Refilling a pond

[Digifrog]

Hello fellow WABbees

In october I shall clean out my small pond and refill it with fresh water. However I have a slight issue. I just read this.

"Frogs cannot tolerate chlorine in their water. Above all else, you must provide them with water free of chlorine or they will die. If you are using tap water please note that letting it stand will not always neutralize the chlorine that is added in. Some cities now add Chloramine, which is stable to aging, so it must be filtered with a carbon filter or neutralized with a powder or pellet (available at any pet store). "

I don't have a water butt, and the only option to me at the moment is to refill the pond with tap water. I do though have some chlorine neutralizing liquid, a few drops per litre. I'm not sure what brand the neutralizing liquid is as the box has gone. The liquid is a purpley blue colour. I usually add this to the water to the correct ratio, and hope that after a few days the water is safe. I am a bit worried though about the chloromine mentioned.

Can anyone suggest what would be the safest thing to do prior to me going to a pet store? What would you use if you didn't have a waterbutt?

In february I seperated one of 2 clumps of frog spawn. One was left in the pond, the other was segregated in a plantpot filled with the same existing pond water. The tadpoles in the plant pot seem to be doing OK. Getting fat and appear to be growing soundly. What worries me is that I have not seen any of the tadpoles that were left in the pond since they hatched, even though I do know they hatched and were there for a little while swimming around. I fished one out as it was swimming around in circles on the surface, chasing its' tale (?) I thought it might have been affected by something so I added him to the others in the plant pot and seems OK.

Does anyone have any ideas, answers that can stop me worrying?

Thanks in advance.

Scotty

[m1.carson]

Hi,

I suspect there won't be any frogs in your pond in October, so the water will in effect have from October till about the following March to loose the chlorine content.

we've just cleaned ours, and the newts seem happy enough, we didn't see any frogs before we started work about two weeks ago, they seem to leave after the mating season.

Max.

[m1.carson]

Hi,

Have to take some of that back, I said no frogs, well there are now two in there, thats after about two weeks of re-filling with a small waterfall and fountain running continously.

Approximately 450 gallon pond.

Good luck,
Max.

[Digifrog]

Hi Max

Thanks a lot. I think I would probably be safe with the adult frogs using tap water (with a neutralizer). It's the tadpoles/juvenile frogs I'm worried about. You're right, if I wait until october, fill the pond steadily with tap water/neutralizer, then they should be ok.

My second problem though still stands.

Scotty

[Gill Catton]

I use Aqua safe to make tap water safe for my fish tanks, I'd imagine it would work the same in your pond.
Don't forget its not just frogs that need safe water, adding only chlorinated tap water will kill off all the microbes and bacteria that break down the waste from other animals and keep the water clean and habitable, not to mention all the invertebrates that make up your pond's food web.