I have a 400 gal 'pond' for a waterhole for the critters on my property. I can't keep the damn frogs from fornicating in it and loading the pond with hundreds of tadpoles. With them comes nasty pond scum. Anyone have an idea on how to control the frogs and still have the water safe to drink for the animals?
I have a 400 gal 'pond' for a waterhole for the critters on my property. I can't keep the damn frogs from fornicating in it and loading the pond with hundreds of tadpoles. With them comes nasty pond scum. Anyone have an idea on how to control the frogs and still have the water safe to drink for the animals?
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A few fish... Mud minnows (Killifish) can be bought at most bait stores in the South and do well in hot climates.... Or just a couple of Oscars from the pet store... voracious carnivores. Maybe just a few small perch, bass etc.? Depends on where you live... I had a small bass live for weeks in a 5 gallon bucket in Texas (in the shade). Did quite well under a porch light eating bugs that fell in till I put him back in the river.
LS
What is the connection between tadpoles and pond scum? What sort of pond scum? The green, filamentous kind? Light is a more likely culprit than the tadpoles. If anything, the tadpoles would help control the pond scum as they eat vegetable manner. Can't see that a bit of pond scum would hurt animals either.
If you have hundreds of them they are most likely toad tadpoles...small and black.
No snakes that I've seen. Frogs look weird, kind of a morph between a toad & a frog. Not big enough nor appetizing enough to eat.
What kind of a "pond" is this ?
Lined, unlined ? Liner material ?
Sounds a lot more like your scum issues are because the water is stagnant...
Circulation / filtration equipment ?
Water treatment ?
The tadpoles don't cause the scum. You can get rid of it with filtration [organic and/or mechanical], and aeration [organic and/or mechanical]-- or chemically, if you're so inclined.
When you say 'critters' do you mean livestock, or just local wild critters?
Rec.pond.moderated isn't busy, but it is full of knowledgeable folks. Where you live, dimensions and construction of the pond, what kind of filtration you have, what you are trying to accomplish are all helpful.
Pictures are worth thousands of words.
Jim [my pond is only a couple hundred gallons. The green scum was there early in the first season before the frogs showed up. Then things got balanced out and it became a living pond. The tadpoles currently in residence are Tree frog, Green Frog, bull Frog and Toad-- and the scum has been gone for years. ]
Bluegillsi, bull minnows, or crappies should do it.
No electricity anywhere nearby. It isn't floating scum, it's suspended green algae. I've heavily bleached it followed by draining it, bleaching the soil, then refilling. Have done this several times and it stays reasonably clear until the the tadpoles return. I'm suspecting the slime that holds the frog eggs until they hatch. I bought one of those solar powered floating aerators from HF but it was a POS.
Wild plus neighbor's dogs.
About the size of mine. Is yours aerated?
Now that brought a good chuckle!
bleaching the soil? I'd love to see a picture-- is this a lined pond, or just dug?
I suspect that the tadpoles stay away until the slime returns.
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Yes-- there are plants and that aerate it, and the waterfall adds a bit more. [not much of a waterfall, just a few hundred gallons a day bubbling over some rocks.] When I add water, I also try to splash a bit on the theory that every little bit helps.
My pond is shallow, 8x12ish. There was a bit of green starting this spring before the plants took off. Of the 96 or so square feet of surface area, there is about 15 sq feet of surface open. The rest is shaded with lilies, water lettuce & water hyacinth.
The dog, and the wild critters drink from the top of the waterfall, or along 3-4' of 'beach'.
Jim
Lined, with a few inches of sandy soil covering the liner to protect it from sharp deer hooves.
I guess you meant *frogs*. I skim the tadpoles out with a long handled minnow net but a new batch hatches pretty quick.
Sounds nice. I think I may be fighting a losing battle since I don't have moving water. I wonder if water plants by themselves would be much help? Thanks for the suggestion to post on rec.ponds.moderated. I did and will see what they recommend.
There's a real algae maker. Water can't circulate through the sand & the thing that grows best in stagnant water is algae. It get recommended in older books because nobody was suing EPDM liner-- now you're better off spending the extra on the liner.
I don't know what the cure might be now- maybe someone on rec.ponds.moderated will. If you used EPDM liner, I'd just get all the sand out. Mine is EPDM. Because it was made for a dog wading pond, I lined the shallow end with flat rocks tiled together-- and to the liner- with the black foam made to build waterfalls. That is more to keep it from being slippery than to protect the liner. That stuff is tough.
The 'good' news is-- When the frogs show up you know the pond is healthy.
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Definitely-- A pump would make a world of difference. Even a windmill to help with circulation and aeration.
Plants shade the pond and burn up the nutrients that the algae needs. They might help-- but I think you'll need more.
Good luck with this. Our tiny pond has been one of my favorite entertainments- It is only 50 feet from the house, but is home to hundreds of critters and we've had turkeys and deer stop for a drink. Lilies, water hyacinth, water Hawthorne, cat tails, Elephant Ear (Taro), watercress, and a bunch of mints make it a pretty little spot- with some culinary value to boot.
Jim
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