Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello everyone, i know theres an abundance of mudpuppys in my area, and i was thinking about getting one. Im not sure if this would be ok, but i have a decent sized goldfish pond in my yard, its 5.5 feet deep, its triangular shaped. The deepest partis rich with hornwort, an oxygenating plant. i have a waterfall pump that is in the pong, it sits at a middle height, it sucks water in, and shoots it through a hose, to create a waterfall effect. It hasnt sucked up any fish, but would it be harmful to a mudpuppy? I have a bunch of goldfish, they start at around 3 inches long, they are pretty big, would a mudpuppy eat them? i have TONS of minnows that are really small, i was hoping the mudpuppy would eat them. Also, i have some frogs in my pond, any conflicts? i have lots of plants, iris' lillypads, hornwart, a palm. The pond in the winter only gets 3-4 inches of ice, and i keep a heater to melt some of it. Would the mudpuppy run out of food? if this is an allright habitat, i would like to know how many mudpuppys i can put uin it, i would assume its about 900-1200 gallons, me and my dad built this pond on a large scale. One last thing, the pond gets quite a bit of direct sunlight, and quite a bit of algae.
email me at aaron_simkovich@yahoo.com if you want.

If you are talking about Nectorus sp and not tiger salamanders. I have three that are quite comfortable in a 38 gallon tank. You main concern is water temperature. If your pond does not get above 74 I'd say that it was okay. as far as how many to have is concerned, if your goal is to not have to add extra food then the general rule of thumb for predator/prey is that the volume of prey should be ten times that of the predators. Also, mud puppies like to hide and will be nocturnal in clear water so don't expect to see much of them. They will eat small fish, but prefer earthworms, snails, crayfish and insects.