Dead tadpoles and froglets

[happypersonwoo]

Can anyone help me with what happened to my tadpoles/froglets? When I went to feed them yesterday morning they were all dead - hundreds (and I mean hundreds!) of dead grey tadpoles and a handfull of froglets all floating on the top of the pond - I am gutted - they were all just turning into frogs and many have already hopped off. The spawn was rescued from an old garden pond which had been emptied but had a little rain water in it. There is a new pond in our garden but they spawned in the puddle. My son rescued the spawn and using an old pond liner set up a tadpole freindly pond with no fish, lots of pond weed and rocks so they could hide and get out and then religiously fed them boiled lettuce, dreid blood worms and later softened fish food. They all thrived and we had hundreds of them until yesterday morning when they were all died. Could it be the warm weather? Please can someone help as I don't want this to happen again next year - is there something we should have been doing? We have been nurturing them since April. Thank you.

[aeshna5]

I suspect a lack of dissolved oxygen in the water; this decreases with a rise temperature + certainly in the south the temperature has been around 30 C. Also if you are adding all this food + it's not eaten, bacteria may deplete the oxygen supply.

To be honest if you have a well balanced pond with pondweed, etc there shouldn't be any need to add any food.

[Dogghound]

I agree with Aeshna that the heat may be to blame although this is not necesserily common. The surplus food could had added to this though. Just as a matter of interest is the pond clear or cloudy? has it suddenly become cloudy?

[dampflippers]

For next year make sure there is lots of plants- underwater oxygenators and also some floating leaves, and marginals to give shade.
Yes, warmth can be a factor as warm water carries less oxygen.
Next year, of you have lots of plants, you will also have lots of pond creatures. If you don't feed them, then some will die, but these will soon be eaten (sorry), and the pond will get in balance.

Another point- is there a ramp or a beach for the froglets to climb out? Make sure there is or the froglets will drown.
(Also make sure there is a ramp or a beach for hedgehogs to climb out if they fall in.)

[Kayleigh]

Sounds to me like the pond is not deep enough and the water has got too hot you said its a small pond..
How deep is it.
It should ideally be between 18" and 2ft
My barrel is 12" and this is really too shallow but it has not been a problem, I top it up in warm weather and there are lots of oxygenating plants and other plants in there.

[Dogghound]

It would be interesting to hear the size of the OP's pond. However frogs do breed in extremely small shallow ponds, pools, bogs, ditches and dykes with little water and they survive fine. I think that the nutrient input into the OP's pond has hit acritical level resulting in the deaths.