# tadpole food



## borntobnude (Aug 11, 2009)

hi im sure there is a thread on this in here some where but , my daughters class has some tadpoles collected from a students fishpond in their classroom . the frog parentage is unsure but they dont seem like very large tapoles so i cant see the frogs being very big either .So can any one help me with what they are going to feed these little frogs when they evolve? please


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## wasgij (Aug 11, 2009)

boiled lettuce is fine for tadpoles. for frogs fly larva, small crickets


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## chondrogreen (Aug 11, 2009)

Boiled lettuce & fish flakes for taddies.
Live foods like crickets, woodies for frogs

Make sure they change the water frequently for the taddies too.
I have about 300 tadpoles atm and they are not morphing (approx 2 months on)
A friend told me yesterday that they release a chemical in the water that slows them down in overcrowded situations. 
As my tank is pretty crowded and I havn't yet performed a water change this is apparently the reason they havn't morphed for me.


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## borntobnude (Aug 11, 2009)

thanks for the info guys . with the size , they are really tiny tadpoles so i hope they grow a bit before they morph as i havnt seen crickets as small as they are atm


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## Kay-Dee95 (Aug 11, 2009)

there are really little crickets known as pinheads which are just hatched crickets so yea


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## JasonL (Aug 11, 2009)

The size of the tadpoles can have little to do with the size of the frogs, but if they were collected lately (ie in winter) at a guess they are most probably Crinia signifera (common froglet), which are very small frogs.


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## JasonL (Aug 11, 2009)

Kay-Dee95 said:


> there are really little crickets known as pinheads which are just hatched crickets so yea



Tadpoles for the most part are omnivores, but the main of their diet is plant matter. They usually arn't predators as such and will eat small amounts of usually non moving or dead meat material. In captivity, feeding such items just pollutes the water and throws the PH ect out... best stick to the frozen lettuce, they do fine on it.


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## JasonL (Aug 11, 2009)

It is also important to release the frogs back into the exact same pond that the tads came from, to prevent the spead of disease and Chytrid into new areas.


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## borntobnude (Aug 11, 2009)

thanks again . jason we have already spoken to the teacher about the release and suggested they be returned to whence they came . we have also aplied for our amphibian licence [ not for these but in the future ] as we do know not to take wild frgs / tadpoles


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## chondrogreen (Aug 11, 2009)

Well thanks to this thread I got motivated & did a water change.
Now a few hrs later I have 300 dead tadpoles. Not 1 has survived.
What the hell could have gone wrong? Please any suggestions?
I did 100% water change with room temp tap water.

Would like to know what the possibilities are as I do not want to try keeping them again without knowing what may have gone wrong.


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## garycahill (Aug 11, 2009)

It sound as though there may have been chlorine in the water


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## kupper (Aug 11, 2009)

go tot he aquarium and ask for a food called NLS its a high protein very fine pellet food its almost powder 

this stuff make taddy's grow like crazy


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## chondrogreen (Aug 11, 2009)

Yeah I am usually a real stickler for prime too but I got lazy & rushed and never used it this one time 
Just read that even a small amount of chlorine is deadly to taddies. Very stupid mistake on my part...Geeze I feel stupid now.

I hope others will learn from this.


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## garycahill (Aug 11, 2009)

Chlorine is highly to frogs, even more so to tadpoles.
Is is far better to use aged water than to just add more chemicals to eliminate chemicals.
You will also find a better growth rate as bacteria will start to grow in aged water, which is food for your tadpoles


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## chondrogreen (Aug 11, 2009)

Wish I had known this beforehand hey.
If my mate gives me some more I will be sure to age primed water in a barrel next time.
I had soooo many of them too. It is so upsetting, All gone in a matter of hours.


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## garycahill (Aug 11, 2009)

What species were they?


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## chondrogreen (Aug 11, 2009)

Green tree frogs.


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## garycahill (Aug 11, 2009)

Tadpoles actually need their food to be breaking down to get full nutrition from it.
They actually gain their nutrition from the bacteria that breaks the food down, bacteria is their food source.
If you have noticed water with that slight green look (not green & mucky) this is ideal for tadpoles as there is plenty of bacteria in it.


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## chondrogreen (Aug 11, 2009)

Thats what I thought hence I didn't do any water changes as their water was a green tinge but not slimey or algae ridden. But a mate told me that they release a chemical that slows down morphing so they need regular water changes.

Any advice here?


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## gunny (Aug 11, 2009)

you should never do a hundred percent water change. temperature shock i think was most likely the cause of death. there are also bacteria in the water that help to keep your water clean. a 30% water change every week or two should be more than enough provided you arn't overfeeding them.


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## garycahill (Aug 11, 2009)

The chemical/hormone fact is true.
I change 10% of the tank water daily with aged water & have achieved 90% + results with this method


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## Niall (Aug 11, 2009)

Sounds like the tadpoles were used to the dirty water and when you changed it all they went into shock as they were not use to such the clean water.

Next time make sure you only take out half the water and leave the other half in and just top it up with the new water.


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## JasonL (Aug 12, 2009)

Two ways to kill tadpoles; a; Use Tapwater and B; give them a dramatic temperature change.


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## cridon96 (Aug 12, 2009)

garycahill said:


> The chemical/hormone fact is true.
> I change 10% of the tank water daily with aged water & have achieved 90% + results with this method


 
I have used much the same process as above in the past with my green tree's. Only changing small amounts at a time and using aged water seems to be the key.

I originaly did not change the water at all but found that only 2 -5 would morph without regular water changes.


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## borntobnude (Aug 12, 2009)

I once lost 2-300 guppy's in similar fashion its a sad way to learn but somthing i will never do again the kids have a small submersible pond filter in their tank and afew dead crickets in the water circulating . they have a light [ not sure what type ] on 5 hrs a day with some algae buildup on the rocks , they top up the water when needed and i think /hope the teacher is now reading this thread 
go taddies


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