Question
QUESTION: I have a small pond with 2 gold fish and 2 green frogs that survived hibernation. I saw some white slimy jelly like substance floating but no eggs in it. What is that jelly?
Also there were some very tiny black round things that I thought were eggs floating, like tiny black beads with obvious rainbow shine when the sun is shining. I looked under the microscope and it has 8 legs. The body is round like a ball. What can that be?

I have not touched the water to clean it since I expected to have frog eggs but I saw damselfly larvae. I am at a loss at what point I can clean the pond. It is full of algae and the water is so dirty we rarely see the fish. Should I wait with cleaning or just do it and whatever grows in there is fair game?

thanks for reading.

ANSWER: I would go ahead and clean it.  I also am at a loss as to what those eggs could be.  Eight legs leads me to think spiders, but they wouldn't be in a pond.  Is it possible that all of those were not legs?

Was the white slime completely solid white or was it somewhat transparent and whitish-clear?

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: They were all legs LOL, hairy insect legs like flies' legs would be and all of them moving, trying to swim. It couldn't walk on the slide, it was too slippery. They look like water mites except these are completely black. I guess I will have to be satisfied that these won't turn into frogs or dragon flies which were what I was hoping to grow in there and not parasites. There is an amazing world there under the microscope.

The slimy substance is transparent white, not chalk color.

Thank you for answering.

Answer
It sounds like they may be water mites.  What threw me off is that they typically start development with six legs, and at some point grow the last two.  They are quasi-parasitic, so I would definitely exterminate to be safe.  BTI is the safest thing I have come across, but it is also less effective than some other options.  Do some research on this issue and decide what you are most comfortable doing.

It's hard to really get a grasp on the form/consistency of the slime, but it sounds as if it could be fungus.  It would most likely either be from driftwood or residual food.  As long as it doesn't keep spreading, it shouldn't be anything to worry about.  Of course, remove as much as you can.