Safe to use chemicals with tadpoles??

[Kayleigh]

Originally Posted by newponder

Thankyou - this is the sort of thing i was concerned about! I wasnt sure how they fed - maybe this is a daft question but is barley straw entirely natural??

I think the bales you buy for ponds is natural (without chemicals) or it would kill fish and wildlife, and that wouldn't go down well with fish keepers.

Like I said, throw the water cress in, you don't need to plan it. When it gets rampant rake it out.

[newponder]

Thankyou Kayleigh - and everyone else who has responded - i'll give it a whirl!!

[Wu]

The best way to reduce blanket weed is to:

1 - Decrease the amount of nutrients in the water.

2 - Increase the amount of the surface which is covered.

The most elegant way of doing this is to bung in more higher order plants (water lillies, for example). They eat the nutrients and grow over the surface, so solving the problem in one neat stroke.

Just don't make my mistake and use duckweed. Although it worked a treat, it has now become a nuisance in its own right !