Frog Related Concern

Stomperone · #1 (**permalink**) 04-03-2009, 09:25 PM

We Dug a pond last year and it is now full of spawn which already has the slightly elongated black spots of tadpoles ..
I am really pleased about it .. but... The pond also has a few large goldfish fish in it.. The Pond does has shallow edges that the fish can't really get into and a few pots with plants in but the plants are not very mature so offer no shelter

My first question is is there a likelyhood that the fish will eat all of the tadpoles?

The second question is would it be safer to transfer the spawn into a 3ft fish tank submerged in the pond.. the tank would be filled with water from the pond..

Or if there are any more wise suggestions I am open to them

Thankyou
Pete

Stomperone · #2 (**permalink**) 05-03-2009, 04:43 PM

well thanks guys

guess no one knows ..

Dogghound · #3 (**permalink**) 05-03-2009, 04:59 PM

Yes the fish will eat the tadpoles, so keep them feed up on pellets etc so they avoid them. If you can provide extra places for the tdpoles to hide this would be great.

How about transfer the fish into the tank

. If not maybe afew tadpoles, I doubt the fish will wipe out the lot of them to be honest. Tadpoles are always best left in their birth pool, I would'nt advise you take them out as this has several further implications such as food, temperature, water quality and so on.

steve deighton · #4 (**permalink**) 05-03-2009, 05:00 PM

hello pete chances are the fish will eat some of the spawn but if theres only a few fisj in there they wont eat it all once the spawn hatches the tadpoles will find hiding places in all sorts of nooks and crannys so dont worry let nature do its thing i wouldnt reccomend putting the spawn in a tank as tadpoles are messy and will soon dirty it up plus they need food and nutrients from the pond also remember only around twenty percent of the tadpoles will live to be frogs this is why they lay such large quantitys in the first place so just leave them to it and wait to see some froglets!

Stomperone · #5 (**permalink**) 05-03-2009, 08:45 PM

Thanks Steve and doghound .. I appreciate your advice.. I will leave it as it is ... You basically confirmed what I thought but I thought I ought to make sure ..
I also thought that seing as how the tadpoles are going to out number the fish by about 500 - 1 I would have said that there might be a chance of some surviving. Or at worst have some very very fat fish. The fish are quite large around 5-7" so I guess I could also put some plastic fencing around the edge to give the tadpoles a better chance..

Thanks once again
Peter