My goldfish pond

[j.w]

Ha Ha Keith never heard of that one but got a kick out of it! I can see how it would hold the attention of a little kid tho :cheerful:
Would love to have one or two of those green frogs w/ the neat webbed feet at my pond.

 

[addy1]

Looking good Keith! I very seldom see my frogs swimming, usually just hanging out on plants.

 

[CometKeith]

JW, Yes, I loved the talking fish. Did you see the one with a cigarette in his mouth? You wouldn't see that now on a kids show.
Addy, I love watching them. I have seen them a bunch of times stop swimming and just hang out in the middle of the pond. They are so much cooler than bullfrogs! I actually saw one of the tadpoles today when I was cleaning my filter. It's the first one I saw in three weeks. It was by the back rocks close to the waterfall. I thought they had all kicked the bucket long before so it was pretty exciting to know that one or more are still around.

 

[addy1]

Great, they do hide well. Watch for the ridge down the back, when they morph, without they will be bull frogs. The green frog and bull frog tads are very similar.

Beginning of spring I saw frogs all of the time, now with all the plants growing, they have good hiding spots. I do hear them. They usually are not in the big pond, just the smaller ones.

 

[CometKeith]

Well it will be interesting to see how many make it and I am hoping no bullfrogs. Right now the frogs are the hit of the pond. My wife is always showing them to friends and family and even sent some text messages out the other day with pics of the frogs. This is from someone that has had no interest in the pond and thought it was a complete waste of time for me when I built it or do other things to maintain it. Our daughter made it back safe and sound from Cameroon last night and my wife had to show the professor and the engineering students our frogs when they stayed over with us. I'm sure they saw more interesting wildlife in Africa!

 

[addy1]

Bet she has some neat pictures! I love my trip to africa, many many many years ago.

If you see bull frogs, take a light out at night, shine in their eyes and you can net them. Your pond size and shape would make it easy.

Cool this am, down to 51 again..........better than 94 though

 

[CometKeith]

Thanks Addy, We are waiting to see a few pictures. Both her phone and camera broke on the trip and then her car broke down too the first day back. We had the phone and car taken care of today. Her Professor gave as some soap as a gift that he made in Sierra Leone for hosting the group before and after the trips out of O'Hare Airport. He is going back there soon to teach for a semester because they desperately need good instructors in the college there.
Okay so once you catch the bullfrogs then were do you do with them? Since they are considered invasive species in most states I can't just let them go. so.....Frog legs? My question of the day is: I have been netting the bottom of my pond lately to pull up organic waste. Now I have a 5 gallon bucket of the stuff. As a gardener what is the best way to dispose of this?

 

[addy1]

I put it around the base of plants, then throw some mulch over it. I still have not yet netted the bottom of mine, there is a collection in the deep end, not too much, but some. The plants love it, all except string algae, that stuff does not seem to go away.

The bullfrogs you could use the clove oil to put them to sleep. Yuck on frogs legs.............no thanks

Sitting here watching the fish chase ...........again............. I have the camera near the waterfall some debris floating cause of all the water movement, but a fav place for the fish to hang out.

 

[CometKeith]

Well my water has been getting pretty clear lately. Probably because I have quit messing with the bottom for a few days. I had been netting out the gunk for a while but i think it is getting pretty good now. I didn't think my new Laguna filter was any better than my old one but I cleaned it by using the scrubbers the other day and now it seems to be working even better. The little indicator went from red back to clear after I cleaned it so I guess I need to keep my eye on that. I took a bunch of shots this afternoon. You can see a lot of my babies. There are 22 from last year and the vast majority of them made it over the winter. Some of them are getting bigger now and have grown a lot the last few weeks. I like the shubunkin babies because they have interesting color combinations. No two are the same. Still half of the babies are black. The last picture is a neat picture of one of the frogs if you can find him! Oh, I spotted another green frog under my frog sign when I looked at the pictures. They are funny how they hang out in the water... a lot more fun than bullfrogs!

 

[callingcolleen1]

Keith your little pond is looking really awesome and nice crystal clear water!

 

[addy1]

Love the frog, last pic! just hanging out! Great looking fish, water and pond Keith.

 

[CometKeith]

Thanks Colleen/Addy. I don't why the water cleared up so much. It was a lot hazier a week or so before unless it's this new filter that is making a difference or maybe the plants are starting to grow and helping to clear the water? Okay, another frog pic. He crawled right up on the rocks very close to where I was sitting this morning during the morning fish feeding just looking at me giving me attitude. He finally jumped away when I got up.

Also I can finally say that I sailed through the spring this year with all the fish healthy and no problems whatsoever. This is the first year I can say that. I think it helped that I avoided adding anything like fish, snails, or store bought aquatic plants until the pond cycled and the fish built up their resistance to bacteria etc.

Another fun fact 24 of the 32 fish I have were born in this pond!

 

[j.w]

I looked and looked and could not see that mystery frog in the other last photo of the bunch. I see this one coming in loud and clear tho! He's doing his calisthenic leg push exercises :cheerful:

 

[addy1]

I looked and looked and could not see that mystery frog in the other last photo of the bunch. I see this one coming in loud and clear tho! He's doing his calisthenic leg push exercises :cheerful:

lol look harder jw! it is there

 

[CometKeith]

jw. The frog is almost exactly in the center of the picture!