Newbee with ADF tadpoles :)

Greetings to all. I got my first tank going last Jan (2011). It rapidly turned into two and then four. I started with guppies and 5 young ADF's. I was excited to have two preggo guppies, then see the fry being born and raising them. I have found many globs of snail eggs, but last Saturday night (one week ago), I discovered what I believed to be ADF eggs. I happened to have a birthing cage in the tank, so I put a good bit of vegetation from the tank into it and transferred the eggs into it with a turkey basted. Imagine my amazement to wake up and find teeny little tadpoles stuck to the netting! I rushed to the pet store and got powdered fry food and started adding a small dusting onto the surface. There was around 20 that I could see to count. They are now a week old and seem to be doing well. I counted 6, but there's a lot of moss in the breeder so I'm hoping there's more hiding in it. I immediately ordered a San Francisco bbs hatchery and will have it going early tomorrow morning. The water temp is about 78 or 79. Tonight I sprinkled a dusting of fry food onto the surface and they seemed to swim to it and start feeding. I haven't seen any info on anyone raising them this way. I did turn off the tanks bubble bar and slow the power filter to low. My only problem so far was a wayward snail that climbed into the breeder with them, but I got it out and tossed it into the loach tank. Any advice is greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance

 

Welcome to FishLore!!

Hope you don't mind, I moved your thread to the amphibians section of the forum.

Congrats on the tadpoles!!

Frogbreeder has a great guide here:



Good luck and keep us posted

 

Congratulations on the baby adfs! Keep us posted on their development!

 

Thanks for moving my post to the correct place. I was using my iPhone on the Internet site. I have since found the iPhone app and I must say that it is great.
I got the bbs factory up and running. It says that it tales 18-36 hrs for them to hatch depending on water temp.
My babies are swimming pretty well now, just under the surface. Just like it says they will in the journal on this site. It was and still is extremely helpful. It is absolutely amazing how tiny the were and how fast they are growing.
Thanks for the good wishes and for all the great info. I will keep you posted.

 

Hello Pattie G and Welcome to Fish Lore!

Congrats on the Tads!

I hope you enjoy the forum.

Ken

 

DAY 7--Today my babies are bigger and seem to be starting to hunt. I saw one swim towards movement in the water. The bbs are bubbling away. I have a 40w light on them and started another batch in an upside down Coke bottle standing up in a glass with a bubblestone dropped in. So far all seems to be right on schedule. I just hope the little shrimp hurry up and get done hatching. They've been going for about 21 hrs now. The first 16 were at room temp. I have had the light on them for a little over 5 hrs now.

 

Pick up some frozen BBS. Live are best but in a pinch the frozen will work. I thawed some in a paper condiment cup with tank water and skI'm it accross the top.
As they float down, the tads will go after them.
If there's water movement, frozen (Thawed) will move with the current.
Your tads should hunt them. Mine did.

Hope you post pics soon!

 

Thanks for the tip about frozen bbs. I will def get some tomorrow. Some of the bbs have hatched, so I went ahead and drained some out of the hatchery and put the in with the tads. I can see them swimming and I saw one get a eggshell and spit it out, lol, so I do believe that they are hunting. I quickly realized that the bbs swam put of the nursery trap out into the tank and a couple of little mollies were having a feast, so I sat a lamp on top of the tank shining into the nursery and turned the fluorescent light out. Problem solved!! How often should I feed? I was thinking about every 4 hrs for now?

 

I fed mine about 4-6 times a day depending on my schedule.
If they're still in a breeder net, you should consider getting them a tank soon.

 

I might move the fish out of the tank and let them out to live with their parents. Since the adults hunt on the bottom and the tads hunt on top, could they live together?

 

There's a good chance the parents will eat them.
(Gosh that sounds horrid! lol)

I didn't put my froglets in with their parents until they were a good size.
Like 1/2 the size of an adult when I knew they could fend for themselves and not fit in the adults mouth.

 

I'm scared to move them in fear that they will be shocked. So far they seem to be doing fine. They are definitely hunting. I saw them turn towards the shrimplet and snarf it down in a pretty smooth move. The light over the nursery is keeping the shripmlets in the ir. And, on second thought, the tank they are in is a deep 29 gallon. I have a 10 gallon that I can get going for them. But I think I'll wait for a few days. Also, tonight I observed more froggie courtship going on, too.

 

Up for the 5am feeding. The babies look good. I counted 5 this morning. Maybe more are hiding in the vegetation. I will try taking some pics today. They are so tiny that I'm not sure if I will be able to. And a new baby platy showed up to get the escaped bbs. I guess shrimp on the menu sounded pretty good. Thanks to all for the guidance.

 

They are tough to photograph, that's for sure!

 

Today the babies are 11 days old. I can see the beginnings of legs on the two biggest ones. They look healthy and are swimming very well. I used frozen bbs to supplement the feedings. And.. A about day four I thought I found some more eggs attached to some duckweed, so I scooped it up and put it in the nursery...sure enough I have found 5 new tads that must be from a second hatching since they are half the size of the others. Total of 10 and counting. I am still reluctant to move them into their own tank yet since they are doing so well. I have a 10 gallon tank I will have to get ready real soon cause they are growing fast!

 

Yay! Tadpoles! Congratulations!
Thanks for the update

 

I used to raise tadpoles in a 50 gallon rubbermaid bin, then I would release them into my garden/pond, I didnt have any bugs! Congrats on the Tadders! (its so much fun to watch them "morph")

 

Today is day 12. Everyone looks good. They are still in the birthing cage. Today I bought a 1 gallon minI aquarium w an undergravel filter. I am going to transfer the tads into it tomorrow after I pick up a heater. I put a good gravel base over it so the tank is only about 6 ins in depth. I have live vegetation to go into it and I am going to fill it directly from the tank that they are in so that there's no temperature or water condition change. Keep your fingers crossed for me.

 

How many do you have?
Sounds like you're doing much better than I did!

 

aww little froggies....can't wait to see pics! I once thought I saw a little glob of something in my adf tank...but wasn't sure what exactly it was. I left it in there...and I don't see it anymore. could have been eggs, but maybe not. how big are the clump of eggs? good luck with your little babies. that's very exciting!

 

Mine have always been scattered not clumped. They float, stick to leaves etc.

 

Yes, mine were scattered, too. They were brownish. (Not at all like snail eggs that are clumped together and clear jellylike stuff, stuck to the glass.) I first noticed some sticking to the glass at the waterline. Then, a few days later I found some sticking to some duckweed. So I have two different size tads. I was so focused on the first batch that I didn't notice that the second batch had hatched until I noticed them out hunting with the bigger ones. I counted ten, five of each size. But there could be a stray or two that I missed. It is amazing to watch them already hunting the bbs.

 

I just made the transfer into the new tadarium. I gave them a bbs snack and see them out hunting about 10 minutes after the move. I will try to get pics now if the little buggers will cooperate.

 

tadarium lol. cute. glad to hear they are doing well. to my knowledge I haven't had any eggs then....the stuff I saw must have been....hmmm, idk! maybe some sand mixed in with a little debris from a plant. sounds like raising tads is hard work...good job!

 

Can't wait for the pics!
I agree tadarium is really cute!

 

I did the first partial water change on the tadarium this afternoon. I first removed water with a turkey baster and deposited it into a ziplock baggie. I noted the amount of water in the baggie, then emptied it. I then removed the same amount of water from the 'mother aquarium' and measured it into the baggie until it was the same amount. I sealed the baggie and floated it in the tadarium for about half an hour to let the temperatures sync. Then a gentle release of the baggie water and " ta-dah", water changed! Everyone looks good and are out hunting their bbs supper.

 

well if you're using water from the 'mother aquarium', then it probably contains nitrates, and most likely other things....not really what you want. why not just fill up a bucket, use conditioner....then put it in. that way the water is clean.

 

Congrats on your tads and best of luck
I would have to agree with jerilovesfrogs in using fresh, clean dechlorinated water, making sure the fresh water is same temperature and close to the same pH as the tads.

 

Thanks guys. Good idea about the water change. I will use that method in the future. I had just done a water change on the mothertank and thought the water would be closest to the environment that they were used to. They all look good today, so I guess it was a success. I definitely need guidance in these matters. I got my disabled husband a 16 gallon tank for Christmas last year. Now we have that one plus a 30 gallon and two 29 gallon tanks. I got some guppies first and, of course, one was preggo. That led to the other tanks. When we got our first two ADF's we fell in love with them. Now we have 8 in two different tanks living with the guppies. I attribute our success thus far from the support and guidance of the members of this community. So thanks to all

 

So happy to see such great updates! Keep up the good work. It's worth it.

 

we're here to guide! good to hear the froggies are doing well. =]

 

The tads are coming along nicely. They are 18 days today with the younger batch about 2 weeks. The biggest ones are about as round as a BB with 1/4 in tails and legs starting to grow. Everyone is hunting and swimming deeper. I saw the biggest one surface and blow out a bubble. And I found at least 11 Balloon Belly Platys in the mothertank where 6 of the frogs live. I have managed to catch six of them and put them in the nursery trap. They were munching out on frozen bbs. I'll try to get the strays rounded up tomorrow. There's a lot of plants and hiding places.

 

Wow Pattie looks like your very busy over there! These little tads and fry will certainly keep you on your toes! I only had one tad that lived for 15 days and I could not believe how much work it took, with the hatching BB, cleaning, then feeding to then start all over again a few hours after. It felt like it was never ending. I do wish I was able to see my tad full grown. Maybe someday I'll try again. I found it is very fascinating to see the daily changes.
Good luck to you and all your babies!

 

The oldest tads are 23 days and seem to be doing well. I moved them into a 10 gal tank with only about 3 ins of water. I was very nervous during the move, but I gave them about 20 min. before I released them so that the water was temperature coordinated. I only moved three at first, but after a couple of hours I added some bbs and they started hunting right away, so I then moved the other six. All seems ok so far. They seem to like the bigger tank. It is bare bottom and the shrimp go to the bottom since the light reflects so bright, but I give it a swirl with a net every now and then. I put the plants from the nursery tank and some from the mother tank in there, so they have plenty of cover and hiding spots. Also the biggest ones are getting little arms starting to grow. And I've seen a couple of them go to the top after air. They are so cute. My baby Balloon Belly Platy fry are doing well, too.

 

pics!

-j

 

I found my tripod for my camera, so I will try to get pics tomorrow. The biggest two are starting to eat on the bottom and go up for air. I've tried to get pics but they were so little my camera won't focus properly. Any tips on taking pics them?

 

HI Pattie - If your camera has a Macro Setting, try that, great setting for close up shots.
Would love to see pic's too.

 

How exciting! Keep up the good work

 

I moved the tads into a 10 gallon tank with about 6 ins. of water. One of my older tads (about 26 days old) is lying on the bottom of the tank not moving. I thought he was a goner, but when I caught him in the net, he kicked a couple of times, so I put him back in and saw him kick again. He seems to be shedding since I see skin around his tail. Also I think his tail is starting to disappear. The others seem fine. My bbs aren't hatching as quickly asid like so I am supplementing with frozen. All the others seem fine so far. I sure hate to lose one this late in the development. I hope he comes around.

 

I separated him from the others in a different container in the same water. He looks pretty dead, but I'm waiting for a while to make a call. I finally got a batch of bbs hatched and the other 8 are hunting and seem ok. I will do a water change a little later after their lunch.