Can Tadpoles attack goldfish

[skybluescooby]

Over the past few weeks i have begun to lose quite a lot of my fish, the pond is a natural one, measuring 8ft x 6ft and 5ft deep and covered by strong netting.

There are a few hundred tadpoles currently living alongside goldfish and small koi.

The problem i have is that the tadpoles appear to be attacking the goldfish and i need to know if this is a common problem or will my fish be suffering from a fish related disease.

I have treat the pond with acriflavine which is a chemical treatment for viruses, flukes,finrot etc, but still have seen no improvement.

Any one suffered this before or is it a fish related disease, if so what ?

 

[breezer]

never heard of tadpoles attacking fish, frogs may "attack" fish but never heard of tadpoles doing it

 

[skybluescooby]

I hadn't heard of it until i witnessed over the past few weeks.
I have just pulled one out with eaten eyes and fins, some others are swimming around with tadpoles attached, almost eating as they go.
The fish that are under attack have swollen and puffy white eyes and are now listing.
I would say that the tadpole coverage is around 70% of the pond.
The fish that have been removed do not appear to have fin rot or flukes and the colours are strong, fish in the past have lost colour following death.
Is this a fish related disease, if so what ???

 

[breezer]

i would suspect the tadpoles are doing you a favor in that they are eating the desased bits of the fish.

I would say its a fish problem not tadpole.

sorry no idea what it is, but the old cure all salt bath may work, but if the fish are that bad it may be best to flush them down the loo

 

[azc]

Tadpoles DEFINITELY attack fish. I have seen it with my own eyes. They did so repeatedly when the fish in my dad's pond were on the smaller side.

Tadpoles get pretty big before they turn into frogs, and they are pretty darned good when it comes to team efforts.

As soon as I discovered this, when I saw frogspawn in the pond, I used to just fish it out and bury it under soil. Until I saw it happen and started taking this action, he lost a fair amount £ wise in fish!

Now in his pond he has fish that are over a foot long, as soon as the tadpoles hatch, the bigger fish just eat em all!

THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH YOUR FISH! IT'S THE TADPOLES!!!!

 

[Nige F]

Try hanging lumps of raw liver on a string.......the `poles may like it better than the fish to eat

 

[Mikepeters]

Yes taddies are carnivors. ever wondered why a frog can lay 12000 spawn, get 800 taddies and yet only 12-15 frogs make it to climb out of the puddle. Once the froglettes are losing there tails and becoming frogs, the poor little b*ggers get eaten by the taddies, (see frog skins appear) so they will certainly have a go at everyhting else that is edible. I take my fish out of the pond during the season and out em back after 3 weeks or so.

 

[breezer]

mod 11 is trying to say please read the forum rules, you have been hijacking posts which is not allowed

 

[Bodgeit and scarper ltd]

Will my goldfish eat my frogspawn and tadpoles?

In a word - Yes! Goldfish are carnivorous and will also eat newts eggs, dragonfly larvae and anything else that moves!

What do tadpoles eat?

Tadpoles will live on the jelly that provided protection before they hatched, and will survive on algae, other microscopic particles and vegetation in the pond.

 

[Mikepeters]

yep i have chosen to offer completely free some snippets of my 50 year collection of head candy. A compendium of often useless information collected from many a career move covering many facets of DIY and DIFSE (do it for someone else). Some may seek to scorn (noseall) and some may wish to use this advise in the manner it is offered. I have no preconceived notion that I know 'owt about now't , I just give these gift to help fellow De-Eye Why-notters in their quest for enlightenment. Cos thats what these forums are for, (unless I am missing the point some how)

 

[skybluescooby]

erm, i have moved house since this post was last updated and have left the pond and its contents behind, funny thing is i bumped into the new owners only yesterday and they said the pond and its inhabitants are flourishing.