Tadpoles eating fish in pond???
stella @ stejonda
I'm new here and hoping for some advice. Our pond has 7 fish in it.
Until frogs and tadpoles arrived, they seemed happy and healthy. Since
the pond has been taken over by 11 frogs and a huge number of tadpoles 1
fish has died, one has lost half its tail and another has a large area
on its body chewed. The tadpoles seem aggressive eaters and I'm
wondering if they are chewing the fish.
If this is likely, I would want to remove as many tadpoles as I can and
continue rearing them in a tank feeding them boiled lettuce. I have done
this successfully before. Next year I plan to remove the spawn early and
do this. What do people think?
Stella Day (Dave's wife)
--
stella @ stejonda
Natalie
>
> If this is likely, I would want to remove as many tadpoles as I can and
> continue rearing them in a tank feeding them boiled lettuce. I have done
> this successfully before. Next year I plan to remove the spawn early and
> do this. What do people think?
>
Welcome to URG Stella :-)
I don't know whether it is the tadpoles eating your fish but at our school,
each year, our Reception Class watches frog spawn turn into tadpoles and
then into froglets. At that stage they are returned to the pond ;-) We do
not normally give them any additional food other than changing the water in
the tank, always with fresh pondwater.
HTH
Natalie
ned
> Hi everyone
>
> I'm new here and hoping for some advice. Our pond has 7 fish in it.
> Until frogs and tadpoles arrived, they seemed happy and healthy.
Since
> the pond has been taken over by 11 frogs and a huge number of
> tadpoles 1 fish has died, one has lost half its tail and another has
> a large area on its body chewed. The tadpoles seem aggressive eaters
> and I'm wondering if they are chewing the fish.
It's true that big tadpoles will eat little tadpoles but unless your
fish are tiddlers, I would have thought there was a greater likelihood
of the fish eating the tadpoles.
One possibility is that there may not be sufficient food in the pond
to support all the inhabitants and its the fish who are indulging in a
bit of canabalism. There is a magic formula about calculating the
total length of fish in the pond against the surface area of the pond.
(Something along the lines of X sq ft of surface area for every Y
inches of fish length.)
Or it could be a fungal disease affecting the fish. I doubt it is
voracious tadpoles.
--
ned
shannie
"stella @ stejonda" <ign...@stejonda.freeuk.com> wrote in message
news:qHjVNYAN...@stejonda.freeuk.com...
Hi Stella,
Is your pond filtered?...If not you may need to change 50% of the water, the
arrival of the frogs and tadpoles will have used up a lot of oxygen in the
pond and the excrement of all the spawn, tadpoles and frogs could cause a
chronic increase in amonia to form. If it is filtered it may be a good idea
to take a look at the filter system make sure it is working effeciently. (it
may need cleaning more regularly because of the extra load) Is it goldfish
you have?...there are a couple of diseases that spring to mind (caused by a
bacterial/fungal buildup) one is fin rot, a fungus that affects the fins and
eats them away, the other I cannot recall the name for is where the tail
splits and rots away and this is a sign of poor water quality. There are a
number of treatments available at your local fish shop to add to the water
that will help to give the fish a boost, explain the prob to the people
there and they will advise you the best treatments to use,( tho you should
only use one at a time.) Also you could catch a fish, put it in a large
plastic bag along with the pond water and take it along with you to the
shop, they should be able to tell you what is wrong and how best to deal
with the situation.
Hope this helps
Colin (Shannie's partner)--
Chris Hogg
When I was living in digs many years ago, my landlady's little boy
brought home a jam-jar of tadpoles (as you do at that age). They had
no pond, and the best thing she could think to do with them was to put
them in the archetypal goldfish bowl overnight, along with the
solitary goldfish.
Next morning, no tadpoles, one fat goldfish and floods of tears from
the little boy!
I guess tadpoles eat goldfish eat tadpoles.
--
Chris
E-mail: christopher[dot]hogg[at]virgin[dot]net
dave @ stejonda
<sha...@privacy.net> writes
>
>Hi Stella,
>Is your pond filtered?...If not you may need to change 50% of the water, the
>arrival of the frogs and tadpoles will have used up a lot of oxygen in the
>pond and the excrement of all the spawn, tadpoles and frogs could cause a
>chronic increase in amonia to form.
==Yes, it is filtered and Dave checked the system recently and said it
was O.K. The fish who died did have fungus and we treated the pond but
it could be this is another outbreak. We have recently added 2 fish,
making a total of 7 in a pond 2 metres in diameter and a metre deep. One
of the new fish appears nervous and a bit aggressive.
> If it is filtered it may be a good idea
>to take a look at the filter system make sure it is working effeciently. (it
>may need cleaning more regularly because of the extra load) Is it goldfish
>you have?...
==Yes they are all goldfish - 3 ordinary ones and the rest shibunkins
(hope this is the right spelling).
>Hope this helps
>Colin (Shannie's partner)--
Thanks for these suggestions. perhaps we shall have to treat the pond
again and after removing the dodgy fish. Problem is the fish can suffer
shock being moved and die from that.
Stella
--
dave @ stejonda
dave @ stejonda
<m...@privacy.net> writes
>It's true that big tadpoles will eat little tadpoles but unless your
>fish are tiddlers, I would have thought there was a greater likelihood
>of the fish eating the tadpoles.
==There are so many tadpoles; they don't seem to be disappearing.
>
>One possibility is that there may not be sufficient food in the pond
>to support all the inhabitants and its the fish who are indulging in a
>bit of canabalism. There is a magic formula about calculating the
>total length of fish in the pond against the surface area of the pond.
>(Something along the lines of X sq ft of surface area for every Y
>inches of fish length.)
==Thanks, this is useful. I feed them most days.
>
>Or it could be a fungal disease affecting the fish. I doubt it is
>voracious tadpoles.
==Yes, it may well be fungal. The one who died had a fungal infection
and we treated the pond.
What people seem to be suggesting is that frogs and fish can live
happily together but I'm not sure that I'm convinced. The fish seemed
really happy before the arrival of the frogs. I feel we may have to
choose between frogs and fish. :-)
Thanks for all the advice and information.
JennyC
"ned" <m...@privacy.net> wrote
> > I'm new here and hoping for some advice. Our pond has 7 fish in
it.
> > Until frogs and tadpoles arrived, they seemed happy and healthy.
> Since
> > the pond has been taken over by 11 frogs and a huge number of
> > tadpoles 1 fish has died, one has lost half its tail and another
has
> > a large area on its body chewed. The tadpoles seem aggressive
eaters
> > and I'm wondering if they are chewing the fish.
>
> It's true that big tadpoles will eat little tadpoles but unless your
> fish are tiddlers, I would have thought there was a greater
likelihood
> of the fish eating the tadpoles.
>
> One possibility is that there may not be sufficient food in the pond
> to support all the inhabitants and its the fish who are indulging in
a
> bit of canabalism. There is a magic formula about calculating the
> total length of fish in the pond against the surface area of the
pond.
> (Something along the lines of X sq ft of surface area for every Y
> inches of fish length.)
http://math.dartmouth.edu/~klbooksite/3.02/302examples/302fish.htm has
the maths........... :~))
>
> Or it could be a fungal disease affecting the fish. I doubt it is
> voracious tadpoles.
> ned
>
>
JennyC
"JennyC" <Jen...@chello.nl> wrote
> >
> There is a magic formula about calculating the
> > total length of fish in the pond against the surface area of the
> pond.
> > (Something along the lines of X sq ft of surface area for every Y
> > inches of fish length.)
>
> http://math.dartmouth.edu/~klbooksite/3.02/302examples/302fish.htm
has
> the maths........... :~))
>
And ig thats too difficult then
http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Hills/8699/pondlist.htm has the
following :
"A good rule of thumb for determing how many fish, and what size, is
to have one inch of fish for every eight gallons of water"
Jenny
Sue & Bob Hobden
Stella wrote in message >
> >
> >Or it could be a fungal disease affecting the fish. I doubt it is
> >voracious tadpoles.
>
> ==Yes, it may well be fungal. The one who died had a fungal infection
> and we treated the pond.
Frogs can and often do bring disease into garden ponds by moving from
infected places. Red Leg is a serious and common disease of frogs that is
transmitted to fish causing serious problems.
Every spring I treat my pond with a suitable anti-parasite/bacteria and the
fish (and arriving frogs) stay healthy.
>
> What people seem to be suggesting is that frogs and fish can live
> happily together but I'm not sure that I'm convinced. The fish seemed
> really happy before the arrival of the frogs. I feel we may have to
> choose between frogs and fish. :-)
>
Quite!
--
Bob
www.pooleygreengrowers.org.uk/ about an Allotment site in
Runnymede fighting for it's existence.
ned
> "ned" <m...@privacy.net> wrote
>>
<snip>
>> There is a magic formula about calculating the
>> total length of fish in the pond against the surface area of the
>> pond. (Something along the lines of X sq ft of surface area for
>> every Y inches of fish length.)
>
> http://math.dartmouth.edu/~klbooksite/3.02/302examples/302fish.htm
has
> the maths........... :~))
>
ROFL
The formula I was thinking of was considerably simpler than that!!!
:-)
--
ned
ned
'Still not what I was thinking of but, a whole lot more helpful. ;-)
--
ned
cpemma
Tadpoles will chew on a sick fish (it can't swim away from them) and as
people have said, the extra poop & ammonia in the water may cause the
sickness in the first place.
See rec.ponds FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions):
http://www.geocities.com/justinm090/faq.html#top for more info.
Dee
news:qHjVNYAN...@stejonda.freeuk.com...
In a good year (for frogs) we can have 20+ in a pond only about 9 feet by 4
feet. The frogs have produced 2 whole bucket loads of spawn which I do not
believe is ideal for such a small pond.
When I get an excess of spawn I take out all but a couple of clumps and lose
the rest in the garden.
This may seem mean but I believe getting the right balance in the pond is
important both for
fish and amphibians.
AndyP
Jeff Taylor
<Jen...@chello.nl> writes
>"A good rule of thumb for determing how many fish, and what size, is
>to have one inch of fish for every eight gallons of water"
>
>Jenny
>
>
What do people do when the fish start to breed?
My pond was well under-stocked with goldfish when I set it up but
they've been breeding for the last 3 years.
Quite a few have grown to about 5 inches and so far this year I've seen
a dozen or more babies.
Thanks,
--
Jeff Taylor
dave @ stejonda
<hob...@btinternet.com> writes
>Frogs can and often do bring disease into garden ponds by moving from
>infected places. Red Leg is a serious and common disease of frogs that
>is transmitted to fish causing serious problems. Every spring I treat
>my pond with a suitable anti-parasite/bacteria and the fish (and
>arriving frogs) stay healthy.
We did find a fish with a fungal disease earlier this year - we removed
it, treated it but it died. I then treated the pond with FC+.
I also bought a water testing kit - I'll test the pond later today.
--
dave @ stejonda
dave @ stejonda
<ign...@stejonda.freeuk.com> writes
ph 7.5 Ok
Nitrite 0 ppm Ok
O2 13-15 ppm Ok
Ammonia 0 ppm Ok
Chlorine/Chloramine 0 ppm Ok
BUT Chlorine/Chloramine in tap water 0.3 ppm and we have been refilling
the pond from the tap which I guess may have been stressing the fish -
the rain-water barrels have just found another use.
--
dave @ stejonda
shannie
"dave @ stejonda" <ign...@stejonda.freeuk.com> wrote in message
news:RkZrlyIj...@stejonda.freeuk.com...
If you run out of rainwater, don't panic, get some tap water
conditioner/dechlorinator ie. Tap Safe by Tetra (one I use) not only does it
remove chlorine/Chloramine, but removes heavy metals from tap water which
are also damaging to fish, however, you should be aware that rainwater is
likely to be somewhere in the region of ph 5-6 which is acidic and goldfish
require alkaline water of 7-7.5. If you test your rainwater and find it's
too acidic you can put crushed oystershell in your filter which will bring
your ph up. There are also other things like Arm & Hammer baking soda which,
if you add that to the water the max ph it will reach is 8.2 (normally sits
around 7.9) however you have to be careful not to raise the ph by more than
.2 per day as this may lead to ph shock and kill the fish, so it needs to be
done very slowly.
Not sure if this is going off topic or not so if you want to mail me please
do
shannieatutvinternetdotcom (just replace the usual)
HTH
Colin (shannies partner)
synd...@gmail.com
j...@expansionanalysis.co.uk
Jim