On Thu, 21 Dec 2006 20:30:39 -0000, "ForeverArsenal"
wrote:

Hi all
A merry Christmas to you all.

Asking question in here because I could not find decent wild life group.

I have in my garden in Essex (Nr Great Dunmow) a small water
feature namely a (approx) 1 mtr wide oak barrel (bottom third)
that a old fashion cast iron pump with small electric fish tank pump.

Now problem is all year there are up to ten frogs living in it rent free
:-)

Now that the cold spell is with us I turn the pump off as the water top
freeze's
and of course it would pump the water out of tub.

I've been breaking the ice 2 or 3 times a day (how do they live in that
temp)
but it does disturb the frogs and I don't know if I'm doing right or not,I
assume
they want to get out some times so break the ice up.

Anyone know for sure please best thing to do ??

Breaking the ice by hitting it or knocking holes in it sends shock
waves through the water that may damage the frogs. It's definitely not
recommended for goldfish, but frogs may be more robust. As others have
said, leave a ball floating in the water that will keep a small hole
unfrozen. Alternatively, melt the ice in one spot by standing a pan of
boiling water on it. Pouring boiling water onto the ice works
eventually, but the effect is dissipated as the water runs over the
entire surface. A hot pan keeps it concentrated at one spot. For a
small pond like yours, you could lift the ice out in one piece, break
it up away from the pond and return the bits so that the water level
doesn't drop.


--
Chris

E-mail: christopher[dot]hogg[at]virgin[dot]net