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koijoyii

How to make a lighted frog island

koijoyii
13 years ago

Thought I would share how I made a simple floating frog island with a solar light. The light attracts bugs at night for the frogs to catch and eat.

I used:

1 12" green styrofoam round from Pat Catans $3.17

1 small green half sphere $1.07

1 solar path light at Marc's $1.98

Keeping my frogs happy and fat: priceless

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Remove the stake from the solar light and discard.

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This will give you access to the hollow tube.

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Center the small green half sphere in the middle of the 12" circle. Then take the solar path light and push it through the middle of both the small sphere and the 12" circle.

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Here is what the finished product will look like.

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This is how it looks once you put it in the pond.

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Here it is at night.

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Jenny

Comments (13)

  • Calamity_J
    13 years ago

    How cool is that!!! Good job! LOVE the solar idea!

  • annedickinson
    13 years ago

    Great light, beautiful azolla!!!

  • hardin
    13 years ago

    Absolutely perfect. No glue, no fuss, no muss. Now that's priceless. Thanks for the great idea.

  • goodkarma_
    13 years ago

    I love this idea Jenny! Thanks for sharing.

  • crazydooker
    13 years ago

    This is absolutely awesome!! I LOVE it!! I can't believe I never thought of trying this. I have those same lights on the edge of my pond, which accomplishes the same goal at the edge, but how cool to have them in the middle? Brilliant!!

  • railheadwitz
    13 years ago

    Great idea Jenny, Thanks.
    I was thinking about just putting a small solar light outside the pond but I've got neighborhood cats that prowl the area at night. This should be perfect.
    I may have to counterweight it for a couple of the larger bullfrogs. :-())

    Witz

  • frogman4_gw
    13 years ago

    Speaking about floating islands and frogs. Here is what I made last year.

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  • railheadwitz
    13 years ago

    Frogman,

    Nice! Maybe I'll incorporate your landscaping into Jennys' floating island.
    Are those live plants and what is the brown base material?

    Witz

  • frogman4_gw
    13 years ago

    Witz,I moved my photos around on Photo bucket today so the above Photo is gone but here is how I started. Marked and cut holes to fit recycled plastic pots in drum lid. Laid over scrap liner, marked and cut out to match holes. reinstalled pots,added drift wood, cable tie for anchor line to attach to. Added thin layer of window great stuff. Spray painted outside edge tan. Glued sheet moss over surface.All it cost was 1/2 can of great stuff and one bag of sheet moss. The pots protrude below water line which makes it near impossible for winds to blow over. Would not think of having anything but live plants which are easy to change if you are not satisfied.A solar light would be easy to add.
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  • railheadwitz
    13 years ago

    frogman,

    Thanks for the details and pics!

    Witz

  • angelcub
    13 years ago

    What great visuals/tutorials! Thanks to both of you. I am going to make one like Jenny's first. My 12" styro round is white. Question: can I spray paint it and not hurt the frog or fish? I only have 3 (maybe 4 - can't find one of them) little fish in a ~1000 gal. pond and one fat frog. : )

    Frogman, what do you use as planting medium in the black containers? Gravel, soil, both?

    Help from anyone else is appreciated, too.

  • frogman4_gw
    13 years ago

    I use outdoor krylon paint one dried you are good to go. I stick the roots in the plastic planter which has good sized bottom holes add some gravel which adds balast. The roots will grow through the bottom holes and dervive thier nutrients from the pond water.

  • angelcub
    13 years ago

    Thank you, frogman! I used a Kyrlon that says indoor/outdoor. Hosta leaf is the color. Turns out I didn't really need it for the top since I glued sheet moss on top. But the sides look better green than white. I used 3M Super 77 spray adhesive to hold down the moss. Hope it stays put.

    I saw my frog this morning and now I'm not sure my round styro will be big enough for him. He is about 6-7 inches long, not including the legs. Big guy. Might have to make him a larger island. Maybe a couple of small pots with wire grass will help balance the island.

    I really enjoyed this project. Thanks again for the T&Vs! I will take pics later this evening when DH gets home with camera.