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tadpole: |
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pippa Member Joined: 05 May 2003 No. of posts: 1  View other posts by pippa |
Posted: 05 May 2003 I have inherited one tadpole in weed put into my new (7 week old ) pond. Tadpole has now survived 3 weeks and is getting plumper. Should I feed tadpole small bits of meat or do I assume he will be sustained by little life there is in new pond? Two adult frogs have also found way into pond - will they eat tadpole ? Should I take tadpole out until he is grown or leave him to take his chances ? Advice......... please Pippa pippa |
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Gemma Fairchild Krag Committee Joined: 14 Feb 2003 No. of posts: 193 View other posts by Gemma Fairchild |
Posted: 06 May 2003 Hi Pippa, I moved your post to where it will get more views. I think your best to leave the tadpole to take its chances in the pond as it is growing well. Remember though that very few tadpoles survive to be little frogs and even fewer live to become adults. The good thing is that adult frogs have already found the pond, so there is a chance they will spawn there in the spring and you will have many tadpoles next year. (Remember though, if you want frogs - NO FISH in the pond, they will eat spawn and tadpoles) ----RAUK e-Forum---- 
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Nicola Member Joined: 10 May 2003 No. of posts: 4 View other posts by Nicola |
Posted: 10 May 2003 I am a novice with ponds and tadpoles... I also have tadpoles for the first time. I re-filled a small garden pond last autumn and in early March/Late Feb I noticed a large amount of frog spawn (I live in the West Midlands). Unfortunatley my pond leaks and I have been re-filling with water and adding some 'fresh start' pond treatment - I don't know if I am adding too much or too little but so far the tadpoles are doing well. I am now only 'topping up' with a very small amount of the fresh start and am using my watering can instead of using the hose - will the tap water be ok without the fresh start/can I use too much of the fresh start ? (It needs topped up once a week at the moment.) I only added a couple of airiating plants when I re-filled the pond. It has a big bush and trees nearby and they have provided leaves at the bottom of the pond. It looks like there is some vegitation growing on the op of the pond (very small light green 'leaves'). I added some barley hay when I noticed the frogsawn to try and keep the water ok. I have no idea if this is enough for the water health and that of the tadpoles. An adult frog returns to the pond and sits in the water every couple of days...and the tadpoles look very large now (but still with no legs). I noticed one that was dying yesterday and hope its not due to the water quality ? The tadpoles appear to be black but the one that was dying looked brown/reddish. Is there anything else I can do - should I be feeding the tadpoles/is there enough food for them. There must be at least a hundred or so in the pond - and its small (around 3ft by 4ft - I wasn't planning on the tadpoles !). Should I be doing anything to make sure they are ok in terms of how I re-fill with water ? |
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Gemma Fairchild Krag Committee Joined: 14 Feb 2003 No. of posts: 193 View other posts by Gemma Fairchild |
Posted: 11 May 2003 Hi Nicola, I will try and find out about the use of "Fresh start", unless another member can advise beforehand. Couple of points, rotting leaves are not such a good thing in the bottom of a pond as they can reduce the oxygen content, the "leaf" weed is duckweed, remove it if possible before it takes hold, as it will very quickly cover the entire surface of the pond excluding light and causing problems. I've always found a good way to condition a new wildlife pond is to simply add a good amount of garden soil (frogs can hibernate in this too at the bottom of the pond), though in this case I would wait for the Autumn when the tadpoles have left (A good time to also clear out the rotting leaves), as it will upset the water balance for a few days. David Bird advised me early in the year to feed tadpoles on defrosted frozen spinach, they did very well on this and I now have lots of little frogs, so if you are worried that there is not enough food in the pond adding some of this would be good, it's fairly easy to judge the amounts as they will go straight to it to feed, it's available in most supermarkets, just add more when it is all used up. ----RAUK e-Forum----
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Gemma Fairchild Krag Committee Joined: 14 Feb 2003 No. of posts: 193 View other posts by Gemma Fairchild |
Posted: 13 May 2003 Nicola, I have spoken to Nick Meade the London Pond doctor at Froglife, this is his advice: Don't use the Fresh Start or any other chemical treatment it is not needed. For your size of pond adding an inch of fresh tap water daily will not cause problems. You can stand the water for 24 hours in a container with a large surface area if you need to add more, this is enough time for the chlorine to evaporate. Add some emergent plants, this will help keep nutrients levels lower in the pond avoiding future problems, if the pond is in full sun, 2/3rds full of plants would be ideal. He also said it was probably unnecessary to add any food if the tadpoles are growing well. If the duck weed persists and covers the pond, it is a sign that the pond is too nutrient rich. Adding chlorine in the long term from tap water will only make this worse. Hope this helps Gemma ----RAUK e-Forum----
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Caleb Forum Coordinator Joined: 17 Feb 2003 No. of posts: 448 View other posts by Caleb |
Posted: 13 May 2003 Gemma- you say that adding chlorine via tap water will increase nutrient levels in the pond. Is it not the case that this only applies where chloramines rather than chlorine is added to it? Chloramines are compounds of chlorine and ammonia- hence the ammonia will supply extra nitrogen. They're more stable than chlorine- leaving the water standing doesn't get rid of them. There's an article on chloramination in water treatment here: http://www.wrcplc.co.uk/downloads/news/Chloramination_Nov_02.pdf I don't know how many, or which, water treatment plants in the UK use chloramine. An ammonia test should give a positive result on chloramine treated water, negative for chlorine. |
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Gemma Fairchild Krag Committee Joined: 14 Feb 2003 No. of posts: 193 View other posts by Gemma Fairchild |
Posted: 13 May 2003 I've no idea Caleb, I am only repeating the advice Nick gave me, his suggestion was the continued adding of tap water would cause eutrophication of the pond - so I guess the solution in the long term is to repair it. The advice is to add tap water in the short term so the pond does not dry up, and to discontinue adding tap water in the long term. You can contact Nick via Froglife ----RAUK e-Forum----
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David Bird Forum Specialist Joined: 17 Feb 2003 No. of posts: 515 View other posts by David Bird |
Posted: 13 May 2003 The problem with adding tap water to anything where evaporation will occur such as a pond or fish tank is that the dissolved salts will gradually increase. Some of these such as Nitrates will be nutrients for plants and in a pond usually cause the water to go green in the spring due to a phytoplankton bloom. The duckweed will also grow well if there are excess nutrients and will quickly cover the surface cutting out the light which will cause the algal bloom to disappear but will also cut out the light to all the submerged plants which will then start to become very weak. The duck weed will also cut out heat from sunlight getting into the pond which will remain a lot cooler than it should, this will slow the development of tadpoles, this cooling also occurs if you have a thick layer of filamentous algae (blanket weed ) in the pond and the bottom layer of water will be cooler than normal. In hard water areas the continual addition of water will cause the Calcium Carbonate and Bicarbonate levels to rise and this can sometimes manifest itself with a chalky layer on the leaves of the aquatic plants, some species can cope with this whilst others cannot and the leaves die. It is always wise to wash all new plants to try to make certain that there are no fronds of duckweed on them as they do multiply at a frightening speed. British Herpetological Society Librarian and member of B.H.S Conservation Committee. Self employed Herpetological Consultant and Field Worker. |
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GemmaJF Admin Group Joined: 25 Jan 2003 No. of posts: 2090  View other posts by GemmaJF |
Posted: 14 May 2003 Thanks David, that gives a much clearer picture Gemma Gemma Fairchild, Independent Ecological Consultant |
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Nicola Member Joined: 10 May 2003 No. of posts: 4 View other posts by Nicola |
Posted: 25 May 2003
Thanks very much for your help. I have started to remove duckweed as it has started to overtake the surface of the pond - not all of it - leaving it to cover just under half of the pond. Will also leave the water standing for a couple of days before topping-up. Thanks again Nicola
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dave n dogs Member Joined: 17 Jan 2004 No. of posts: 13 View other posts by dave n dogs |
Posted: 18 Jan 2004 Hiya folks, Nicola, have you traced the leak yet? Assuming it is not evaporation, could you get hold of some large containers (spare but clean wheelie bin, ideal), maybe some storage tubs and such? Transfer as much pond water as possible and plants/aquatic life to this temporary storage. Clean out the sediment, again keep it if possible. Inspect the 'empty hole in the ground' for obtrusive tree roots etc. If no roots or projections are obvious, re-line the pond with a pond liner. Replace the kept water, plants and such. It is very difficult to understand anothers problems from afar, may I suggest you seek the help of a experienced pond keeper in your local area. Don't be fooled by retail outlets and such. best wishes dave n dogs
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