tadpole food

[borntobnude]

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

 

[wasgij]

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

 

[chondrogreen]

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.

 

[borntobnude]

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

 

[Kay-Dee95]

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

 

[JasonL]

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.

 

[JasonL]

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.

 

[JasonL]

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.

 

[borntobnude]

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

 

[chondrogreen]

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.

 

[garycahill]

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

 

[kupper]

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

 

[chondrogreen]

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.

 

[garycahill]

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

 

[chondrogreen]

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.

 

[garycahill]

What species were they?

 

[chondrogreen]

Green tree frogs.

 

[garycahill]

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.

 

[chondrogreen]

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?

 

[gunny]

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.