Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey,

In the last few months I noticed that more of my tads are dying then ever before. These will develop, break out of the eggs, live, feed fine, then when at about 1" long, will start to die off on me. Not all of them, but maybe 50% of them.

I use only RO water, there is always java moss in the tank, I feed them once per day with a ground blood worm gel and fish food. In the past everything was always fine. I change water approx every 3-7 days depending on the quality.

What's going on? Can you guys describe to me your tadpole setups and your rituals/routines that work for you. It would help me a great deal. Thanks

M.

Are you raising them in the same container? If you are, once they get older they are more aggressive eaters (depends on the species) and could cannibalize. I would use filtered tap water instead of RO. Raise individually and I am not sure about the blood worm gel, but sounds to me kind of messy. I also would use spirilina powder that you would find in health food stores. They are much better than fish food flakes. Change water 3-5 times a week. This is what I been doing for couple of years. It is pretty standard stuff and nothing out of the ordinary.

WM

I forgot to add that I adjust the pH to around 6.5-6.0 because it is the same water I use for changing my discus fish tanks. I use sulfuric acid.

WM

We raise each of our tads in individual 16 oz containers.

We use regular tap water that has sat out for 24 hours, with a couple drops of stress coat per gallon jug & 1 cup of tadpole tea.

The recipie for tadpole tea. Get a large stock pot your wife, g/f, husband or b/f will not mind loosing (or kill you for using - HINT: do not use the one you got as a wedding gift). If you don't have one, go to Odd Lots or a local thrift store and buy one. I got the one I use at a local thrift store for $5. It is stainless steel & is a 6 - 8 quart w/ the lid.

Get 16 ozs, or 2 cups of dry canadian peat (the stuff that comes in large bricks from the home and garden store). Add that to the stock pot, fill the rest of the way with tap water. Bring the mixture to a boil (keep the lid on) and keep on this setting for 20 - 30 minutes. This kills anything in the peat. Next, lower the temp and let simmer for an hour and then turn off and let it sit. Check the amount of water that has evaporated, and if a lot has, top off with additional water and let it steep for another 15 minutes.

I usually do this prior to going to bed and let it sit overnight. The next morning I take the liquid from the top of the stock pot and leave all the peat on the bottom. Get as much liquid as possible and as little peat in your mixture. I usually store this in a gallon jug and use as needed.

If you are considering switching your existing tadpole water to this, do it carefully & in small steps. The first week, substitute 25% of the tadpole tea into your water you usually use, the next week, switch it to 50%, followed to 75% then by the fourth week go to 100%. If you notice you are having a higher than normal die off, lower the amount of tea you are using.

If anyone has any questions regarding how to do this, please email me off the forum or go to our web site for our phone number and call me tonight.

Melis

ps....since I have switched to this method, we have experienced a 1 - 2% die off on our tads. Much better than any method we had used before.
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Quality Captives

I use 16 oz deli cups and raise each one seperately and i use blackwater extract to lower the die off, I use a teaspoon per gallon, and out of a 150 tadpoles only one died. I use spirulina for food because it is the easiest and I change water every 2-3 days because the cleaner the water the larger they morph out.
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As of 1/7/04
1.2.3 Leucomelas (the 3 juveniles are the brightest orange I've seen there almost red, there not from my trio)
1.1.14 Green and Bronze Auratus
0.0.2 Imitators
0.0.1 Vents (more soon)
0.0.2 Nicaraguan Green and Black Auratus
0.0.3 Citronella Tincs
0.0.2 Powder Blue Tincs
0.0.2 Yellow Back Tincs

I'm with you on that. I also use Blackwater Extract instead of messing with boiling oak leaves, peat moss or what have you. I've also found an instant way of using tap water...AquaSafe. This stuff is made by Tetra as well and comes in the same yellow bottle that the Blackwater Extract does. Only thing you need to monitor when refilling your tadpole water jugs is the temperature of the water coming out of the faucet. I use a digital thermometer probe to measure the the temps of the tadpoles current water and then match this exact temp with the water coming out of the faucet. I've been using this method for quite some time now and have had no real problems with tads dieing off once they are established and feeding...the odd one or 2 here and there is normal.

-Bill J
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I would think that is a possibility if you are using tap water without letting it sit.

At one point I used 'blackwater' but I wasn't very happy with it. There are a couple different brands and I have heard that people have better results with the Tetra brand vs the Kent brand.
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Quality Captives

I use the generic brand of spring water from my grocery store and since I dont have tons of tadpole it doesnt cost too much.
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As of 1/7/04
1.2.3 Leucomelas (the 3 juveniles are the brightest orange I've seen there almost red, there not from my trio)
1.1.14 Green and Bronze Auratus
0.0.2 Imitators
0.0.1 Vents (more soon)
0.0.2 Nicaraguan Green and Black Auratus
0.0.3 Citronella Tincs
0.0.2 Powder Blue Tincs
0.0.2 Yellow Back Tincs

yeah, there are air bubbles that collect on the sides of the jugs. I bang the sealed jugs a few times to disperse the bubbles. I have been doing this method for about a year now and have had no ill effects at all. I've came to love this Tetra AquaSafe as it instantly removes chlorine and other heavy metals and so forth. Also, I use a little more than the directions call for.

-Bill J
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I think we are almost up to 200 tads... Since both Sarah and I work, planning is key to keeping everything up to date. We also have the room to have 10 gallons of water sitting out to age.

One thing I have heard about, it that water treatment facilities are changing what they treat their water with. Some municipalities treat with Chlorine, and others have begun to use Chloramines.

Prior to municipalities using Chloramines, aging your water for 24 hours was all you needed to remove Chlorine. Now, you need to treat the water with a de-chlorinator with is designed to remove Chlorine & amonia.

There are a lot of articles out there!

Melis
Google search

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Quality Captives

"Tetra AquaSafe as it instantly removes chlorine and other heavy metals and so forth."

Does it really remove heavy metals? If so, do you have a precipitate that forms in your water? Otherwise, I can't imagine how heavy metals would be removed. Just curious.
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Homer W. Faucett III, esq.
Purveyor of Trivialities and Fine Nonsense

IT says on the bottle "Neutralizes Chlorine, Chloramine, and heavy metals harmful to fish"
"Enhances natural slime coating of fish"
"Complete formula, works in seconds"
I've been using this for months and have morphed out many tads successfuly with this method and have nearly 100 tads on hand at the moment....all alot of vents are coming out near with some tincs and azureus along the way. I agree with Melissa in that planning ahead is the key here, but I'm a very busy man with the baby and work and don;t have a alot of free time on hand. Normally, my water ages a few days before being used anyway. I just feel that the AquaSafe is a safety net and will trust fresh tap water treated with it. Melissa, the bubbles you are refering to are produced by the screen inserted into the end of the faucet and all it does it aerates the water with oxygen and at most it would be beneficial rather than harmful. The tap that I get my water from has no screen and the water comes out bubble-free.

-Bill J
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The traces of heavy metals would be in the form of acids and using the right buffers these can be neutralized and removed. I'm guessing that the buffering agent also diminshes once it finishes neutralizing the metals. Here's a list of the principal ingredients: sodium hydroxmethane, sulfinate, polyvinyl pyrollidones, organic chelating compounds.
I'm no chemist by far, so if anyone some useful information on this process, please post!

-Bill J.
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The metals are not precipitated, but are chelated, which means it is tied up by organic compounds and not as harmful as free metal ions. EDTA is the usual compound for chelating metals. Chemical name ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid. They have various salts of this, up to 4 sodium atoms per EDTA molecule. Hope this explains it.

WM

Thanks, that's the affirmation I was looking for. I was pretty sure that heavy metals were not "removed" from the water, but rather bound up as organic salt complexes. That's the difference between removal and binding/inactivating. I appreciate the reference to the specific organic salt used to effectuate the process.
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Homer W. Faucett III, esq.
Purveyor of Trivialities and Fine Nonsense

hi
when your tads died did they have mouth fungus on them. i had some die on me not too long ago and they had mouth fungus on them. this was due to my neglect, i forgot about them, didn't give them a water change.
i experimented with them, i use the green water method as i call it. i just use rain water. of course i know your rain and mine is different but it let it turn green. there are people out there that don't really pamper thier tads like some people do. also try not to feed everyday, sometimes that also is a factor to them dieing.
i figure it this way out in the wild they don't have ro to live in. but they do get water changes when it rains.
ok i said my piece now time to go back to lurking.
walt

np

I use ro water and set a gallon up with oak leaves.I have raised over 40 tads,imitator and Costa Rican auratus,using this method.Have you changed the supplement you are giving your adults.I have heard that can have a bearing on how the tads develop.Hope you clear up your problem.
Mark W.