What's happening to my frogs?

[Jerry J]

I have a 15 year-old pond, lined and about 2500 gallons. It used to have heavy cover from lilies. My goldfish and about two dozen frogs were healthy and happy.
Last year I had to re-line the pond and re-home some fish. I also replaced the lilies with two new ones. Then the trouble started.

The fish stayed healthy and happy but there have not been any new fry since the re-build. Also, the frogs totally disappeared until about a month ago when I found a fairly large one dead in the pond. I found another dead one several weeks later. I found a third dead a few weeks later. None of the dead showed any wounds. And my two tropical lilies are not healthy--slow growing and have ragged edges.

The water chemistry is good with the exception that the PH had been high, 8.6. I exchanged the water a few weeks ago and now the PH is 7.6. The pond has about 20 3 inch gold fish and two that are about 7 inches. I have not lost any fish in over a year. I have not seen a snake in over a year.

I have a homemade filter made of a 100 gallon trough filled with filter media and 2500 gpm pump. The water is clear now but a few months ago I had to use several applications of Fritz Algae Clean-Out to combat string algae.

No new fry. A big drop in the number of frogs. Finding dead frogs in the pond. Weak lilies. I suspect something is wrong but I don't know what it is. Does anyone have ideas on what I should do?

Jerry in San Antonio

 

[j.w]

@Jerry J
Strange, if there was something wrong in your pond I would think it would kill the fish too. Makes me wonder if the frogs are coming into contact w/something outside your pond that is making them ill and they are just dying when they are in your pond from whatever it was outside your pond. The fish could be eating all the eggs and fry so perhaps that is why no babies. Mine do that and for many years they did not get them all but now it seems they do. I never use algae control or chemicals as I do not trust them to not hurt the fish, plants etc. in my pond. That may be your problem w/your frogs, fish, lilies. If you are talking about exchanging water by taking all old water out and all new water in that can be a big issue also and perhaps especially when using algae killers. Hmmmmmmmmmmm, I really don't know for sure, just thinking of possibilities.

 

[Jerry J]

I have wondered if the frogs may have been poisoned by something outside of the pond. A few months ago I used some insecticide at a spot 40 yards away from the pond. It is possible that the recently dead frogs might have ingested that but it does not explain the absence of frogs over the previous year.

 

[j.w]

Don't know and guess never will about the frogs. Maybe they just found a better feeding ground for awhile or maybe they didn't like you making changes to the pond. Who knows? Hope you get some healthy ones that come to stay again. Some say the string algae is not a bad thing and kind of leave it alone as it helps suck up extra nutrients in the water. The string kind can actually help clear the water but the floating cloudy kind is the kind that makes the water unclear. The fish and frogs don't mind it but we do. If you get too much of the string kind you can take a clean toilet brush on a pole and twist it around the stuff and drag it out rather than using those killer chemicals.

 

[poconojoe]

When changing a liner, it's best to save and reuse a good portion of the old water for several reasons.
Also, when you're trying to reduce ammonia or correct Ph by a water change, it's best to do it in small percentages. Don't change great quantities at one time. Too much of a shock for anything living in your pond.
And as mentioned, keep away from any chemicals, especially algaecides. There's been so many threads here about that very issue.
Any issues you have with your pond chemistry can be resolved in some natural way. If you have too much algae, there's a reason. There's an imbalance within the natural cycle. Too much of a fish load, over feeding the fish, not enough plant life or inadequate filtration.
As for the string algae, I think it looks good, but if it's too abundant, manually remove some as suggested with a toilet brush.

 

[Lisak1]

but it does not explain the absence of frogs over the previous year.

I may have missed where you live @Jerry J , but here we've noticed we have far less frogs than previous years. We chalked it up to the Polar Vortex we experienced last winter. They will bounce back - nature knows how to recover.

And I don't know about your frogs, but we do find a dead frog in our pond from time to time. Maybe they come to the pond to die. Who knows. But if there were anything wrong with your water it would show in your fish - the frogs can choose to move on if they want, the fish are subject to the water conditions they live in.

And no babies wouldn't concern me - we'll go a few years with no babies and then we'll get a few here and there.

 

[addy1]

Mine come and go, some years a lot some years less. The hawks love the frogs.

 

[kerimyth]

I have a 15 year-old pond, lined and about 2500 gallons. It used to have heavy cover from lilies. My goldfish and about two dozen frogs were healthy and happy.
Last year I had to re-line the pond and re-home some fish. I also replaced the lilies with two new ones. Then the trouble started.

The fish stayed healthy and happy but there have not been any new fry since the re-build. Also, the frogs totally disappeared until about a month ago when I found a fairly large one dead in the pond. I found another dead one several weeks later. I found a third dead a few weeks later. None of the dead showed any wounds. And my two tropical lilies are not healthy--slow growing and have ragged edges.

The water chemistry is good with the exception that the PH had been high, 8.6. I exchanged the water a few weeks ago and now the PH is 7.6. The pond has about 20 3 inch gold fish and two that are about 7 inches. I have not lost any fish in over a year. I have not seen a snake in over a year.

I have a homemade filter made of a 100 gallon trough filled with filter media and 2500 gpm pump. The water is clear now but a few months ago I had to use several applications of Fritz Algae Clean-Out to combat string algae.

No new fry. A big drop in the number of frogs. Finding dead frogs in the pond. Weak lilies. I suspect something is wrong but I don't know what it is. Does anyone have ideas on what I should do?

Jerry in San Antonio

Hello, I am a newbie on here, but after reading your post my first thought was when I read about you re homing some of your fish, have you thought you might have got rid of your Male fish? That would be one reason you have not had any fry, or, taking out your lily’s That was a good place for the fry to hide could be another reason, you might have had fry, but they got eaten because now there is not enough cover for them to hide in!
About your frogs I do not know, we have a large amount of them and we only have a nature pond, so no filters just oxygenating plants, and lots of them.and the frogs are doing fine, never used any chemicals in the pond or garden, so with your frogs they may come back! We collect rain water to top up our pond, never use anything else, but it is only a small pond. Hope everything works out for you, xx