I found a water boatmen in our pool...

[MBeardsley]

Ew! I have them terribley. It rained last night and there seems to be more. I have fished out at least twenty of them today and as you all have said you have to squash them or they just fly back in. The pool store guy said there is a chemical that you can put in the water that pushes them to the bottom of the pool and ultimately drowns them, but he himself did not seem to be sold on it. Has anyone else heard of anything to keep them from getting in the first place. They are so ugly! Thanks in advance for any help!

[moedo]

i dont know how to get rid of them either, but i just caught 2 of them, threw them on the deck and watch after 10 min. 1 started edging toward the pool, grab the net threw it down on the ground, meanwhile i looked for the other, he's gone. i was watching the pool again, then i saw the baby, couldnt catch him, i'll wait til tomorrow to see second episode.

[poolrx]

Ew! I have them terribley. It rained last night and there seems to be more. I have fished out at least twenty of them today and as you all have said you have to squash them or they just fly back in. The pool store guy said there is a chemical that you can put in the water that pushes them to the bottom of the pool and ultimately drowns them, but he himself did not seem to be sold on it. Has anyone else heard of anything to keep them from getting in the first place. They are so ugly! Thanks in advance for any help!

I don't know how to get rid of them. I haven't heard of any chemicals, not even shocking the pool kills them. I will say that the 1st year when I was using the pool store chemicals I had quite a few of them. Since I have switched to bleach, borax, and muriatic acid(haven't needed baking soda)and I only recall having one or two of them last year and only 1 this year! Probably just a coincidence or maybe they like the neighbors pool better Only other thing I can think of is that they feed on insects. If you have a lot of insects floating around it may attract them. Everything I read says that the only way to get rid of them is to kill them

[MBeardsley]

Hey Joe! Thanks for the reply! I broke down today and bought combat 60 to kill them. We have so many, we don't even want to get in. The pool guy said that it would do the job but after reading the bottle it looks like it is to help with preventing algae. This is also our first year with the pool and our neighbor said the same thing you said about having them bad the the first year they had their pool. Anyways hope this does the job! Thanks again for your reply!
Michelle

[poolrx]

Hey Joe! Thanks for the reply! I broke down today and bought combat 60 to kill them. We have so many, we don't even want to get in. The pool guy said that it would do the job but after reading the bottle it looks like it is to help with preventing algae. This is also our first year with the pool and our neighbor said the same thing you said about having them bad the the first year they had their pool. Anyways hope this does the job! Thanks again for your reply!
Michelle

Michelle,

Would you mind posting the ingredients of the "Combat 60". I have not heard of it and couldn't find anything on Google. Wondering if it is something that reduces the surface tension of the water therefore preventing the little buggers forming the air sac that enables them to stay under so long.

Joe

[michladny]

I am FREAKING OUT as I was cleaning the pool today (as I vacuum twice a week) and this things swims by the pole UNDER the water like it is enjoying itself !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I HATE, HATE, HATE, BUGS and I CERTAINLY do not want them sharing my pool !!!!!!! I managed to catch him and put him in a jar and he is swimming around in there....... so I have to smush him to get rid of him????? This is the first time since May 19th (when the pool was put up) that I have found something like this...... EWWWWWWWWWWW---kinda takes all of the enjoyment out of the pool for me. This thing swims on his back and has dagger like front legs/fangs and long hind legs that look like oars.

YUK YUK YUK

[michladny]

HEY...that sounds like a great idea - drain water: add bleach !!!! Maybe the entire family can swim in bleach instead of water.......
I did find this on the net last evening:

1. "I have a huge problem with the backswimmers in my pool. I have spent a few hundred dollars and a lot of time to try and get rid of them........... All you have to do is get BioGuard brand Back-Up algaecide and put the whole bottle in your pool. I just put it in an hour ago and there are at least 50 dead bugs floating at the top of my pool.............." http://www.faqfarm.com/Q/How_do_you_...mers_in_a_pool

[helix2000]

We have an above ground pool that we keep very clean, and we have both waterboatmen and backswimmers (about 4 - 6 per week). If you see both of them, you can tell the difference. The wb are slighly smaller, lighter in color (gray) and seem to stay by the sides of the pool (they feed on any algee in the pool).

The bs are larger in size, darker in color (closer to black), much faster swimmers and swim all over the pool. They also bite but wb do not. If you can look at one closely when it comes to the surface, you can actually see it's nasty little legs curled up on top of it since it swims on its back.

The bs eat the wb and other water bugs in the pool. Guess that is why they are larger because they have a belly full of wb.

We have not found a way to keep them out yet. I am going to try that Bioguard product. For now, I just walk around the pool and can usually spot them and get them out with a net and crush them. I won't get into the pool until I have thoroughly checked it. They both creep me out.

I have also heard of mixing dish soap in a water bottle and spraying the top of the pool so they can't come up for air. I don't know if this works, but it may be worth a try for a smaller pool.

[sevver]

I have also heard of mixing dish soap in a water bottle and spraying the top of the pool so they can't come up for air. I don't know if this works, but it may be worth a try for a smaller pool.

I don't think that is a good idea. Read this post here.

[daisy11]

Um, unless you want to deal with a copper problem next, I would not use Bioguard Backup algaecide to kill the water bugs....