Ah right. One of ours has a filter. But the other 3 haven't had a filter for some years, and still have thriving populations of frogs and newts. Clearing out dead or surplus vegetation is hard - not spring, because the pond is full of frogs and newts, not summer because it's full of tadpoles and newtlets, not winter because it's frozen. There's a bit of a window in autumn, but I still find it hard to get them all done then, especially since I try to make sure I don't lose any amphibians or invertebrates. In theory if you pile stuff on the side of the pond, they'll make their way back, but in practice they don't.

I cleaned mine out a week ago, once there was no longer any ice about.
It has to be done now as the frogs will soon be in it.
Much of the problems can occur when the pond isn't big enough to support the contents, particularly when there's goldfish in small ponds.

Mine is only 5ft by 3ft. It's just there for a couple of lilies and keeps the frogs from depositing their spawn in my koi pool. The fish would eat the tadpoles.

I did a bit of cleaning yesterday, but there was still (thin) ice on most of the pool. But I don't go into the sludge at this time of year as the bottom is full of male frogs - I just get rid of any semi-floating debris.

"Doghouse Riley" wrote in
message news

It's often difficult to get a natural balance in a small pond, the
effect of sunlight will turn it green and may even make it go "soupy" so
you won't see your tadpoles.
Doghouse Riley

If a small bag of Daphnia bought from a local pet shop (fish dept) will,
when introuced to a small "green" pond, soon have the effect of clearing the
water. This depends on there being fish in residence to gooble up the algae
gorged daphnia.

It really does work.

Bill

Mine are more crafty, as the koi pool is warmer, they either hide between the folds of the liner in the corners, or in the sump.
I can catch them in the sump when I purge it each week and put them in the little pond. But they must work their way back under the net and into the pool and then swim down and up back to the sump via the bottom drain.

Sacha wrote in :

Dig a hole! But I'd invest in some proper pond liner as ordinary
polythene will be far too easily punctured. Look in tips and
re-cycling places for old baths & basins, block the plughole and sink
the bath or basin into the ground. If you want to be designer-y and
are clever at such things, don't sink the bath but add a standpipe with
tap at one end of it and fit a recirculating pump so your bath is
always being 'filled'!

Thanks... One thing I'd really like to know, is whether the pond is best
sited in sunshine or in shadow, or what. I suspect frogs have a preference,
and I suspect that the amount of sunlight may have some affect on the
underwater vegetation, which may or may not be critical to the frogs'
wellbeing...

Can anyone provide insight?

Al

Sacha wrote in :

Two of ours are in full sunlight, with one getting some shade in the
late afternoon. The third is in a fair amount of shade. One of those
in full sun is the oldest and is always seething with frogs but all of
them have spawn in them. We took some spawn from the old pond to put
into the newest, shadier one, about two or three years ago and we have
spawn there every year now.

Okay - thanks... so I'll surmise that it doesn't make much difference. I'll
aim for dappled shade on two of my mini-ponds, and the new one I'm planning
will be in the permanent shadow of a high wall.

Al

On 8 Mar 2012 11:00:56 GMT, "AL_n" wrote:

Sacha wrote in :

Dig a hole! But I'd invest in some proper pond liner as ordinary
polythene will be far too easily punctured. Look in tips and
re-cycling places for old baths & basins, block the plughole and sink
the bath or basin into the ground. If you want to be designer-y and
are clever at such things, don't sink the bath but add a standpipe with
tap at one end of it and fit a recirculating pump so your bath is
always being 'filled'!

Thanks... One thing I'd really like to know, is whether the pond is best
sited in sunshine or in shadow, or what. I suspect frogs have a preference,
and I suspect that the amount of sunlight may have some affect on the
underwater vegetation, which may or may not be critical to the frogs'
wellbeing...

Can anyone provide insight?

Al

This link, though aimed at younger people, is an easy-to-read guide
that may help you.

http://www.ypte.org.uk/environmental/ponds/84

Cheers, Jake
=======================================
Urgling happily from the dryer end of Swansea Bay.

Jake wrote in
news
http://www.ypte.org.uk/environmental/ponds/84

Thanks, Jake; very helpful. Looks like I did the wrong thing by covering my
mini-ponds with slates, thinking I'd be protecting the frogs from the cold
winds and predators. I just rectified the situation, and saw one live frog
in one of the ponds, so hopefully there are others.

Al