0.5 ammonia but no fish in pond

[michaelsf90]

My pond has been up and running a week and a half now. I cleaned the filter and pump today. Just the dirt that had built up. Rinsed the filter sponges in a bucket of pond water to get the dirt and soil off. I tested the water today. Ph was between 7 and 7.5. Phosphates 1.0. Nitrite 0 and ammonia 0.5. Could frogs be causing the ammonia? I was planning on adding fish this weekend but with an ammonia reading I cant. Is it possible frogs could be cycling the pond?

 

[JRS]

Saw you used to have 40-50 frogs in there. They produce waste same as fish.

 

[michaelsf90]

Are frogs less sensitive to ammonia than fish? I haven't seen as many frogs but theyr obviously contributing to ammonia. Should I just let it cycle before I add fish? I know 0.5 is low but I did fish in cycling in my fish tank and it cycled with low ammonia

 

[mrsclem]

Test your tap water , it may be the reason ammonia is showing up. If you had that many frogs, that could be the reason. Also, how old is your test kit?

 

[michaelsf90]

I know tap water ammonia is 0 because I have two fish tanks indoors. My tap water ammonia is 0. Nitrite 0. Nitrate 0. Ph is 6.8 and phosphates is between 2 and 3. So it must be frogs or other things in the pond. The test kit was bought today. API pond master test kit

 

[michaelsf90]

This also may seem a silly question for when I come to add fish but looking around a lot of places sell small goldfish, say 3 for £10. Then they sell 4 to 6 inch ones which are say 3 for £20. Would I be better starting with the small ones and letting them grow or are ones already grown more likely to survive?

 

[JRS]

If they are healthy, should not make a difference and they can grow fast. I usually would not spend the extra money unless there was one with colors I particularly liked. Depending on the size of the smalls, they may be more vulnerable to predation by frogs and such.

 

[mgmine]

Take your tester to the place that sells the goldfish and test that water. What is the ammonia reading? I'm guessing that it will be higher than .5. There is so much out there in cyberland about water testing that it will make your head spin. It's a good thing that carp can't read or they would know that where they live in nature that they can't actually live.