Too many tadpoles?

[blackkitty]

We have a medium size pond and have had several years of happy co existence of frogs, toads, newts and koi. This year we seem to have had a really bumper crop of tadpoles, this has arrived at the same time as a huge growth in duckweed. We have so many taddies that it looks as if the duckweed blanket is moving and you can hear them eating. I've left the duckweed as I can't scoop it off without loads of taddies at the same time. I assumed that nature would just take its course but over the last few days we have found several dead fish and I'm wondering if they're being out-competed by the sheer no of taddies. I had noticed a few weeks ago that they seemed reluctant to swim to the surface through the taddies to feed. Anyway, i'd appreciate any suggestions.

[Sheikh Yerboutti]

Of all those tads, about 2 will make adults. The fish will be eating them. They will be eating each other. Newts and dragonfly larvae will take loads. When they get legs and hop off ,cats, birds etc will decimate them. Its a jungle out there..

[binley100]

That's really depressing .....I'm hoping mine make it to shelter in my wildlife hotel . Mind you I don't know what may be living in it

[Sheikh Yerboutti]

By the way, lots of folks in the UK ,myself included, lost the whole mass of tads from a virus. They stopped developing and never got legs , then died in hundreds. I saw it on wildlife forums. Hope mine do better this season.

[Sheikh Yerboutti]

That's really depressing .....I'm hoping mine make it to shelter in my wildlife hotel . Mind you I don't know what may be living in it

Yes ,things like log piles, old roof tiles etc in rough areas of garden will help them survive. I dont know why theyre not extinct, theyre so easy to catch, just sit there.

[dogsbody]

Might the dead fish have nothing to do with the tadpoles? Could it be due to lack of oxygen? The very high temps last weekend saw off two of my larger ones (they wouldn't have been youngsters). Try keeping at least 1/3rd of surface free from weed if you can (I lift mine out using a net and transfer to a bucket of pond or rain water shaking it to release the taddies, then put them back with the water once I have removed ennough of the weed)

[blackkitty]

Thanks dogsbody, I'll try that. We have a little stream type inlet from the pump that I assumed would aerate it. I did wonder though if oxygen was one of the things the tadpoles were using up as it were.

[burnie]

Is it duck weed or blanket weed you have?I used to live in the Burton area and the ponds seem to suffer badly with blanket weed around there,high nutrient levels in the water apparently.Blanket weed can and does kill fish,an old pall in Willington is constantly fighting the weed in his Koi pond.
I have to say that I strongly feel you can have either a wildlife pond(natural) of a fish pond(filtered and managed),to try to have both is a compromise.Things will survive,but not really thrive.In a small pond(less than the size of a tennis court),few fish thrive in the wild and they would be small and stunted.Species that are tolerent to low oxygen levels like stickle backs,crucian carp and rudd plus eels and the odd tench.For fish to thrive in a small pond you need to filter and oxygenate quite heavilly,this is not an ideal environment for the fresh water "plankton" that a wild pond requires.A fish pond should have an area of at least five foot depth to maintain the thermocline to aid a healthy fish population through the winter.A wildlife pond can be less than a foot deep.

[blackkitty]

Burnie, its duckweed. We had none till about three years ago and now its a constant battle. We solved the blanket weed problem by putting watercress in the header pond by the filter outlet, it works fantastically, you just have to pull a lot out every now and again and it makes great compost. It doesn't keep the duckweed down though, something about different nutrients I think.

[burnie]

Burnie, its duckweed. We had none till about three years ago and now its a constant battle. We solved the blanket weed problem by putting watercress in the header pond by the filter outlet, it works fantastically, you just have to pull a lot out every now and again and it makes great compost. It doesn't keep the duckweed down though, something about different nutrients I think.

There used to be a knowledgeable guy who had an aquatic business on the A38 near Barton,if he's still there he might help.The other guy I used to use was next to the big garden centre on the outskirts of Nottingham at the end of the A52