I am a pond novice and my backyard pond has attracted frogs. First it was one (really, really loud frog), then two, and tonight I was fishing piles of what I think is angel hair algae out of the pond, I saw a fish (but I didn't put fish in the pond!) then I saw a baby frog....

I have 2 big dogs that are going to start eating these frogs, I just know it. I hate to see the frogs tortured by my dogs or the dogs getting sick from them and I am truly perplexed. I don't even know if having the frogs is a problem or if they can overbreed and take over my yard...etc. Help? Any insight would be appreciated.

Help with the horribly annoying algae would be appreciated too!

I love my pond, but tonight, for the first time, I considered dismantling the whole thing out of frustration....

Thank you.

"Build it, and they will come." Most people who build ponds want frogs. You may have frogs or toads, or both. It would help to know which species that you have. You can listen to frog calls and see photos. I have links on my frog pages at http://www.fishpondinfo.com/frog.htm

It is pretty likely that the species of frogs or toads that you have now are the kind that only come to the ponds in the spring to lay eggs. They will thus leave in a few weeks or month and not come back until next spring. Most such frogs will not want to lay eggs in ponds that have fish. The fish could have gotten there from a person, a bird like a heron dropping it, or as an egg on plants (unless the pond is really new; you didn't say how old it is).

Amphibians of any sort are not likely to take over your yard. Most eggs and tadpoles don't survive. Those that do become adults rarely live to breeding age. That's why they lay so many eggs. You can also remove eggs. I suggest moving them to a nearby natural pond instead of killing them as frogs need all the help they can get.

Frogs won't harm the dogs if they eat them. Toads can though. If you live in Florida, you could have cane toads which are toxic. So, it's important to figure out which species that you have. You can check out frog web sites or post photos for identification.

My page on algae is at http://www.fishpondinfo.com/algae2.htm

Thanks for the feedback. I have been all over your site tonight and it is loaded with wonderful information. Unfortunately I couldn't "hear" my frogs/toads on any of the links I went to.

I am going to keep doing research, but maybe you can ease my mind regarding the poisonous toad comment. Here is a bit of history on my pond, any insight will be much appreciated. I don't want to hurt the frogs/eggs, but I am also concerned with my dogs.

Pond is almost 2 years old (in July). It wasn't until about this past January that the first "rib-it" was heard. Since then, there is at least one other, possibly 2 other frogs around. I had a frog prior to the 2 year old pond that was in a little 50 gallon set up in the front of my house. S/he made it's way from the front yard to the back yard on its own 2 years ago when I took out the small one and added the big one out back. But for the 2 years I had the one in the front I never heard it make a sound. I have never seen the noisy frogs. as soon as i open the sliding glass door they stop making noise.

I live I live in southern California, inland about 50 miles. This has been a really wierd winter--we almost had NO rain until Mid March. Though winter, Jan--mid march has been about 70-85 degrees. Since official "spring" has come, we have been getting rain and it drops to maybe 35 at night and hovers between 55-70 during the day. Maybe my frogs came in January because they thought it was spring? I know it sounds silly but the weather this year is wierd--my Christmas cactus and my Jasmine both bloomed at the same time this year--go figure.
Anyway, summers are hot--it stays between 90-105 from June to September.

The pond has an aquascape? filter/bio system, and is about 12 feet x 8 feet oval and maybe 2 feet deep in the center with a shallower tier/edge and a waterfall. i have no idea how many gallons it is. basically, i thought a pond would be cool and didn't really think about what i was getting into when i had it built.

There is so much info on the internet sometimes it gets overwhelming. I will continue to research information, in the meantime, a little condensed advice would be helpful. Thanks for you time and the great website.
tl

I don't think there are marine/giant toads in CA so they shouldn't be a problem there. I'm not familiar with the species over there since I'm on the opposite coast of the US. I like the site enature.com to find species, and they'll tell you where they are native to. I think there are some CA tree frogs, and you may have those. Tree frogs tend to be very loud but don't stick around all year. The one frog you had last year may be female. Only males call. I'm pretty sure your doggy will be okay (aside from maybe foaming or vomiting) if he eats a frog but try to avoid that by keeping him away from any mass frog gatherings.

If your pond were a box with straight edges, 12'x8'x2', it would be about 1300 gallons. Since it probably has various depths, and the oval takes up less volume, my guess would be 500-800 gallons.