Advice for tadpole rearing

[jason]

Okay, so the woods behind my house are being plowed over to build a new neighborhood, and I'm pissed. There are large populations of P. crucifer, H. versicolor, and some of my other favorite Anurans...So, as an act of conservation, I'm breeding some Peepers in my yard to release into a friend's pond..

Anyway, I need some advice. One of my females has already deposited eggs, and I want to bring some inside to raise, and move the others to the pond now. As for the ones I'm taking in...I'm using the tank I set up for some newts. (Link Below) The tank is 20L, and is holding some 20-30 eggs. What kind of filter would be best? I'm using an submersible filter being blocked by some rocks (to reduce current). I also have a lid on the tank, and it'll soon have a hood with an UV bulb...Will the be sufficient until the metamorph?

http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m80/wii_irish_lad/100_0097.jpg
(Sorry, the pic is too large to upload)

 

[abrahm]

First off, I would strongly recommend against the release of the animals you collected back into the wild. Feeding them commercially prepared foods and placing them in a captive environment may expose them to pathogens that they may introduce into the wild with possibly devastating effects on amphibian populations in the area. Please, do not release anything you take into captivity.

I think I would want to go with a sponge or box filter for this tank as it would be less likely to suck up larva and injure them. Make sure your water quality is tip top and compare it to the local pond water if you can as far as pH, kH or GH go.

Try to make changes to the water gradually by cutting pond water with tap water until they are used to the tap water chemistry.

I don't know if UV is necessary or beneficial. I'm sure someone here will have a good idea. Also, expect this to be moved to the Anuran section.

 

[jason]

I'm not planning on moving any captive animals into the wild. I'm raising half the eggs myself, and the other half will be put in the pond when they're still eggs. I'll be putting the adults in the pond as well.

 

[nicole]

Question....were the eggs laid outside? The reason I want to know is because I did something similar to this last summer with the tree frogs that laid eggs in my swimming pool. Let me know and I'll tell you more if you want to know.

 

[jason]

Yup. The eggs were laid in my back yard, but I moved them into my indoor tank (the water temps, pH, and everything were the same...i made sure)

 

[nicole]

I took the eggs along with some of the water they were laid in and kept them in that without a filter. I didn't do any water changes because I wanted to keep it as natural as possible. If you think about it, eggs were laid in a swimming pool with no filter and just occasional rain added to the mix. So, that's what I did. I collected rain water and would add that to their tank. Ok, I guess you could consider my taking out some of their old water and adding the rain water as a water change but I only took out enough so I didn't have an overflow problem. Otherwise, I didn't bother them until they hatched and were a pretty good size. I let them eat the algae that was in the tank and gave them some dead insects that floated on top (according to my web search, the parents leave dead insects with the eggs so the tadpoles can eat them when they hatch). I had a good amount that hatched and morphed.

You need to remember that what I did was to save them from the chemicals in the swimming pool (we were going to try to get it up and running) because I am an animal freak who couldn't possibly watch them die even if they were just eggs. Whether this is the proper way, I don't think so but I did save quite a few and that is what I'm happy about. My husband nd parents thought I was crazy and that it wouldn't work but when they saw the outcome they were pleasantly surprised.