a reputable nursery so you don’t introduce any prohibited pest plants.
    • Grow in-pond plants in containers that are easy to remove during pond maintenance.

To introduce your native fish:

  • Source only native fish and take them home immediately. Keep them in a cool place out of the sun until you are ready to release them.
  • Float the bag or container of fish in the pond for about 10 minutes to equalise the water temperature.
  • Add frequent small amounts of pond water to the bag or container to get your fish used to its new pond conditions.
  • Once in the pond, do not feed fish for the first 2 days. If mosquito larvae are not in the pond, then feed them once a day with enough food as they can consume in 5 to 10 minutes.
  • Fish will breed and increase in numbers as long you keep the pond free from predator and competitor fish species.

More information

Find out more about mosquito control in and around your home.

To request native fish for your pond, email council@logan.qld.gov.au or phone 07 3412 3412.

Back to top