i was thinking of buying some leapard frog tadpoles, if that possible, and keeping them in a tropical fish take over the winter.


however, i dont understand how that's possible or wise, since a clean fish tank should not provide enough algea - would the thrive well on spinash - or other vegitables?


would the temperature being around 80 harm them?


i dont trust the pet shop to tell me the specie of tadpole they sell - hopefully they have that data available from their shippers - i wish there were a way to determine the specie from the tadpole.

Most tadpoles sold at fish stores are bullfrogs. I got a few young leopard frogs at my local store once (not tadpoles) but they just hopped away. If you want to keep tadpoles in an aquarium, you can feed them most commercial fish foods (flakes, pellets, tablets made for algae eaters are good), Cheerios, cucumber, kale, other veggies, etc. not just algae.

80 degrees F is a bit warm but they should still live. Try to get down around 70-75 degrees F if you can.

if i were to build my frog fence so that they coulndnt escape, do you think it would be stressful for a pair of wood frogs and pair of mature leapard frogs. I have a deck which provides shade and leaves, rushes, and bushes and plants all over the yard - and will have a 10 x 10 bog garden.

if you say its cruel, i wont do it. ill just stick with green frogs and pickerels

Wood frogs and leopard frogs only come to ponds to lay their eggs. The rest of the time, wood frogs like to be in mature woods. Leopard frogs kind of hang out in grassy areas in semi-shade. Your conditions might be ok for the leopard frogs but it sounds like the wood frogs might not be as happy. Also, wood frogs are pretty adept at climbing and might be able to get past your fence. They're not true tree frogs but do spend time in and around trees.

robyn is right. also it would depend on what kind of fish verses what kind of tad....if the tad isnt piosonous the fish will prolly eat a few, and if it is then its waste and secretions could sicken your fish. i havent ever had fish and tadpoles but i dotn think it would be good to mix species unless you have all the risks accounted for. i wanted to mix my treefrogs and toad well i did and my baby toad died because my treefrogs are not piosonous in general but piosonous to a toad, i was so sad too.
but if you do want to get tadpoles put them in a seperate container, and 10 to a gallon so if you have 5 gallons of water you can safely hold 50 tads :D


hope this helps you some but robyn is way ahead of me here :P

ooops also some frogs will dig under your fence and get out....turtles do the same so you would have to have the fence a foot or 2 in the ground <_< ...i built my turtle enclosure and it was such a pain because mo. grows nothing but rocks and i had to dig 2 feet in so that they wouldnt escape :lol: and toads esp. they will dig and dig and just leave if they want :rolleyes:

I would not put 10 tadpoles per gallon in an aquarium. It of course depends on their size but even the small tree frog tadpoles, I would probably keep them slightly less concentrated than that. Larger tadpoles should have more room, only a few tadpoles per gallon at most once they are big. Of course, in my tub ponds, the frogs decide the concentration, and they put in hundreds of eggs in just 10 gallons or so. I do move some to other ponds though.

my yard, to be fenced in, is 38 feet x 90 feet. Would a frog or toad be smart enough to realize the only way out of the yard is to dig under the fence - or would it, as i hope, go in the opposite direction to the obstacle that is the fence?

i know if i fenced in a very small portion, the frog/toad would realize the only way out is to dig - but i think with a large enough area - like i have - they will avoid the fence and opt, instead, to jump on the backs of sparrows as they drink from and bathe in my pond and get a ride on the backs of the small birds.


:)

"my yard, to be fenced in, is 38 feet x 90 feet. Would a frog or toad be smart enough to realize the only way out of the yard is to dig under the fence - or would it, as i hope, go in the opposite direction to the obstacle that is the fence?"

I don't know. Most times, they would just turn around but one day, they may decide to dig for no reason in particular. I don't know if they realize that "freedom" is on the other side or not.

"i know if i fenced in a very small portion, the frog/toad would realize the only way out is to dig - but i think with a large enough area - like i have - they will avoid the fence and opt, instead, to jump on the backs of sparrows as they drink from and bathe in my pond and get a ride on the backs of the small birds."

Uh huh, and then they can go visit the Lilyputians (don't know if I spelled that right!).

go? you mean: went...

We have a 10 gallon tank set up to house two bull frog tads that accidently came in with some plants from the pond.

They are happy and healthy in a 50/50 tank.

I tossed in some frozen blood worms and they went crazy for them.

BV.
www.iheartmypond.com/animals/

In the spring, I have the opportunity to harvest pickerel frog eggs from a friend's pond.


I am going to begin construction of my pond in spring and will be done in midd to late summer, i bet.


I was thinking about raising the tadpoles from eggs in a 30 gallon and 20 gallon fish tank.

I have multiple concerns re: this method:

1. Does the ammount of newly hatched tadpoles really matter, with respect to volume of water - within reason, at first?

2. If i use an airstone, how many of those tadpoles full-grown should i rear in the 30 gallon tank. I'll also pack it with elodea and millweed for food, oxygen, and the promotion of good bacteria.

3. Must i keep the tank near direct or natural sun-light?

4. What factors, other then chlorine/chloromine, must i consider to minimize the likelyhood of damage to their sexual organs - sunlight a factor? over crowding? temperature fluctuaion? Id hate to raise a brood of genetically damaged frogs that may, in turn, breed 'messed up' frogs; or is it that, as long as they mature and look healthy - having survived metamorphoses without noticeable defect...that ill have no prob.? i just feel that frogs are very sensative and highly prone to gen. mutation.

5.

"1. Does the ammount of newly hatched tadpoles really matter, with respect to volume of water - within reason, at first?"

I've raised salamander larvae in a 5 gallon tank back in the late 90's during two different springs. What happened was that their numbers naturally decreased over time. As soon as it was warm enough, I dumped most out in my fishless ponds. In the end, I let 3 change into adults in the tank, and then released them. [No, I've never seen a single salamander on our 5 acres before or after this.]

Since you'll have a good batch of eggs, I would let them all hatch. Some will be weak or deformed and die. Over time, only the strongest will remain. You may have to thin them out if your pond isn't ready in time or put them out in a temporary pond like a few kiddie pools. If too crowded, there can be ammonia spikes and water quality problems as with overcrowding fish.

"2. If i use an airstone, how many of those tadpoles full-grown should i rear in the 30 gallon tank. I'll also pack it with elodea and millweed for food, oxygen, and the promotion of good bacteria."

I can't say. It depends on too many factors such as growth rate, die off rate, just how clean you want the tank to be, etc. Without filtration, in a 30 gallon tank, try to stay under 30-50 mature tadpoles. If it were a permanant situation (which it isn't since they will eventually turn into adults but saying they always stayed tadpoles), then I'd aim for half that many.

"3. Must i keep the tank near direct or natural sun-light?"

Indirect sun is fine. Direct sun is not a good idea for most aquariums because it may heat the tank and certainly will cause algae to grow. While tadpoles eat attached algae, they can't do much with the suspended algae that grows in strong light.

"4. What factors, other then chlorine/chloromine, must i consider to minimize the likelyhood of damage to their sexual organs - sunlight a factor? over crowding? temperature fluctuaion? Id hate to raise a brood of genetically damaged frogs that may, in turn, breed 'messed up' frogs; or is it that, as long as they mature and look healthy - having survived metamorphoses without noticeable defect...that ill have no prob.? i just feel that frogs are very sensative and highly prone to gen. mutation."

You want to keep the ammonia and nitrite levels at zero and the nitrate at low levels. If your water has naturally high levels of pollutants (nitrate, phospahte, fertilizers, pesticides, etc.), then you might want to use bottled spring water instead of tap water or mixed with it. Provide good aeration. A filter once they are large enough to not be sucked in is a good idea or you can cover the inlet of an aquarium filter with pantyhose and use it from the beginning. I used a sponge filter when the salamanders were tiny. While the tadpoles are small, it might be a good idea to keep a bare-bottomed tank. This will allow you to use a piece of air line tubing or a turkey baster to pick up small and large debris (uneaten food, poo, dead tadpoles) respectively. You can still have anacharis floating around for them to eat but not having the gravel on the bottom makes cleaning much easier.

Too much sunlight, specifically UV, can alter frogs. I'm sure you've read the articles about the UV levels being high due to things like holes in the ozone, pollution, and global warming such that some male frogs were even feminized. If kept out of direct sunlight, this should not be a problem. Most such changed frogs were in open water with no cover exposed directly to the sun. Amphibians are highly prone to mutations so in today's world, you may end up with a few such tadpoles but almost all mutations will die young. By letting them thin out naturally, you should have the healthiest group.

Try to avoid overcrowding if too many survive on their own. Try to avoid temperature fluctuations.

If i have no tree to cover my pond, will that be a problem come of UV light.


1. The pond, 15x23, will be in the center of the yard with no trees to block sunlight.

I will have big bushes 10 feet from the pond, but i dont know....


I have seen swamps with no standing trees and the frogs are in direct light, it seems, all day - basking. I have a huge sweet gum tree (i think it is: it has these spikey green balls it produces which turn dry and brown in winter - they are about 1.5" - i think star leaves) - its over a portion of the pond. If i leave it, im afraid it may come down on the house - or some of its enormous and wide branches.

I can purchase a small tree to put beside one end of the pond. I will have rush surrounding the pond - but thats all.

2. As for the tadpoles, maybe i should keep those amo-rocks for ponds in the tank with them.

3. If i released wood frogs and salamanders into my pond, as larvae, and from there i allowed them to wander off.... would they survive in a sort of sub-urban, but nearly city environment - with woods like 3 miles away - but patches of wooded terriroty - thinly - and gardens and properties with trees and ivey and so forth - and return to breed, finding the only stream is like 1/2 mile away - poluted and thin and fast running with no pond?

Even if the sun is direct, there's no way to know if the amphibians would receive too much UV or bad rays as it varies depending on where you live, time or year, etc. Again, there are too many variables.

In the pond, the tadpoles, frogs, etc. may get some shade or sun block from the following: suspended algae, waterlily leaves, submerged plants, marginals, etc. So, even if there's no tree shade, it's not truly in full sun. If it is, the suspended algae normally grows out of control. Most trees will through shade out far from where their canopy is at least during sunrise and sunset in various directions so some shading can occur at various times of the day.

"I have seen swamps with no standing trees and the frogs are in direct light, it seems, all day - basking. I have a huge sweet gum tree (i think it is: it has these spikey green balls it produces which turn dry and brown in winter - they are about 1.5" - i think star leaves) - its over a portion of the pond. If i leave it, im afraid it may come down on the house - or some of its enormous and wide branches."

It sounds like a gum tree. We don't have one of those (I love trees). It's normally not a good idea to have large tree branches overhanging an ornamental pond because it may block too much sun, and there's the risk or branches and, of course, leaves getting into the pond.

"I can purchase a small tree to put beside one end of the pond. I will have rush surrounding the pond - but thats all."

As I mentioned, you can provide shade and cover in the pond itself. You can plant small dwarf trees about 6' from a pond or moderately-sized ones at least twice that far, that once they grow up, will cast shade on portions of the pond at certain times of the day, varying with season as well.

"2. As for the tadpoles, maybe i should keep those amo-rocks for ponds in the tank with them."

Ammo-rocks or zeolite can be put in a filter and changed with regular maintenance to help keep ammonia levels down. Just sitting in the substrate, they work for a while but them become full of ammonia and need to be replaced or recharged.

"3. If i released wood frogs and salamanders into my pond, as larvae, and from there i allowed them to wander off.... would they survive in a sort of sub-urban, but nearly city environment - with woods like 3 miles away - but patches of wooded terriroty - thinly - and gardens and properties with trees and ivey and so forth - and return to breed, finding the only stream is like 1/2 mile away - poluted and thin and fast running with no pond?"

I really don't know. Maybe, maybe not. Those animals really need mature, healthy forests as adults.