over the weekend, my pond got infested with thousands of tiny tadpoles. I took a magnified picture of them but it did not turn out too well. I am sure that some frog got very comfortable here but I am concerned with the vast numbers. Are there any natural predators that can thin them out or do I have to do it manually?
any suggestions?

Thanks
Sesco

How big is the pond?
Have you seen any frogs or toads around the pond?
Did you see any eggs? If so, what did they look like?
Do you have fish in the pond? If so, what kinds?
What kind of filtration system do you have?

If your pond is not able to handle the number of tadpoles, you can net some out and move them to another local pond or a kiddie pool to grow up. If you have fish (koi, goldfish, or orfe; smaller fish may eat smaller tadpoles), they may eat some of the tadpoles. A large percentage of the tadpoles will die before turning into adults. Raccoons, herons, perhaps bullfrogs, larger dragonfly larvae, and other such animals will also eat tadpoles.

My frog index is at http://www.fishpondinfo.com/frog.htm

It is only 150 gal. with a 315 gph pump
There are some frog hanging out in the front yard of the house but not have seen any near the pond.
I saw a string of black dots in a clear mucose type tube, all over the pond on Friday and on Monday I found the tadpoles.
I have 3 small koi's about 3" - I got rid of 2 larger ones on your advice.
and a dozen or so mosquito fish...

you shouldnt keep any koi in a 150 gallon pond, they need at least a thousand. You should only have like 3 gold fish.

They are toad tadpoles. It's a little late in the year for toads to breed but not unheard of. Your pond is too small for koi in the long term and too small now for that many toad tadpoles as well. I would net some tadpoles out and move them to another pond or a kiddie pool to grow up.

My toad page - http://www.fishpondinfo.com/toad.htm

i think the mosquito fish may eat some of the smaller tadpoles but im not sure because ive never kept them before.

I've always been of a mind to leave nature alone. It's the best policy. Leave the tadpoles be. The more frogs, the merrier. They eat roaches and other pests.

Yes, mosquito fish eat smaller frog eggs and tadpoles. I don't know if they'd eat the toad tadpoles as they are distasteful. Most fish will try a few and then not do it again. Sesco's pond is not that big and has a lot of presumably toad tadpoles. If some are not removed, it is possible that the ammonia will spike and the oxygen go down far enough to endanger the fish. In those cases, I advise moving some of the tadpoles to another pond or kiddie pool (but not to kill them).

she should move them to a near by water source so the frogs wont get over populated.

I can't find my tadpoles or fish. :(

Might be a good idea to set up a sellers account on Ebay and sell them there....

You could make money from what you don't want...

Tadpoles are selling between $7 and $20.00 for a bunch of 12....



Adreamer2

:(

Awe Margo... I'm sorry... I'm not trying to be unfeeling... But, I think it is more humane to offer them to someone who is searching for them for their pond, than to feed them to a snake or a turtle....

A couple of months back, I was looking for tadpoles for my pond, and when I did, I bought 5 of the mammoth bullfrog tadpoles off Ebay.... I recently watched them morph in approx 1 month ago.... I lost one of them to "Mr. Slithers" (neighborhood snake).......

But, to see them turn into frogs was incredibly exciting!!! And, I don't say that lightly!!! It was a beautiful thing to behold......

I say, sell them to those who want them.... Better to sell them wanted for such a purpose as mine, than to use them to feed another creature or to flush them down the toilett because there are too many of them, or because they are unwanted....

Consider this "spawning" as a blessing to your home... and let it bring the fruit of moolah.... Use it for the good of it... and don't waste the life of it.... make money and let them live!!! It is a good thing!!!!


Adreamer2

i would love to have some more tads for my pond!

tadpoles arent fish by the way but that doesnt matter.

Mr. Slithers? :) Love it! I had a resident snake in my pond named Marty. He was the sweetest little snake imaginable. Here's a pic of him sleeping on top of a frog statue over the pond. Cute, nay?

what type of snake is that?

I also was wondering which species of snake that it is. Where do you live Margo? If you were near me, I would say that it looks like a copperhead but isn't. If that frog were real, he'd eat the snake!

Margo, what were you saying about your fish and tadpoles dissappearing? Were they just out of view? Did you find them?

i think she said she lives on the pan handle of florida.

Hi folks. Yes, I live in the Florida panhandle. Thanks Tom.

Marty is a Florida Banded Water Snake. A friend of mine on another forum told me that. She said she'd pop in sometime. She has a pond with crawdads and stuff in it.

I don't know where my fish and tadpoles went. :(

HI! I popped in! LOL Yep, Marty is a Banded. We have those around here. Unfortunately most people are too lazy to educate themselves and when they see them they scream "MOCCASSIN!" and kill them... :angry: I live in Florida, also. In a swampy/wooded area. I see tons of snakes, turtles, tadpoles, crawfish... you name it. I saw a fox yesterday! I love animals! And everything else about nature! Except mosquitoes and roaches, lol.

OH BOY! YUM IS HERE! YUM IS HERE! :)

WELCOME YUM! :)

Folks, this is Yum. Yum, Folks. :D Yum has interesting pond stories.

I wonder if Bay's coming. Bay has a pond, too.

Welcome Yum. Do you eat opossums? Mosquitoes are an important food source for a lot of animals. I don't like house centipedes myself. I think it's universal that a lot of people see snakes and want to kill them. I saved a black rat snake last month from being tangled in bird netting. My payback was that a few weeks later, it was most likely him/her that ate my 19-day-old chicken, Sprouty.

It couldn't have been the rat snake. It must've been a chicken snake. :D Sorry for your loss. :(

yum you got a zoo! :D . lol.

did she say she did?

wow i missed her name. lol

It's because of her handle "Yummyopossum" that she asked that.

Yum loves opossums. Alive. Right Yum? :D

Anyway, I saw one goldfish today. I saw him the other day, too. It seems there's just one fish in the pond now. And no tadpoles. I'm not sure about Hop Sing. He hides. He could be there someplace.

There's something spooking the fish. The goldfish I saw acts scared. I think there's a night predator afoot. Like a raccoon or opossum. The pond ornaments are always knocked over.
:(

try a video camara.

:D

Thanks for the welcome, y'all!

No, I don't eat Opossums. I looooove Opossums! I got the name from when I was rehabilitating one... I was feeding it a piece of cheese and said "Is that yummy, Opossum?" (yes I talk to animals LOL). I would never eat one!

Totsy's right, it was probably a yellow Chicken Snake (Four Lined) that ate your Chicken. Sorry about your loss. I've lost them to Chicken snakes and Raccoons before.

Yes, I do have a zoo. LOL I joke about charging admission when people come over. :D

Sorry about your critters disappearing, Totsy. That sucks. If the culprit always knocks over the same ornament, try placing an aluminum can with pennies in it in place of the ornament (or in the path to it). When they knock that over the noise should run them off before they have time to commit the crime. Or you could leave something out for them to eat as an alternative. I used to have this one Opossum in particular that came up every night. I set up a little feeding station for him. He/she had a bowl with cat food, a water dispenser and an occasional can of tuna or sardines! :D

Those are great ideas, Yum. I will try them.

My lily pads aren't doing so well, either. I noticed they did better in that "hurricane shelter." I might put them back in the shelter. I wonder if the same culprit is causing my lily pads distress. :(

its possible. If you put the can with the pennys near the pond and they fall in the pond that would be a problem.

Make sure to tape the top of the can so the pennies can't fall out... ;)

The rat snakes are also called chicken snakes. See here for example: http://www.uga.edu/srelherp/snakes/elaobs.htm

Where I live, there are a LOT of black rat snakes and a few corn snakes, garter snakes, and an occasional copperhead. I've never seen any other species. So, the best bet is that it was a black rat snake.

Margo, your problems sound like they could be due to a raccoon. They love to get into trouble at my house and pond. They wash their hands in the cat's water bowl, knock over plants (on land and in the pond), pull up water lilies, dump and break bird baths and feeders, and leave snails and tadpoles out of the water, sometimes partially eaten, othertimes not. We offer them human leftovers and cat food so they love us. Luckily, I've never noticed a decline in my fish populations (pond must be deep enough) but I'm sure they've gotten a few small goldfish and minnows over the years.

they are attracted to the goldfish because they like shiny things. :lol:

Then they should really like the shiny pennies. :D

There are some wicked looking frogs in my pond. :( They have sharp faces that come to a point and a stripe down their sides. They look aggressive. I wonder if they are eating the fish and tadpoles of other frogs.

robyn said a posinous frog from australi now lives in florida and some places in texas. dont ouch it till robyn can comment.

How in the world did they get here? Did they swim? :D

people