Litttttle baby toads and pond cleaning
Someone was one watering newly layed sod in the front yard and brought
me two itty bitty toads about 3/4 inch long. They had to be from the toadpoles this year. I said that about the one my son found while mowing last week, but that one was 3 times the size of these. I put them in my little jungle area where you can always find a toad under a pot and hopefully they will be around for years to come. Man, i really am going to need a new pond within 2-3 yrs! I also pulled out another WH, some roots, and about 6 bricks i had in there for the toads. They can crawl out from all the plants now, i believe. I dont see them in it very often now, but there are two young ones (1 and 2 yrs?) out there tonight eating bugs under the still rigged trouble light. I have been sitting here dreaming up this great pond in my head. The toads have got to have an easy exit and the one i have sure wasn't made for that. I am thinking about cleaning out the pond and thinning the plants about the 1st of september. Does it matter? What i thought i would do is fill the kiddie pool with pond water and put the fish in there with saved plants. Sound right? Then I will almost empty and use the shop vac on the bottom and shelves. Then all tap and declor because they are GF and i think they can handle it and that yr old water has got to be funky! (no pump, filter, just plants and clear water with 2-4inch and 1- 1 1/2 incher that escaped the round up last month? The water from the tap might be 10-15 degrees cooler than the pond water. Do i have to wait and let it warm up? I have filled it half way with tap with no ill effects on the fishes part. Think it will be ok? Does my cleaning plan sound right? |
Litttttle baby toads and pond cleaning
"jammer" wrote in message ... I also pulled out another WH, some roots, and about 6 bricks i had in there for the toads. They can crawl out from all the plants now, i believe. I dont see them in it very often now, but there are two young ones (1 and 2 yrs?) out there tonight eating bugs under the still rigged trouble light. I have been sitting here dreaming up this great pond in my head. The toads have got to have an easy exit and the one i have sure wasn't made for that. Sounds like toad heaven! I am thinking about cleaning out the pond and thinning the plants about the 1st of september. Does it matter? What i thought i would do is fill the kiddie pool with pond water and put the fish in there with saved plants. Sound right? Then I will almost empty and use the shop vac on the bottom and shelves. Then all tap and declor because they are GF and i think they can handle it and that yr old water has got to be funky! (no pump, filter, just plants and clear water with 2-4inch and 1- 1 1/2 incher that escaped the round up last month? We live in Michigan. I clean out the pond (mainly to catch out the fish for transfer to indoor pool for winter) usually the second week of October. All the water lillies have ceased blooming by then. I do not do a thorough job of getting the gunk out of the bottom, as I usually find frogs and bugs sleeping there. So, I scoop out about 2/3 of it with a plastic snow shovel, and leave the rest for any critter that wants to overwinter there. I also prune all the plants down almost to soil, so the dead vegetation doesn't rot come spring. |
Litttttle baby toads and pond cleaning
On Mon, 25 Aug 2003 21:30:29 -0500, jammer wrote:
I am thinking about cleaning out the pond and thinning the plants about the 1st of september. Does it matter? What i thought i would do is fill the kiddie pool with pond water and put the fish in there with saved plants. Sound right? Then I will almost empty and use the shop vac on the bottom and shelves. Then all tap and declor because they are GF and i think they can handle it and that yr old water has got to be funky! (no pump, filter, just plants and clear water with 2-4inch and 1- 1 1/2 incher that escaped the round up last month? The water from the tap might be 10-15 degrees cooler than the pond water. Do i have to wait and let it warm up? I have filled it half way with tap with no ill effects on the fishes part. Think it will be ok? Does my cleaning plan sound right? Well, imo, I'd rather you did water changes (10% weekly) and see if you can get the muck on the bottom with the shop vac without emptying it. I'd hate to see you upset the balance and shock the fish unless the kiddy pool can hold at least 50% of the old water. ~ jan See my ponds and filter design: http://users.owt.com/jjspond/ ~Keep 'em Wet!~ Tri-Cities WA Zone 7a To e-mail see website |
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