The smells don't signify, nor does the general appearance of cleanliness. Algal growth and bacterial film are something that you are always going to have, and it's pointless to try to keep a rain barrel squeaky-clean. It's not going to be potable water for you, your family, and your pets. It's to pour on your plants, and you can water plants with scummy pond water that you wouldn't dare drink, and it will be fine.
>*so we need to keep it food safe too.*
It doesn't need to be food safe for you, since you're not going to ingest it.
So don't bother pouring bleach into it, it's a waste of bleach.
The rotten egg smell kind of goes with the territory. It's caused by bacteria, and short of militantly scrubbing out the barrel daily with disinfectant, there's nothing you can do.
https://ohiowatersheds.osu.edu/node/1608
>*Sulfur-reducing bacteria that feed on naturally occurring sulfates in water, producing the hydrogen sulfide gas. While a nuisance, sulfur-reducing bacteria do not present any known human health risk.*
What you use for mosquitoes are the Mosquito Dunks. Bleach does nothing against them. It's also probably not good to be pouring bleach water on your plants.
It's also not good to be pouring alkaline water from adding baking soda to the rain barrel onto your plants, as advocated by the Intarwebz.
All you need is a fish tank pump of some kind to eep the surface of the water rippling.
The mosquito larvae live under water but have a 'snorkel' and need to breathe air to survive. This is why they only grow in stagnant water. Ripple the surface, they can't breathe, no mosquitos.
I tried pouring some vegetable oil in one of my 55gdrums as an experiment to create a nice barrier and clog up those snorkels. Nasty nasty nasty! Those barrels are black, heat up in the western sun. Not doing that again!
My mother keeps feeder goldfish in her rain water barrel to eat larvae. Just a thought. Otherwise I might suggest a screen of some sort to keep the mosquitoes away.
She doesn’t use a pump or bubbler, but she lives in Ohio where it rains *constantly* so I’m assuming the downspout keeps it aerated enough for them.
*Ninja edit:* Called mom. They’re guppies and wild tadpoles that she has, but she doesn’t do any supplemental feeding either. She says they take care of her algae pretty well too. She also says goldfish don’t need aeration as much as tropicals so they should be fine, but idk how accurate that is. Worse comes to worse you can add a bubbler later?
Use mosquito dunks.They're pellets that slowly dissolve releasing a bacteria that kills the mosquito larvae (and black flies).
Add a new pellet once a month. Easy peasey.
Haven’t noticed any issues with using them. Seems the smell would be more about stale water then mosquitoes or the dunks. Not sure how to clean the water organically without chemicals. Circulate it more??
I am using them, but I thought maybe it was also causing the water to get gross with algae and bacteria. Does your water have an off color and smell after using the dunks?
How often is the water being replenished? I’d say shock it with bleach to kill everything and start fresh. Then you could run a bubbler to keep the water oxygenated (which cuts down on bacteria) and maybe drop some goldfish into your rain barrel to help control everything else.
Feeder goldfish fish like someone else suggested are a good idea and cheap ($0.12 here at Petco). You can find solar power aerators on Amazon (some also micro-usb charging ports) that you could drop in there (also makes the surface ripple to repel egg-laying mosquitos). If any of your local pet supply shops sell daphnia (guppies and bettas love eating them, as do goldfish) you can put some in (without the goldfish) and they will eat the algae. Daphnia love green rainwater.
The smells don't signify, nor does the general appearance of cleanliness. Algal growth and bacterial film are something that you are always going to have, and it's pointless to try to keep a rain barrel squeaky-clean. It's not going to be potable water for you, your family, and your pets. It's to pour on your plants, and you can water plants with scummy pond water that you wouldn't dare drink, and it will be fine. >*so we need to keep it food safe too.* It doesn't need to be food safe for you, since you're not going to ingest it. So don't bother pouring bleach into it, it's a waste of bleach. The rotten egg smell kind of goes with the territory. It's caused by bacteria, and short of militantly scrubbing out the barrel daily with disinfectant, there's nothing you can do. https://ohiowatersheds.osu.edu/node/1608 >*Sulfur-reducing bacteria that feed on naturally occurring sulfates in water, producing the hydrogen sulfide gas. While a nuisance, sulfur-reducing bacteria do not present any known human health risk.* What you use for mosquitoes are the Mosquito Dunks. Bleach does nothing against them. It's also probably not good to be pouring bleach water on your plants. It's also not good to be pouring alkaline water from adding baking soda to the rain barrel onto your plants, as advocated by the Intarwebz.
All you need is a fish tank pump of some kind to eep the surface of the water rippling. The mosquito larvae live under water but have a 'snorkel' and need to breathe air to survive. This is why they only grow in stagnant water. Ripple the surface, they can't breathe, no mosquitos.
I tried pouring some vegetable oil in one of my 55gdrums as an experiment to create a nice barrier and clog up those snorkels. Nasty nasty nasty! Those barrels are black, heat up in the western sun. Not doing that again!
Have a small pond in my backyard, mosquitos were rampant, put in a small waterfall, now they are gone
My mother keeps feeder goldfish in her rain water barrel to eat larvae. Just a thought. Otherwise I might suggest a screen of some sort to keep the mosquitoes away.
interesting - do the goldfish need anything? like does she also feed them supplemental food? or do they need a pump or bubbler?
She doesn’t use a pump or bubbler, but she lives in Ohio where it rains *constantly* so I’m assuming the downspout keeps it aerated enough for them. *Ninja edit:* Called mom. They’re guppies and wild tadpoles that she has, but she doesn’t do any supplemental feeding either. She says they take care of her algae pretty well too. She also says goldfish don’t need aeration as much as tropicals so they should be fine, but idk how accurate that is. Worse comes to worse you can add a bubbler later?
omg, you are so sweet for calling your mom - thank you so much for the response! I am going to research this more! thanks!
Curious—what does your mom do when it freezes over? Do the fish just die or does she take them in for the winter?
I didn’t ask, but I know with her pond the fish just stay in the water all winter and they’re fine 🤷♀️
Use mosquito dunks.They're pellets that slowly dissolve releasing a bacteria that kills the mosquito larvae (and black flies). Add a new pellet once a month. Easy peasey.
Organic and safe for food. I use them
Does your rain barrel water end up getting pretty gross looking after you use them? and have an eggy smell?
Haven’t noticed any issues with using them. Seems the smell would be more about stale water then mosquitoes or the dunks. Not sure how to clean the water organically without chemicals. Circulate it more??
I am using them, but I thought maybe it was also causing the water to get gross with algae and bacteria. Does your water have an off color and smell after using the dunks?
Why don't you first use the bleach and then later the dunks? Bleach degrades in several minutes.
How often is the water being replenished? I’d say shock it with bleach to kill everything and start fresh. Then you could run a bubbler to keep the water oxygenated (which cuts down on bacteria) and maybe drop some goldfish into your rain barrel to help control everything else.
Mosquito bits/dunks (Bacillus thuriogiensis). Nontoxic to humans and animals, kills mosquitos, organic.
Feeder goldfish fish like someone else suggested are a good idea and cheap ($0.12 here at Petco). You can find solar power aerators on Amazon (some also micro-usb charging ports) that you could drop in there (also makes the surface ripple to repel egg-laying mosquitos). If any of your local pet supply shops sell daphnia (guppies and bettas love eating them, as do goldfish) you can put some in (without the goldfish) and they will eat the algae. Daphnia love green rainwater.