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Thread: RETF Breeding gone wrong. Help!

  1. #1
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    Default RETF Breeding gone wrong. Help!

    Hi Everyone,

    About a month ago, after much time researching the internet, I set out to breed my red eyes. I wasn't successful. I'm trying to figure out what I did wrong so when I attempt this again, I'll hopefully be successful.

    Here's the play-by-play:

    Sex ratio: 4 males : 2 females (all adults, I've had them for over 2 years)

    3 weeks before I transferred them to the rain chamber I fed them more than normal and cut back the cage misting to simulate sort of a dry spell in the season.

    Rain Chamber
    • Built from an Exo-Terra 18x18x24 tank
    • PVC pipe rain bar attached to the top of the screen
    • Distilled water
    • External aquarium canister filter to cycle the water from the bottom to the rain bar
    • False bottom from egg crate sat just below water level in case frogs lost their footing
    • Generous amounts of real (pothos) and fake broad leaf plants placed in the tank
    • Water heater placed in the water to keep temperatures at 75-80. Aquarium digital thermometer placed in water to monitor temperatures
    • Thermometer/Hydrometer installed in tank to monitor environment (I was getting temps in the 75-80 range and humidity in the high 90s)
    • Automated 12 hour night/day cycle for lights
    • Rain schedule (8am on 1 min, 12noon on 1 min, 4pm on 1 min, 8pm on 2hrs, 12midnight on 2hrs)


    After 5 days of transferring the RETFs in the rain chamber, they laid 2 clutches of eggs with roughly 30 eggs in each clutch.

    Once I saw the eggs, I removed the RETFs from the rain chamber and returned them back to their permanent tank.

    The eggs were laid on the pothos leaves. I snipped the leaves the 2 clutches were on, removed all the other plants and hung the leaves from the top of the rain chamber just above the surface of the water. Based on what I have read, I turned off the rain at this time.

    I noticed on day 2 that the jelly the eggs were in was quickly drying up. I got worried and I turned on the rain for the remainder of the egg development to keep them hydrated and moist. I adjusted the rain schedule to be very light (no more 2 hour long sessions). The jelly regained moisture. The eggs were developing inconsistently. Some were further along than others. Is this normal?

    During this time, I started putting together the tadpole tank.

    Tadpole Tank
    • Generic fish tank 15 gallon
    • Distilled water
    • Water heater placed in the water to keep temperatures at 75-80. Aquarium digital thermometer placed in water to monitor temperatures
    • Submersible water filter (sponge only)
    • Live plants


    After day 7, I transferred the clutches and leaves, they were on, from the rain chamber to the tadpole tank. I hung the clutches above the water in preparation for the tadpoles to hatch. At this time 5 were ready for hatching while the others were still in early development (they took the form of tadpoles, had visible eyes, but were far from the other further along developed tadpoles. The movement of me transferring the clutches over the tank caused the 5 further developed tadpoles to hatch as soon as they were above the tadpole tank.

    The other under developed tads did not make it to the water. The clutches dried out since they were no longer being kept moist by the rain. I had 5 tadpoles from the entire clutch make it to the tank. The tadpoles lasted less than a week. They started dying one by one. I fed them tropical fish flakes, crushed algae biscuits and boiled lettuce (all recommended from what I read online). Feeding frequency was once in the morning everyday.

    So based on this post-mortem, what did I do wrong? What should I do differently to have better success?

    Help. I plan on trying again in a week.

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  3. #2
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    Default Re: RETF Breeding gone wrong. Help!

    Sounds like only one of the females spawned, so worth trying again. I'd say your breeding effort was actually a success (it's the harder part), but your egg and tadpole rearing were not.
    Firstly lose the plastic plants. Red Eyes should have real plants at all times, but especially when breeding. Artificial ones just take up valuable room and shouldn't be used at all whether attempting to breed or not.
    Secondly, don't used distilled water. They need either treated tap water or safe rain water, this is most likely why the tadpoles didn't survive.
    Lastly, as soon as the spawn has appeared, cut the leaves off as you did and suspend them over the water you intend to rear the tadpoles in straight away. Use an aquarium with about 3 inches of treated, heated water and suspend the leaves over it using a piece of pipe or something similar, then cover the aquarium with a piece of glass. This will ensure that there will be 100% humidity and the eggs won't dry out. If the room is not too warm use a heatmat attached to side of the glass too to make sure they don't get cold (use a thermometer in both the water and air to monitor). They all develop at the same rate and start dropping into the water after a week.
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  4. #3
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    Default Re: RETF Breeding gone wrong. Help!

    Thanks @diver. I will take your advice the second time around. Do I need to filter the tadpole tanks water?

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    Default Re: RETF Breeding gone wrong. Help!

    You'll definitely find it beneficial! Tadpoles produce a vast amount of waste. Once they've done a bit of growing (when big enough not to get sucked through the strainer), I keep mine in a 4ft aquarium with a very large external filter.
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  6. #5
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    Default Re: RETF Breeding gone wrong. Help!

    UPDATE

    This second attempt is more successful. I yielded about 40 healthy tads. I am a little over 3 weeks in from hatching. They are in a tank filled with distilled water treated with blackwater extract. Java moss and duckweed are in the water as well along with some aquatic plants. I'm using an external canister filter and the temperature of the water is 75-80. I feed them once a day zoomed frog and tadpole pellets and sometimes tropical fish flakes. They seem to be doing real well.

    https://vimeo.com/143951524

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