OT: What will frogs eat and will they mate?

[Paddy Dzell]

Sorry for being well OT but the pond groups are now either defunkt or full of pond life!

We've had a garden pond for about 12 years and it needed complete refurbishment, (the fish, just goldfish and shubunkin had all died off) so everything has gone, from the liner upwards.

We have only just completed the refurb and as yet have no plants and no fish in there (not sure if we should be restocking it at this time of year) and all we have at the moment is literally a pool of water.

My question relates to the fact that for the last 10 years we've had frogs visiting the pond around February and we get lots of frogspawn. I don't know if they'll come back this year but if they do, the pond will be bare. Will they stay and spawn in such conditions? What will they eat if there's no bugs in there or anything?

[ARW]

I thought that they ate snails.

[Chris Hogg]

The frogs and/or toads will almost certainly return and lay eggs (balls of jelly like tapioca from the frogs, long strings of jelly from the toads). I doubt if they're fussy about food at that stage. When the tadpoles hatch, they'll eat algae that will be growing around the edge of the liner. I shouldn't worry - they'll manage OK, and if they don't do well this year, they will next year when the pond has settled down and there's plenty of plant and algal growth to sustain them.

If you want a wild-life pond, don't put fish in it. When I first built my pond, I put no fish in it and the wild-life flourished - dragon flies, damsel flies, water boatmen, pond skaters etc all in and around it. But after a neighbour gave me some goldfish fry, hardly any wild life. The fish ate all the eggs. Even the dragon flies and damsel flies stopped visiting, as if they knew that laying their eggs in it was a fruitless task.

When you re-stock with water-plants, I suggest you quarantine the plants first in buckets or bowls, so that you can remove any duckweed that is in with the plant as it appears, and also any water snails. Some snails are OK, such as the ramshorn, but others such as the great pond snail, can gobble up your pond plants at a great rate. I could never get ramshorn snails to establish in my pond - I think the fish ate the eggs.

[Paddy Dzell]

Chris Hogg expressed precisely :

Cheers Chris, that's brilliant, thanks.

[ss]

Not quite an answer to your question but I get frogs return to my garden every year and I dont have a pond (maybe en route to elsewhere) there are no ponds that I am aware of within a mile of my property.

My previous house I had a very small pond (or big puddle) and after I filled it in I still got frogs every year in the garden.

Quote: ..."Common Frogs spawn in a wide variety of ponds but appear to favour those with a certain degree of water flow. Individuals usually return to the pond in which they were born and will make this journey year after year.".....

[Brian Gaff (Sofa 2)]

I think I'd ask a shop that sells pond stuff. Many of those in such establishments are pond or aquarium people and seem to have a lot of knowledge about stuff like this. Frogs ewill eat anything they can, but the problem is the tadpoles and predation. Are you intending restocking the pond now? Brian

[Brian Gaff (Sofa 2)]

Yes if he wants a clean and fishy pond also needed is some water circulation to help with cleaning and aeration so oxygen gets into the water. I've seen a lot of stagnant and smelly ponds in my time, and fallen into a few. Brian

[Chris Hogg]

[Paddy Dzell]

Brian Gaff (Sofa 2) presented the following explanation :

Not sure if it's wise to do it at this time of year Brian but yes, we do intend to restock. We have a cascade and a new pump and biofilter feeding it.

[Vir Campestris]

Nobody told our frogs that.

The pond is a large plastic liner (OTOH there's been a pond in the garden for at least a couple of hundred years) and we have common frog & toad and at least two species of newt.

I am _not_ going to get any fish!

Andy

[Chris Hogg]

Good man!

[The Natural Philosopher]

If you do, so will the herons.

[Vir Campestris]

We chase them away when we see them. They are partial to a nice fat frog full of eggs.

Andy