Water Gardens & Tadpoles

Description

• Tadpoles vary greatly in size and appearance from species to species, making it difficult to identify what type of amphibian is developing in your water garden. One of the easiest ways to tell the difference between frogs and toads is to look at the eggs before they hatch into tadpoles in your water garden. Frogs lay eggs in dense clusters with all the eggs arranged closely together; toads lay their eggs in long strands with the eggs lined up one after another. Once frog and toad eggs hatch, tadpoles develop slowly and take three to four months before they emerge from your water garden as froglets.

Benefits

• Tadpoles feed on a wide variety of foods in water gardens. Young tadpoles help maintain water clarity by feeding on small floating algae in the water. As tadpoles mature, they feed on nearly anything that fits in their mouth, including mosquito larvae as well as portions of dead plants and animals that collect on the bottom of your water garden. In addition, tadpoles are a free, healthy source of food for koi and goldfish in water gardens.

Problems

• Tadpoles breathe dissolved oxygen from the water. Large numbers of tadpoles can cause dissolved oxygen levels in water gardens to drop drastically -- especially in summer when the water temperature is warm. Oxygen depletion stresses fish and plants in your water garden, and in severe cases, may result in fish kills. Monitor your water garden closely through the summer and look for fish gasping near the surface of the water as a positive sign of low oxygen levels. You can help maintain oxygen levels by installing a waterfall or fountain that aerates the water.

Removing Tadpoles

• You can easily remove unwanted tadpoles from your water garden with simple tools. Fill a 5-gallon bucket half full with water from your water garden. Use a pond skimming net to collect tadpoles from your pond and shake them into the bucket. Tadpoles can swim quickly for short spurts underwater; use a swift motion to effectively collect tadpoles with the net. Transport the tadpoles to a slow-moving body of water such as a lake, pond or river and release them.