Frogs - I like the frogs

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TomAtlanta

Well-known member
Sep 10, 2011
392
Atlanta Ga
Frogs gather around my pool at night and croak. I really enjoy listening to them. I have gotten so interested in them that I am thinking of taking an adult education course in Georgia Amphibians.

The frogs jump in the pool when they are frightened and swim to the bottom. If there are any leaves at the bottom of the pool they hide under them. Sometimes they stay in the skimmer during the day, but have no problem swimming out of it when they want. I think mostly during the day they are hiding is some shady place.

A few times when I have added bleach to the pool I have seen a dead frog float to the surface a few minutes later. This is rare. I think the normal chlorine level in the pool will not kill a frog, but the concentrated chlorine when you first pour it in will kill them. I have never poured it in when I see a frog in the pool, but I think it must sink to the bottom of the deep end and kill frogs under the leaves. I don't want to this to happen.

Has anyone else dealt with this, or am I a total eccentric in my fondness for frogs?

I have thought of several solutions.

1 - Only pour a little bleach in at a time, bit by bit, several times a day.
2 - Dilute the bleach with water
3 - Just forget about the bleach and let the pool grow algae. Run the filter to keep the water clean, but let it get green. Would this be a health hazard?

Any thoughts? Any other solutions?
 
I don’t know the answer to your question, but I also like frogs and feel sad if I find a dead one in the skimmer. It doesn’t happen very often since frogs aren’t near as common as they use to be here. :(
 
How do the frogs get back out of the pool?
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They used to get stuck in the pool so I had a kickboard over the egde of the pool going into the water and they climbed out on that. But the last few years, they have been climbing out of the pool without it. I don't understand this. It could be a different type of frog that is a better climber, but they sound the same at night.
 
TomAtlanta said:
Frogs gather around my pool at night and croak. I really enjoy listening to them. I have gotten so interested in them that I am thinking of taking an adult education course in Georgia Amphibians.

The frogs jump in the pool when they are frightened and swim to the bottom. If there are any leaves at the bottom of the pool they hide under them. Sometimes they stay in the skimmer during the day, but have no problem swimming out of it when they want. I think mostly during the day they are hiding is some shady place.

A few times when I have added bleach to the pool I have seen a dead frog float to the surface a few minutes later. This is rare. I think the normal chlorine level in the pool will not kill a frog, but the concentrated chlorine when you first pour it in will kill them. I have never poured it in when I see a frog in the pool, but I think it must sink to the bottom of the deep end and kill frogs under the leaves. I don't want to this to happen.

Has anyone else dealt with this, or am I a total eccentric in my fondness for frogs?

I have thought of several solutions.

1 - Only pour a little bleach in at a time, bit by bit, several times a day.
2 - Dilute the bleach with water
3 - Just forget about the bleach and let the pool grow algae. Run the filter to keep the water clean, but let it get green. Would this be a health hazard?

Any thoughts? Any other solutions?
Click to expand...

A pool doesn't have the same "self cleaning" capabilities of a natural body of water. It would very likely be a health hazard if you ceased treating it with chlorine, and quite possibly a very serious hazard. That option is off the table. I recall reading about people turning their pools into a natural pond, but I suspect this would be something that would require great knowledge and diligence and effort. Not just "letting it go green." I think I remember lots of water plants are involved.

Dispensing a little chlorine at a time throughout the day is certainly a viable option, though not very convenient. A Stenner pump or SWG (both automated chlorine dispensing solutions) would certainly do the trick, and add great convenience to your pool maintenance regime, even if you someday lose interest in the frogs. They're both in the $400-900 range, depending on what you buy, etc.

Diluting the bleach might help, but, again, not particularly convenient. How are you dispensing? Just dumping it in? The preferred method of dispensing chemicals into a pool is to pour it very slowing in front of a return (while the pump is running), which sort of mixes and disperses it throughout the pool, which might work better and minimizes the amount that settles on the bottom.

In a thread of mine I explored alternate ways of dispensing chemicals. It was primarily to figure out a good way to dispense acid, but the principle works for chlorine. You could make-shift something similar with a hole in a bucket and dispense diluted chlorine, over a return, over the course of 30 minutes or so. That should give the frogs a chance.

Getting ready for SWG - Page 5

By the way, I think your fascination with your frogs, is, well, fascinating, and I applaud you for finding a way to coexist with them in your pool. Probably not particularly healthy for human swimmers, but, hey, that's what chlorine is for.
 
A Stenner pump or SWG (both automated chlorine dispensing solutions) would certainly do the trick, and add great convenience to your pool maintenance regime, even if you someday lose interest in the frogs. They're both in the $400-900 range, depending on what you buy, etc.
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So if I understand this correctly, the SWG does not actually create salt water in the pool. Is that correct? I think salt water might be toxic to the frogs.

I recall reading about people turning their pools into a natural pond, but I suspect this would be something that would require great knowledge and diligence and effort. Not just "letting it go green." I think I remember lots of water plants are involved.
Click to expand...

Do you know if anyone on this message board has done that?
 
TomAtlanta said:
So if I understand this correctly, the SWG does not actually create salt water in the pool. Is that correct? I think salt water might be toxic to the frogs.

Do you know if anyone on this message board has done that?
Click to expand...

Oh, duh, my bad. SWGs don't generate salt, but they need salt to generate chlorine. They require your pool be a saltwater pool. Not what you want. I've had frogs survive mine, but I suppose that is not ideal for them. A Stenner setup would be what you want if you're thinking of automating. They just dispense chlorine, no salt required. But...

One issue, though... all pools are saltwater pools eventually. Chlorine, acids, humans, etc all contribute salt to a pool, which doesn't evaporate. So over time, pools accumulate salt. Mine was just short of the amount needed for an SWG, before I ever turned it into a saltwater pool! I suspect that took about five years. I don't have any knowledge about how much salt a frog can, or is willing, to tolerate. Swimming pools, SWG or non-SWG, have, or get up to, a level of salt about 1/10 the ocean. So around 3500ppm of salt in a pool, I think the ocean is about 35,000 ppm.

I didn't read about "natural" pools here. And this site is not about that. Not saying it's not discussed here somewhere, you might try the search box. But this site is fundamentally about teaching how to maintain swimming pools with chlorine (I'm greatly simplifying), so it's not going to be a great resource for maintaining ponds for animals (non-humans).
 

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I love this thread! I've also checked out your thread in the Coffee Bar about natural pools. I'm looking forward to following it, too.

I use the Frog Logs which I bought from Amazon.

Amazon.com: frog logs pools

I place one right before my 2 skimmers. "Before" meaning water circulation wise,so the little guys swim to the frog log before getting pulled into the skimmer.

I have a SWG system, and my pool is 3 years old. I've never found a dead frog or snakes in my pool or skimmers. I often hear neighbors finding snakes and frogs in their pools. They don't listen to my Frog Log suggestions.

About two weeks ago, I finally had good proof they work! The day before, I had put the frog logs on the deck while I cleaned the skimmers. I forgot to put them back on the water. Next morning when I came out, there was a good sized froggie swimming back and forth along the edge where that frog log usually is. I swear he was a regular visitor to the pool! He seemed to know what he was looking for. I grabbed the frog log and put it in place. He immediately pulled up on it and sat. He sat there about 15 minutes. I think the poor little guy was tired. I turned around and he was gone. I didn't see him go up the ramp, but it was so cool.

I'll never forget again to keep my frog logs in place! (sniff, sniff - tissues anyone? Lol!!! ) True story by the way!

Take care,
Suz
 
So frogs are OK in an SWG pool? Maybe certain kinds? Or for short periods? I've fished out a few that were fine, but they didn't spend much time in my salt water...
 
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