Frogspawn all gone :(

[bardofely]

Originally Posted by jimmyshoes

Well our spawn has now officially gone to the big duck pond in the sky. Everything seemed to be developing nicely in our tiny 3ft pond, the round balls had started to elongate and were starting to develop tails, then suddenly the jelly seemed to start deteriorating.
Within a few days only a tiny clump remained and the jelly was no longer thick and gelatinous, but rather watery and the developing tadpoles seemed to be floating around freely rather than safe inside the spawn.
After this the remaining clump disappeared and the pond became rather cloudy. I assume this is due to the remnants of the spawn starting to decompose.
In my previous post I mentioned that I suspected something was eating the spawn, can anyone suggest if this is still the most likely cause of what happened or could it be a problem with the water chemistry or some kind of infestation in the pond?
We've had the pond for 3 years now. The first year we got some spawn from a friend and it was very successful. The second year we were given some more but this sank without trace (I suspected it was killed by frost) Now for the first time this year we had spawn that was naturally laid and it's failed.
I don't want this to happen again and if needs be I'll dig out the pond and put in a bigger one with a proper filter ready for next year!!!

Kenny

It sounds like normal spawn development to me - it is supposed to get thinner and disintegrate and thus free the developed tadpoles. It will also to varying degrees foul the water because it contains nutrients that bacteria, algae and fungi can utilise although unless in a very small space this shouldn't be a problem.

[jetpenny]

I have had trouble with ducks settling on my pond, which is not big enough to accommodate them. Today I chased them off, but noticed immediatelt afterwards that a huge dollop of frogspawn had vanished! There could only be one answer, and hence the current persistent visits. The ducks do also churn up the pond, sometimes in the early ours without being noticed.

[jetpenny]

Frogspawn also now all gone to ducks. Are they short of other foods this year?

[twitchyt]

I lost all the spawn in pond last year due to late frost, this year its in abundance, the first tiny tads just appeared yesterday, which suprised me as l had seen algae on the spawn, but they look fine. Re birds eating them, on walking near a drying out ditch with spawn in a rook and magpie were dipping their beaks in, on seeing me come near became hostile towards me, as if l was going to pinch their meal, l did scoop up some for my pond, left and the birds returned to resume feasting.

[iancannes]

Frog spawn sinks. That's why frogs lay it amongst weed. If something causes it to move (like a frog) it may sink. If it's suddenly dosappeared I bet its on the bottom. If left there it will die as spawn needs oxygen and sunlight to develope. Try and feel it with your hand, and if you can get a sieve to lift it back to the top, then plonk it in some thivk weed. Don't try and pick it up with your hands as it will fall thru and you will harm it.

[Kayleigh]

Originally Posted by iancannes

Frog spawn sinks. That's why frogs lay it amongst weed. If something causes it to move (like a frog) it may sink. If it's suddenly dosappeared I bet its on the bottom. If left there it will die as spawn needs oxygen and sunlight to develope. Try and feel it with your hand, and if you can get a sieve to lift it back to the top, then plonk it in some thivk weed. Don't try and pick it up with your hands as it will fall thru and you will harm it.

I should imagine its all gone by now as this thread is 5 years old.