Tadpoles dieing

[dani333]

I have some RETF tadpoles and they seem to be dieing right after there front legs come in. Im not sure what im doing wrong. I have plastic leafs in there for them to get up on. what can i do to stop them from dieing? He was at the bottom of the tank opening his mouth up fast do you think that they drowned? But it almost seems like there front legs arent developed enough for them to grab onto anything. Cause today his second front leg just poped out and a few hours later hes dead.

[John]

Read the rearing section of the Gray Tree Frog Care article.

[Kurt]

Whats the pH of the water? How often are you changing it? Are there any tanins in the water? What are you feeding them? Finally, how often are you feeding them?

[dani333]

I change the water every other day partially, and I feed them tadpole food small balls that I got from a reptile show. I usally make sure that there is always a little bit of food on the bottom for them to eat. And i havent checked the ph level, and I'm not sure what you mean by tanins in the water.

[Kurt]

Tannins are polyphenols that are released by composing leaf litter found in most bodies of fresh water, especially those found in the tropics. If you have ever seen water that is tea in colour, then you have seen water that contains these polyphenols. This black water, as it is sometimes called, is usually on the acidic side as far as the pH is concerned and is ideal for raising tadpoles in, especially those of rainforest origin.
To introduce tannins to your water you can do it by one of two ways, you either use "black water extract" or, as I have done, place almond leaves in the water. Doing the latter also provides some natural nutrition for your tadpoles as I discovered. My red-eye tadpoles have been feeding on this large almond leaf 24 hours a day since I put it in. Now there is hardly anything left of it.
Black Jungle sells these dried leaves, their site - http://www.blackjungle.com, along with "black water extract".
*Looking over the site, I did not find the almond leaves, but they do sell them, I know because I have bought them from them.
Try feeding the tadpoles with flaked fish food, Omega One is a good brand to use.
What kind of filtration are you using? It should be strong enough to clean the water, without bashing the tadpoles around.