Asked on Sep 15, 2018
How do I clean a filthy frog pond without hurting the frogs?
by
Karen Sigel
+3
Our recently purchased home has two fish ponds, currently occupied only by frogs, which we enjoy. The ponds are filthy, though, filled with years of leaves, mud, and the resulting black-brown water. The frogs don't seem to mind, but we do. We'd like to get pumps into the ponds to get the water moving, but right now, I doubt they'd last 2 minutes before shutting down. And we definitely don't want the frogs to be harmed. Help! Thanks in advance!
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we have frogs and clean our pool every two years...the frogs don't mind at all just make sure they are all out of the pool they will return.
If you pump the pool water on to the garden it is the best fertilizer ...we pump it onto our lawn
As long as there aren’t any tadpoles you should be safe to drain most of the water and scoop out the ick. Pam27780567 is right, it is an excellent fertilizer for your garden. Once you get it clean, and install the pump (IF your climate will support it) consider getting a plecostomus fish or other algae eaters to help keep your pond clean. Certain plants will also help with the overall health of your pond
Start by taking as much of the leaves, and debris out as you can, you can use a pool net or any type of netting that has small holes (not wide holes) if you have any businesses in your area that install and do upkeep of ponds it may be worth going in to check out the chemicals they use or advise to use to help keep ponds clean and clear of harmful stuff. There's a few channels on YouTube that are awesome! Just put in the search bar pond installation and upkeep. Also there's certain fish you can get that will help keep algae from building up.
Thank you all so much! We started over the weekend by pulling out as much sludge as we could and running clear water into the pond. The frogs seemed a little dismayed at first, but hopped right back in when we were finished.
Hi Karen: I found this tidbit about frogs and tadpoles in your pond " tadpoles are an important part of the food chain in ponds. A small population can help maintain the cleanliness of your pond and reduce the proliferation of unwanted insect larvae. They can help control algal populations and prevent these from smothering your aquatic vegetation. Apart from serving as an occasional protein-rich treat for your pond’s inhabitants, tadpoles will inevitably turn into amphibians (if all goes well), which are often indicative of ideal pond conditions!" So, maybe just scrape away what you don't like and leave the rest for the tadpoles and frogs. They will also eat any mosquitoes that come to visit your pond, too :)