Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I caught a bullfrog tadpole today, about 2.5 inches long, and I put it in a 55 gallon aquarium with about 4 inches of water. Is this enough height?

I also put an algae wafer in the water for food, though he hasn't eaten any yet. Can I just feed him these algae wafers until he metamorphoses or should I feed him something else?

How often should I do partial water changes? Everyday? And how much should I replace each time?

Should I put an aerator in? I raised toad tadpoles last year and I used an aerator, but I think it just annoyed them more than anything.

Thanks for any help you can give.
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alstiver@hotmail.com

1.0 2001 Coral snow cornsnake
0.1 2002 Pastel Ghost poss Het Amelanistic cornsnake
1.1 2002 Bloodred cornsnakes
0.1 1998 Het Hypo, Het Caramel cornsnake
1.0 2000 Hypo Het Caramel cornsnake

I should say that since I raised the toad tadpoles last year, I should be able to take care of this guy as well too, but I figured a refresher course would help me take better care of this guy.
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alstiver@hotmail.com

1.0 2001 Coral snow cornsnake
0.1 2002 Pastel Ghost poss Het Amelanistic cornsnake
1.1 2002 Bloodred cornsnakes
0.1 1998 Het Hypo, Het Caramel cornsnake
1.0 2000 Hypo Het Caramel cornsnake

Hi Amanda,
That is enough water but it may be so much area that the tadpole may have problems finding the food. Also while it is deep enough for the bullfrog tadpole, it is not deep enough to use a filter on the aquarium. As a consequence you should change at least 10-15% of the water each week (this does not include water added to the tank to replace water lost to evaporation) but really no more than 25%. An airstone will help the tadpole as the aquarium cycles to remove some of the excess ammonia that can form in the tank.
You can offer the tadpole most of the wafer or pelleted foods but the uneaten portion should always be removed each day. You can also offer the tadpole romaine leaves that have been microwaved for about 15 seconds or so or by dipping the leaf in boiling water to blanch it as above the uneaten portion should be removed every day.

i'm not sure how long it will take your tadpole to transform but in parts of their range it can take 18 months to transform into a frog (but as it will not have to deal with cold weather I doubt it will take this long.)

Ed

My tadpole LOVED boiled spinach, we wouldn't any thing else, but if you got it from the wild it may injoy real plants

I would not recommend feeding spinach to an amphibian due to the high concentrations of oxalic acid as oxalic acid will bind calcium and can interfere with calcium metabolism.

Ed