Building a Frog Pond

[SperO]

well NT frog breeding season is just about here so this weekend I am starting production on my frog pond and welcome any tips. I do have a large amount of Desert Tree Frogs & Green Tree Frogs so I don't think it will be that hard to get tadpoles but I am interested in attracting some new frogs. Nearby my house small creek which in the wet fills up with Northern Dwarf Tree Frogs & Marbled Marsh. Obviously I get that its 'illegal' to harvest tadpoles but if you know any ways I could probably attract them. (funny because when I was a kid I harvested all the time heh)

My system last year involved several buckets & plastic containers which I was constantly changing and frankly didn't look that pretty.

The base of the pond will be two blue shell wading pools
I heard a tip that placing a solar powered light near the pond will attract insects & therefore frogs

watering system - in the wet its not usually an issue and rainwater will refresh the pond pretty much every day but as it builds up I will need some way to keep the water changing. If I set up the sprinkler system to drip in every couple of days the oxygen & chemicals in the water should be in small enough amounts to prevent hurting the tadpoles?

water plants - I was looking for something native to the NT or at least Australia. If you have some reccomendations or experience with plants that would be awesome. I would like my pond to be self sustaining and don't want to muck it up with food scraps which I find dirties the water to much.

Mosquito control - A huge problem in the NT but I am yet to find a native fish good for killing larvae only. I really dont like using exotic animals. I have heard of some chemicals and stuff which are supposed to be good but I really want to keep it natural and also minimise cost. I am not planning on putting a filter or anything in the water.


Cheers!

 

[GeckPhotographer]

Why would you need to keep changing the water? Just let it naturally fill up and dry out. In the dry season once a year clean out all the leftover debri.

The two frogs you talk about attracting utilise very different micro-habitats, the Northern Dwarf Tree Frogs like to sit on plant coming out from or around the water especially strappy leafed species. They also prefer to breed in ponds with less dense plant cover. The Marbled Marsh frogs prefer to sit under cover in the water whether that be plants or a log or something else that allows them to be right at the top of the water where they poke their heads out but still totally covered. They prefer their breeding sites to have much heavier plant cover than the Northern Dwarfs. It would probably be possible to reach a middle ground between the two that allowed both species to live in the pond, but you would need to plan that out well.

I'd suggest you go to a local nursery and ask them what native water plants they have on sale. Preferably see if you have a local native plant specialist nursery. I hope your frog pond building goes well.

 

[Fuscus]

Use sleepers to and a pond liner and have the top of the water 15-20 cm above the ground. This makes it difficult for cane toads to take over the pond

 

[waruikazi]

This is one i built for Mum and Dad's garden in darwin. The besa blocks are reinforced with iron rio bars to stop it falling over, the height keeps the toads out but the fish we put in it eat all the tadpoles. It's 3m X 3m and two besa bricks deep. Cost about $350 from memory.

 

[Snowman]

Awesome book..
FrogWatch :: building frog-friendly gardens book

 

[SperO]

wow that looks amazing considering you just used blocks and liner.

So far all awesome advice cheers, I will get some pictures up when I get it started.