As soon as the front legs popped out i lowered the water and had some overturned plant pots sticking out of the water with some bog wood. Mine liked to sit on the wood with its head out but the rest of him still in. When the tail is gone is when i would move him to a half and half setup. As for food i would say crickets and maybe a few feeder fish. Fruit flies seem to small. Mine had a big mouth when it morphed. good luck.