Wanting to keep tads ALIVE this year.

Hi,
I have the 70 gallon preformed pondlet in the backyard. Last year i
had lots of toad spawn. I put most of them in a plastic tub with
plants and shelter and food. They were dead in no time. I was afraid
of anomia spike in the small pond and that is why i moved them. This
year i am afraid if i leave them and they die, that my 3 goldfish will
also die. Then again, goldfish are rather hardy. I have no pump, etc.
I run the aerator day and night for 2 months in the summer if it
isn't raining. (I use the long orange trouble light cord when i want
light out there and plug the aerator into that)

Should i do frequent water changes when the tads come and hope for the
best? I don't want everyone to die this time. I felt so bad.

I also have this (sorry, don't recall the name) bag with little white
rocks (?) that i am supposed to rinse every two weeks for ammonia
control.

"jammer" wrote in message
...

Hi,
I have the 70 gallon preformed pondlet in the backyard. Last year i
had lots of toad spawn. I put most of them in a plastic tub with
plants and shelter and food. They were dead in no time. I was afraid
of anomia spike in the small pond and that is why i moved them. This
year i am afraid if i leave them and they die, that my 3 goldfish will
also die. Then again, goldfish are rather hardy. I have no pump, etc.
I run the aerator day and night for 2 months in the summer if it
isn't raining. (I use the long orange trouble light cord when i want
light out there and plug the aerator into that)

Should i do frequent water changes when the tads come and hope for the
best? I don't want everyone to die this time. I felt so bad.

I also have this (sorry, don't recall the name) bag with little white
rocks (?) that i am supposed to rinse every two weeks for ammonia
control.



Get a cheap submersible pump, some tubing, a 2+ gallon plant pot and some
pea gravel. Put the tube on the pump, pump in the water and the outlet of
the tube towards the top of the pot. Fill pot with gravel and set it so it
drains through the gravel and back into the pond. You can plant mint or
something in the gravel. This trickle tower/bio filter will make your water
cleaner, aerate and eat the ammonia for about the same electricity as the
aerator.

I have a similar arrangement with a pondlet twice the size and way too many
fish but I hatched three or four batches of hundreds of teeny toads last
year.

It is not possible to buy a pump at this time, and i don't have
electricity out there all the time, either, but i will keep this info.




On Sun, 15 Feb 2004 15:34:25 GMT, "gribbee"
wrote:

"jammer" wrote in message
.. .

Hi,
I have the 70 gallon preformed pondlet in the backyard. Last year i
had lots of toad spawn. I put most of them in a plastic tub with
plants and shelter and food. They were dead in no time. I was
afraid
of anomia spike in the small pond and that is why i moved them.
This
year i am afraid if i leave them and they die, that my 3 goldfish
will
also die. Then again, goldfish are rather hardy. I have no pump,
etc.
I run the aerator day and night for 2 months in the summer if it
isn't raining. (I use the long orange trouble light cord when i
want
light out there and plug the aerator into that)

Should i do frequent water changes when the tads come and hope for
the
best? I don't want everyone to die this time. I felt so bad.

I also have this (sorry, don't recall the name) bag with little
white
rocks (?) that i am supposed to rinse every two weeks for ammonia
control.



Get a cheap submersible pump, some tubing, a 2+ gallon plant pot and
some
pea gravel. Put the tube on the pump, pump in the water and the
outlet of
the tube towards the top of the pot. Fill pot with gravel and set it
so it
drains through the gravel and back into the pond. You can plant mint
or
something in the gravel. This trickle tower/bio filter will make
your water
cleaner, aerate and eat the ammonia for about the same electricity as
the
aerator.

I have a similar arrangement with a pondlet twice the size and way
too many
fish but I hatched three or four batches of hundreds of teeny toads
last
year.

Jammer,
Mother Nature doesn't have electricity
either but she does have something you
don't have - more water.
Your gallons just aren't set up for lots and
lots of critters and unfortunately the parent
amphibians haven't a clue about the best conditions for their babies. That's
why they have so many, they're such poor parents that numbers make up for their
poor nursery choices.
Anyway you can get a bigger pond(s) out there
before the toads show up?


kathy :-)
A HREF="http://www.onceuponapond.com/"Once upon a pond/A

"jammer" wrote in message
...
It is not possible to buy a pump at this time, and i don't have
electricity out there all the time, either, but i will keep this info.




I have a $15 Danner 80 GPH pump in this pond, so you don't need much.
Without circulation, plenty of plants is your best bet. I would keep the
tadpoles in the pond, but maybe do a 10% water change every week. I use the
water on my plants and top off the pond that much anyway.

Tadpoles are tiny and won't add much ammonia, and 3 goldfish aren't going to
produce much either, so you will probably be fine. My fish got romantic, so
I ended up with 17 fish in a pond twice your size, plus the tadpoles, and
none died.

You are 100% correct. No electricity but more water. No, i had
surgery and won't be doing the pond thing for a while. I guess i will
just hope for the best. Can you answer me two questions? If i have no
choice and just want to see how it plays out, #1- how often should i
do partial water changes? #2- will an aerator help with ammonia at
all? I could probably lose my fish before i went through the mass
killing of tads that went on last year. If things go my way in the
next few months, i will be able to afford and take on another pond
project and will go for electricity, etc. But not this ponding
season.

Back to being a reg until about october 2004...




On 15 Feb 2004 23:03:08 GMT, EROSPAM (Ka30P) wrote:


Jammer,
Mother Nature doesn't have electricity
either but she does have something you
don't have - more water.
Your gallons just aren't set up for lots and
lots of critters and unfortunately the parent
amphibians haven't a clue about the best conditions for their babies.
That's
why they have so many, they're such poor parents that numbers make up
for their
poor nursery choices.
Anyway you can get a bigger pond(s) out there
before the toads show up?


kathy :-)
A HREF="http://www.onceuponapond.com/"Once upon a pond/A

Thank you!




On Sun, 15 Feb 2004 23:31:18 GMT, "gribbee"
wrote:

"jammer" wrote in message
.. .
It is not possible to buy a pump at this time, and i don't have
electricity out there all the time, either, but i will keep this
info.




I have a $15 Danner 80 GPH pump in this pond, so you don't need much.
Without circulation, plenty of plants is your best bet. I would keep
the
tadpoles in the pond, but maybe do a 10% water change every week. I
use the
water on my plants and top off the pond that much anyway.

Tadpoles are tiny and won't add much ammonia, and 3 goldfish aren't
going to
produce much either, so you will probably be fine. My fish got
romantic, so
I ended up with 17 fish in a pond twice your size, plus the tadpoles,
and
none died.

"jammer" wrote in message
...
You are 100% correct. No electricity but more water. No, i had
surgery and won't be doing the pond thing for a while. I guess i will
just hope for the best. Can you answer me two questions? If i have no
choice and just want to see how it plays out, #1- how often should i
do partial water changes? #2- will an aerator help with ammonia at
all? I could probably lose my fish before i went through the mass
killing of tads that went on last year. If things go my way in the
next few months, i will be able to afford and take on another pond
project and will go for electricity, etc. But not this ponding
season.
===================
Why don't you just net most of them out and release them in a farm pond or
lake somewhere? That's what I do when the tads show up in my smallest pond.
My larger ponds are netted so they can't breed in them.
--
Carol....
My website:
http://www.heartoftn.net/users/windsong/index.htm
"There are no Atheist suicide bombers."
~~~~~~~~~{@ ~~~~~~~~~{@ ~~~~~~~~~{@

On Sun, 15 Feb 2004 23:31:18 GMT, "gribbee"
wrote:

"jammer" wrote in message
.. .
It is not possible to buy a pump at this time, and i don't have
electricity out there all the time, either, but i will keep this
info.




I have a $15 Danner 80 GPH pump in this pond, so you don't need much.
Without circulation, plenty of plants is your best bet. I would keep
the
tadpoles in the pond, but maybe do a 10% water change every week. I
use the
water on my plants and top off the pond that much anyway.

Tadpoles are tiny and won't add much ammonia, and 3 goldfish aren't
going to
produce much either, so you will probably be fine. My fish got
romantic, so
I ended up with 17 fish in a pond twice your size, plus the tadpoles,
and
none died.



Thank you! That makes me feel a little better. I do load up with
plants and will do the weekly water changes. It will be ironic if all
survive and the only reason the ones died last year was because i
moved them. Sigh.....live and learn.

On Sun, 15 Feb 2004 23:31:18 GMT, "gribbee"
wrote:

"jammer" wrote in message
.. .
It is not possible to buy a pump at this time, and i don't have
electricity out there all the time, either, but i will keep this
info.




I have a $15 Danner 80 GPH pump in this pond, so you don't need much.
Without circulation, plenty of plants is your best bet. I would keep
the
tadpoles in the pond, but maybe do a 10% water change every week. I
use the
water on my plants and top off the pond that much anyway.

Tadpoles are tiny and won't add much ammonia, and 3 goldfish aren't
going to
produce much either, so you will probably be fine. My fish got
romantic, so
I ended up with 17 fish in a pond twice your size, plus the tadpoles,
and
none died.



Thank you! That makes me feel a little better. I do load up with
plants and will do the weekly water changes. It will be ironic if all
survive and the only reason the ones died last year was because i
moved them. Sigh.....live and learn.