Mosquito Torpedoes

[animalmom]

I'm trying a new to me product this year in the water buckets for the animals. It is a mosquito torpedo, which unlike to mosquito dunks which float on the top of the water until they disintegrate, the torpedo sinks to the bottom.

I've read the packaging, and this new products acts differently from the old dunks in that it doesn't prevent mosquito larva from hatching but rather it kills the larva before they can leave the water. I thought it would be good to have the torpedo at the bottom of the bucket instead of worrying about a less than bright goat eating the floating dunk (which I have no proof that this was ever done).

Now I have water buckets with lots of squirming wiggling larva which is frankly a big disgusting blech for me. Granted my yard is not filled with clouds of mosquitos so the torpedoes are doing their job... it is just seeing the larva and worrying about the goats slurping up the larva.

Have any of you tried these torpedo things? What do you think?

Price wise they are a little better than the old dunks because each one will last two months in a water bucket... but the visual, oh vey!

I didn't have any problems with the old dunks, no larva in the buckets, and it wasn't difficult to remember to toss a dunk in at the first of the month... just wanted to try something new and now I'm not sure I like it.

 

[Wisher1000]

Do you have buckets or troughs? How many gallons will each one hold? I would want to know what is in it that kills the wigglers. I would not like my animals drinking out of water that contained wigglers and some chemical insecticide. Can you not just dump and refill every other day or so?

 

[babsbag]

I have auto waters, they probably hold about 3-4 gallons and I never see mosquito larvae in them, I guess the goats drink enough to keep it clear. Algae is another story.

 

[Pearce Pastures]

We use the torpedos but for our sump pump pits because somehow, skeeters were managing to use them as breeding pits in the basement. Works great. But for animal, I would not use them. Not sure what is in them but many insecticides and the like are not safe for consumption so I would be cautious there. I know the ick feeling though. I have been a crazy lady about keeping rabbit trays empty because of flies laying in them and little maggot worms creep me out---EWWW!

 

[norseofcourse]

I googled, the active ingredient in Mosquito Torpedo is S-Methoprene, which is an IGR (Insect Growth Regulator). There's a page on Wikipedia on Methoprene:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methoprene

IMHO it may be less of a concern than an insecticide, as it has a different action.

According to this factsheet, it seems to be fairly safe for people and animals (it's used in other products too like flea control), but it is somewhat toxic to fish and crustaceans - so I would make sure not to dump water that's been treated with it, anywhere it could get into a pond, stream or other waterway.
http://npic.orst.edu/factsheets/methogen.html

I haven't been able to find, yet, if it's allowed to be used on Certified Organic premises. It's not listed as one of the synthetic substances allowed for use in organic livestock production (USDA). But it's not on the prohibited list either...

 

[Scooby308]

If you are using troughs, you can put goldfish or minnows in to eat the larvae.

 

[sadieml]

Have you tried apple cider vinegar in your water buckets to prevent algae? I read on BYC that it works well to help prevent algae growth. They way 1 Tbsp per gallon of water, but don't use in metal waterers--only plastic.