Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have two tigers in a 20 gal tank. About a month after the tank was set up I noticed a couple gnats flying around and smooshed them. Lately they have be multiplying and I don't know how to get rid of them. Any ideas??

Thanks!!

I have had problems with them in the past. What you probably have are common fungus gnats (I don't know if that's thier real name or not). They're attracted to the water and the humidity in the tanks. The only way to keep them OUT of there is to cover the top of the tank - but that would be bad for air circulation, and make the tank warmer.

Those gnats live and breed in the soil in houseplants, and they eat the natural fungi that exists in the soil - if you have plants anywhere in your house, that's where they're coming from. There are pesticides that you can use, both organic and inorganic, whichever you prefer. What I did was fairly simple: I placed a single clove of garlic into the soil of EACH potted plant I have - the gnats are repelled by the smell, and will stop going to the plants. Within a month the gnats were completely gone (you have to wait for them all to die, which takes a couple weeks), and they have *NEVER* come back. Even if new ones were to enter the house, they have nowhere to set up a home now. (A side effect was that now I have garlic growing in all my pots, but they don't smell up the house at all, and they don't adversely affect the plant they're in with, either).

Hope this helps!

I have the same problem, but I don't have houseplants. Other than Jaws' own dirt, there isn't any moist dirt in anything in the house. (Dust bunnies under the bed don't count, do they?)
If I put the garlic clove down in a corner of his aquarium, would it do him any harm? I don't care if it grows or not.