Frogs - HELP

[CamberleyWulf]

Hi - I've just found this website today and as alot of people have the knowledge thought I'd ask for help.

I've recently bought a house with two garden ponds and at the weekend spotted we have alot of frogs in both....

The good news is the frogs look (and sound) happy and frisky though only one pond has any frog spawn in it.

My quest for help means I have the following questions:
1) Can a pond have too many frogs in it? If so what is the best thing to do?
2) There use to be fish in one of the pond but the previous owners moved them - should I introduce fish to the ponds - if so which ones will not cause a problem?
3) Link to the 2nd question - will fish help keep the ponds in better balance (avoid the ponds getting a build up of pondweed?)
4) There are alot of leaves at the bottom of the ponds but the frogs use them for shelter/cover - should the leaves be removed?
5) Both ponds look a tad dirty/cloudy - I'm concerned that if I clean them it will scare/affect the current frogs and destroy the spawn in the one pond

Erm - think thats it for now......any help would be fantastic and appreciated

[meinchewster]

Hi there,
1 - that the frogs are plenty can only be a good thing, you can never have enough frogs in a pond so dont worry about it at all

2 - ponds that support aphibians are far more attractive without fish being resident, so if you can, avoid putting fish into the ponds, this will also benefit any newts and invertebrates using the ponds.

3 - as for the leaves, i would definately forget about disturbing the ponds, especially at this time of year, any disturbance is best left til the winter when less wildlife is using the site. If you want to avoid the leaves in future years, place netting over the ponds in autumn when the leaves start to fall.

4 - the water turbidity may be down to the recent rain fall so again no need to panic.

Overall, try not to disrupt the frogs and mess with the ponds and enjoy the spectacle they can offer.

hope this helps.

[diggleken]

hello both and welcome to WAB.
Just to add - fish of a reasonable size , ie not big ones, should be fine, some think they can eat away other wildlife, eggs and so on, but in my experience theres a balance and the plants and animals will find it.
I think the problem with moving in is the not knowing the history of the pond and its wildlife, balance etc etc - there are kits to check Ph etc, but I would just leave it to do its own thing, observe the plantlife and animal activity and enjoy it then change anything you need to in winter or autumn for next year.
But do avoid leaves if possible.
HTH
Ken

[meinchewster]

hi ken and thanks for the welcome.

I dont want to over dramatise the fish bit but the common toad is the only amphibian which doest suffer from fish predation, specifically on spawn and larvae as they are noxious. All 3 species of newt and common frogs can suffer heavy larvae predation to the extent that given the choice, they will not lay in ponds with chemical cues derived from fish.

From a wildlife pond perspective, it is far better to avoid the fish, or if you must have fish just put them in the 1 pond, leaving the other for the wildlife.

[diggleken]

Originally Posted by meinchewster

hi ken and thanks for the welcome.

I dont want to over dramatise the fish bit but the common toad is the only amphibian which doest suffer from fish predation, specifically on spawn and larvae as they are noxious. All 3 species of newt and common frogs can suffer heavy larvae predation to the extent that given the choice, they will not lay in ponds with chemical cues derived from fish.

From a wildlife pond perspective, it is far better to avoid the fish, or if you must have fish just put them in the 1 pond, leaving the other for the wildlife.

Understood - and I wouldnt disagree too much cos we know fish can be counter productive for other wildlife as you say, its just that I have had frogs do very well in my fish pond, plus of course fish will find their own way there as time goes by!
My local newts also do well in fishy farm ponds.
But I guess there's a possible solution - if you must have fish, only a few small ones?
Cheers
Ken

[CamberleyWulf]

Many thanks to you both for the advice.

Must admit been great to watch them - in one pond there seems to be a female though no spawn as yet - what is noticeable is the females tend to be a much lighter colour than the males.

From what I can see there appears alot of young adults but not many females so alot of croaking......