Hey everyone!

I recently acquired ten baby ACFs from a grade school teacher. Not sure where she got them as she thought they were ADFs. Luckily, I was very skeptical and started preparing for ACFs. Didn't realize there would be ten of them, however. Nor did I think that some of them would still be tadpoles! The list of little darlings I received on Tuesday afternoon amounted to 3 tads (two with fully developed back legs and advanced front legs, and one that still had full barbels and little rear nubs), three frogpoles, and four froglets. They came in a plastic shoebox sized container in about three inches of very very very filthy water. In the little caresheet email I was sent, the teacher mentioned the use of 'spring water' so I figured we were in a bit of a long haul transitioning over to tap water (with a dechlorinator, I use Prime...nobody seems to have freaked out yet, but I'll switch to something else if suggested. Also, I let the water sit for at least 24 hours before using it around the froglets) so they're still in the same little container (which I feel badly about but I've read the little darlings shock easily so I've been weaning them over to 100% tap water and I think we're about halfway there). I've been siphoning out the gunk (which I now suspect was nearly all poo and not whatever powdered food she was feeding them) and have increased their water level by about an inch from 3 to 4 (~8-10cm for you metric types ). I didn't even get to look at the food she was feeding so I just ran to the PetCo and picked up everything that looked good--and some things I wouldn't have grabbed if I hadn't done my research both here and elsewhere first off. I've been feeding the froglets ZooMed Frog & Tadpole bites but mean to order HBH. I've been feeding slightly to the bottle (which says 5-6 pellets per frog per day and to siphon out the uneaten food in an hour) by putting in a pinch and checking back in every ten minutes and adding more until the food remains. I've been trying to do that twice a day (with a water change each time). It's not possible to overfeed them this way, is it? And I've been putting in a little crushed ReptoMin Baby Turtle stick/ReptoMin Gammarus treat bits for the tads. I also have an air pump set on low providing some disturbance (it's what she had, I've read it's good for the tads and the little froglets don't seem to be too freaked out). They're in the basement without a heater and all the unheated tanks at exactly the same level in the room are right at 70F (21C).

Any suggestions on how to improve their quality of life is greatly appreciated. I've noticed that there is a lot of conflicting information out there regarding the care of froglets and tadpoles, let alone the adults!

Right now, I've got seven froglets, two frogpoles, and one tad whose little back legs are about half grown in. But I think I'm starting to get into some trouble with my little ones and I could really use some guidance.

1) My largest froglet is almost the size of a quarter (~24cm) while the smallest is between a dime and a penny (17-19cm). The rest are in between the two. (No, I'm not sticking the currency in the tank, just eyeballing it. And I don't feed them directly after handling money). I've read that you should absolutely not separate/disturb them until everyone has finished morphing, but do I need to be concerned about my little giant snacking on one of its smaller mates? I've noticed a few 'accidental grabs' when food is introduced (someone gets grabbed and tries to get away) but it doesn't seem to be the same froglets every time...and rarely the large one grabbing one of the smaller ones. It just seems like they both tried to stuff the same pellet into their mouths at the same time and one grabbed an arm instead of the pellet and just didn't register quick enough. But everyone still has all four limbs so I've not panicked yet. Should I be panicking? I assumed they're just being uncoordinated younglings and that the poor visibility of the gunk-filled water wasn't helping them any. So I'd just like to know if I should separate them out based on size or will they be fine? Should I wait for the tad to morph before disturbing/separating them out based on size? I pretty much dismissed the idea that water changes would hurt them because I needed to acclimate them to my water and wanted to get them into a tank asap. It's too late to go back now, but I can't believe that the pile of poo at the bottom was at all healthy for them.

2) How deep can the water be? I've got a standard ten gallon (I'd like to skip that though if I can) and/or a 20 gallon. The ten gallon is 12 inches (~31cm) tall and the 20 is 14 inches (~36cm). I could always lower the level of water in the 20 gallon to take advantage of the larger footprint, but I don't want to drown the froglets. Would I need to acclimate them slowly to a greater depth of water?

3) Does anyone have a rough figure for me for when these guys will outgrow the 20g? I'll be testing the water with an API liquid test kit and I'll definitely move them when it becomes unsafe, but I'd appreciate an estimate on time if anyone has one.

4) How old/big should these guys be before fine sand substrate would be safe? I'm keeping them bare bottom while they grow out, but I would eventually like to transition them.

5) Before I knew I was getting ten of them, I'd planned to put the little darlings in a 90 gallon tank. That's still where I'd like to put them if possible. It was intended for an old friend who passed before I could ready it for him so it's been standing at the ready (I got a few things for him like a Fluval Fx5, a hunk of mopani driftwood (which I accidentally introduced to the tank far too early--the water was almost crystal in the bucket but apparently that's not an indication of mopani's readiness for tank introduction *facepalm* --and didn't bother to remove so the water has been tanin-filled for six months and hopefully hasn't stained the tank), as well as 1-2 inches (2.5-5cm) of very fine pool filter sand (Left the bag in the 'tank room' with the babies and it's already after lights out but I can get the exact grain size tomorrow. Sorry about that!)). I intend to change it to a dirted base with a sand cap and loads of plants. I understand they appreciate plants and I was hoping a dense healthy plant population would help with nitrate control. My Fx5 is also full of SeaChem Matrix. I've been wondering if I should have added more mechanical filtration than the basic sponges it came with, but since I heard those can produce microbubbles, I've shied away from it. But I can always post a different thread at a later time to discuss setting it up. It's 22 inches (~56cm) deep from the top of the base trim to the bottom of the top trim (which is as high as I would ever think to fill it) not counting the depth taken up by the substrate. I've noticed that many people advocate keeping these guys in water no deeper than 12" but I've seen 'Show us Your Tank' pictures with dimensions given of at least 18".

I think I've covered all of my worries for now. I apologize for the length.