I got Tads!!

[John]

For Ranitomeya I generally use the either 2 oz or 4 oz deli cups filled most of the way. Obviously 1 tadpole each.

[MikeM670]

I would really like to have good news about rearing the tadpoles but I have lost three maturing tads. I really am at a loss to explain what is happening. One day they seem fine and the next day they are found dead floating in the containers. I just found my third one DOA. I'll try and describe each tad death so somebody maybe able to tell me whats going on.

I have been raising all my tadpoles in deli cups with RO/DI Water. At first they were being feed HBH Frog &Tadpole Bites. The one thing I did not like about this food was after a day the remaining or uneaten portion would develop a white fuzzy coating. So I switched to Ocean Nutrition Formula One Marine Pellets that did not do this after being in the water.

The first and oldest tadpole was found floating DOA in the container which I had been feeding the Tadpole Bites. There did not appear to be anything visible wrong with the tad. The tad had developed a full set of rear legs and the front ones appeared well developed. The tail still had not been absorbed very much.

At this point I switched to the second food for all the tadpoles. No more fuzzy food in the containers.

The second tadpole was to my inexperienced eye fully developed with excellent coloring and with just the tail remaining and was extremely active. I setup a new 5 gallon tank that was first filled with coco fiber and then covered with a high quality sphagnum moss. Everything was very damp and I added some spring tails to the tank for a first food. I placed the tadpole into a film container and set it at a 45 degree angle so the tad could climb out easily when it was time. The frog was in this setup for about a week. I added some more water to the film container to replace any that was lost. I still feed the tad some of the formula one. Then one day the frog was found dead in the container. The water was clear but I did notice about 5 large spring tails in the container water. Could this have stressed the tad to death?

The last tad was found DOA in the deli cup just a few minutes ago. I had been watching the development of all the older tads carefully looking for the right time to place them into the film containers and into the 5 gallon rearing tank. The tail did not look like it was starting to be absorbed.

I'm just really frustrated as to what is going on. Is it improper care on my part or is this normal for the first round of tadpoles from a young breeding pair?

Comments are very welcome.

[MikeM670]

I have my first Dendrobates Ventrimaculatus 'Understory Line' sucessfully out of the water. It happen either last night or early this morning.

Here is a image of the little one.

[KingCam]

I have my first Dendrobates Ventrimaculatus 'Understory Line' sucessfully out of the water. It happen either last night or early this morning.

Here is a image of the little one.

Congrats, it's gorgeous. I wish I could offer some advice on the death of the others, but I have no experience with this sort of thing.

[MikeM670]

I figure they actually drowned since they could not climb out of the water. I was under the impression that the tail needed to be absorbed before they morphed out of the water. As you can see this one still has the tail.

[asid61]

Could water contamination have killed them? Ammonia, nitrite, nitrate buildup?

[MikeM670]

No I change water on a regular basis. They needed a place to climb out of the water at this stage.