I built my pond last year. Dug from Memorial Day until Labor day.
It's 9' x 5' x 4 ' deep. It also has a raised hill behind with with a
waterfall. I used a rubbermaid tub and build rocks and land against it
to make it look more natural. I didnt put fish in it last year as I
wanted to pond to "settle" and make sure everything was working
properly. It was beautiful, and sounded lovely, and I enjoyed it the
way it was, planning on putting fish in it this year. Oh, I live in
Buffalo, NY. if that makes a difference. As I didnt have fish yet, I
did not keep the filter/pump running all winter.

Today was so nice I went out to clean up my yard. I was wondering if
the water in the piping to the waterfall was still frozen, and I
plugged in the pump. It seemed really quiet, so I decided to take off
the filter lid and clean out the filters-maybe leaves got stuck in
there. When I took off the lid, there was this big, I mean really big
frog laying in the back of the filter, filtered side of the water. He
wasnt moving, just all stretched out. I am a city kid and and have
never seen a frog on the loose. I used my garden trowel to get him out
of the filter and he was so big he fell off the trowel. I watched him
for a while to see if he was breathing or going to move and he just
layed there. So I through him out in the garbage thinking he was dead.
Well, a little while later, I went to look at the pond and there was
another big frog laying on the first drop from the waterfall, stretched
out and his eyes open. I dont know if he is dead or what.

Do frogs go into that "suspended animation" state like the fish do? I
cant even believe that I had any frogs in there because the pond was
new and clean in November.

Can anyone here fill me in on frogs? Oh, and the water stinks bad. I
was going to do a complete draining of the pond when it gets a little
warmer, because my neighbor's tree shedded in January and now the pond
has tons of leaves in it. (My fault-I will get a screened cover for
next fall). How do I go about cleaning the pond and knowing if there
are more frogs in there? From reading a few posts in the archives, it
seems that they like to live in the muck in the bottom of the pond. I
dont want to suck up any frongs. Will the smell go away before a water
change?

Can anyone help me?

Thanks in advance,

Patty