After a heron ate all my koi I thought my pond was empty of fish. But then, a year later, I discovered two sunfish I had put in there as minnows, but had long ago lost track of. Then I found a baby sunfish in my filter. Now the fish have mated again and are guarding the eggs. The problem is there's a bull frog out there that has apparently eaten all the previous fry. I've displaced several frogs in the past but this one spends most of the time under water. On the rare occasions when I have seen him, he's seen me first - and he's gone. I'm wondering what I might do to help the new crop of sunfish along until I can find a way of getting that frog. Any suggestions regarding any aspect of the problem are much appreciated. Thank you.
Sunfish/frog issues
- Thread starter Sunny Guy
- Start date
How big is your pond?
Go out at night with a flashlight, if the pond is small enough. Frogs are less skittish at night if he does go under track where he goes with the flashlight. Then grab him.
Other option use a fly for fishing, but press the barb down to make it barbless then go fishing for the frog at night when you can get closer.
You need that heron to come back and snag the frog.
Go out at night with a flashlight, if the pond is small enough. Frogs are less skittish at night if he does go under track where he goes with the flashlight. Then grab him.
Other option use a fly for fishing, but press the barb down to make it barbless then go fishing for the frog at night when you can get closer.
You need that heron to come back and snag the frog.
Thanks for the reply. My pond is about 12' x 24', but round more than rectangle. It runs from about 8" on edges to 2 1/2' or so in the middle. But deeper at the waterfall. That's where the larger and flatter rocks are, and where I think the frog hides. A very difficult place to see and even harder to reach. I went out with a flashlight last (and several other) nights, but no luck. I saw him two days ago when I was feeding the sunfish meal worms. The frog came out to see what the commotion was. When he saw me he dove down and I soon lost track. I was thinking I could plant some water plants in pots for the fry to hide. Or maybe sink a plastic aquarium plant. Not sure what plants, and also don't want to disturb the sunfish guarding the eggs. Thanks again.
Alternatively you could make sure the baby fish have lots of hiding places. They are adept at surviving if you give them the opportunity.
j.w
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