indoor tadpole pond

[Gail Futoran]

Ways to get into trouble when it's too hot to work
outside for long:
-take a spare 2 gallon Eclipse aquarium and set it
up in the bathroom on the (generous) vanity
-add some treated tap water and fill up with pond
water
-add several anacharis
-add some aquarium decorations (clean)
-scoop up some tadpoles in a bucket
-add tadpoles to "pond"
-Wait to see what happens. :)

I get a gadzillion tadpoles in my inground pond then
most disappear and I never get to see what they turn
into. :( So this is the solution. I'm not filtering the
water (did include a bubble wall) but I monitor it,
mostly by smell, and will probably do a careful partial
water change every week or so. The tadpoles seem
happy. I feed them some algae flakes I use for my
tropical fish but they also can be seen working on the
tank sides and the decorations. The light is on during
the day and I turn it off at night.

Gail
near San Antonio TX Zone 8

[axemanchris]

"Gail Futoran" > wrote in message
...
> Ways to get into trouble when it's too hot to work
> outside for long:
> -take a spare 2 gallon Eclipse aquarium and set it
> up in the bathroom on the (generous) vanity
> -add some treated tap water and fill up with pond
> water
> -add several anacharis
> -add some aquarium decorations (clean)
> -scoop up some tadpoles in a bucket
> -add tadpoles to "pond"
> -Wait to see what happens. :)
>
> I get a gadzillion tadpoles in my inground pond then
> most disappear and I never get to see what they turn
> into. :( So this is the solution. I'm not filtering the
> water (did include a bubble wall) but I monitor it,
> mostly by smell, and will probably do a careful partial
> water change every week or so. The tadpoles seem
> happy. I feed them some algae flakes I use for my
> tropical fish but they also can be seen working on the
> tank sides and the decorations. The light is on during
> the day and I turn it off at night.
>
> Gail
> near San Antonio TX Zone 8

I love keeping a tank of tadpoles indoors. Watching them transform never
ceases to amaze me. Algae wafers are good for them. I've also added some
flake food occasionally. Some of them will swim upside down to get the
flakes from the top of the water.

Jacqui
>
>

[kathy]

I would add something floating as it gives them
practice when they change while they absorb their
tail, they like to hang out above the water as they
are air breathers now but still like to dive underwater
and hide.

Also you might add netting or a tank hood, if you
don't have one already, as some
morning you could get up at 5am to walk to the
bathroom and find that new toadlets are there ahead
of you hopping down the hallway... been there, done that!

kathy :-) www.blogfromthebog.com
this week ~ a snake story

Pond 101 page for new pond keepers ~
http://hometown.aol.com/ka30p/myhomepage/garden.html

[Gail Futoran]

"axemanchris" > wrote in
>
> I love keeping a tank of tadpoles indoors. Watching them transform never
> ceases to amaze me. Algae wafers are good for them. I've also added some
> flake food occasionally. Some of them will swim upside down to get the
> flakes from the top of the water.

Cool! I'm glad mine wasn't such a silly idea after all. :)
(I have no kids or grandkids as an excuse...) I've tried
algae wafers and will try some flake food.

Thanks - Gail
>
> Jacqui
>>
>>
>
>

[Gail Futoran]

"kathy" > wrote in message
oups.com...
>
> I would add something floating as it gives them
> practice when they change while they absorb their
> tail, they like to hang out above the water as they
> are air breathers now but still like to dive underwater
> and hide.
>
> Also you might add netting or a tank hood, if you
> don't have one already, as some
> morning you could get up at 5am to walk to the
> bathroom and find that new toadlets are there ahead
> of you hopping down the hallway... been there, done that!
>
> kathy :-) www.blogfromthebog.com
> this week ~ a snake story
>
> Pond 101 page for new pond keepers ~
> http://hometown.aol.com/ka30p/myhomepage/garden.html

Thanks, Kathy, for those helpful ideas. I never thought
about them getting out. They seem to be remaining
small & tadpole for so long that I wonder if they're the
type of frog or toad that takes 2 years to turn.

I do have a decoration sticking up above the water,
but like your idea of something floating. I think
I still have a fake lily aquarium decoration that you can
weight to a certain height. That should be perfect. :)

Gail

[kathy]

Just make sure that their food is mostly
vegetable matter.
Their digestive systems are set up to be
vegetarians, the long coiled gut. When they
change they will be set up to be carnivores.

They do get animal protein in the pond, zoo
plankton caught up in the algae and they will
even nosh on a dead sibling but they need
lots of veggies.


kathy :-) www.blogfromthebog.com
this week ~ a snake story

Pond 101 page for new pond keepers ~
http://hometown.aol.com/ka30p/myhomepage/garden.html

[axemanchris]

"Gail Futoran" > wrote in message
...
> "axemanchris" > wrote in
> >
> > I love keeping a tank of tadpoles indoors. Watching them transform
never
> > ceases to amaze me. Algae wafers are good for them. I've also added
some
> > flake food occasionally. Some of them will swim upside down to get the
> > flakes from the top of the water.
>
> Cool! I'm glad mine wasn't such a silly idea after all. :)
> (I have no kids or grandkids as an excuse...) I've tried
> algae wafers and will try some flake food.
>
> Thanks - Gail

LOL! I have 3 kids and I claim the tank is for them. NOT! It's totally
for my enjoyment! If they get something out of it that's good too. :-)
> >
> > Jacqui
> >>
> >>
> >
> >
>
>

[~ janj JJsPond.us]

I'm with you Gail, only better, I was able to haul my terrarium into a 1st
grade class room with a few tree frog eggs. The terrarium water part only
holds about a gallon of water. I used a small undergravel filter from a
large brandy glass shaped fish bowl. I can't say I was the best keeper as
far as water changes (with my pond water) and feeding went, but after 9
weeks and on the 2nd to the last day of school we had a tree froglet stuck
to the glass of the aquarium. It was so small that from the outside we
thought it was a snail. Course I looked closer as I was wondering why it
had crawl so far up the glass out of the water. This all came home with me,
when school got out, but not wanting to deal with any more "inside" pets
they got to go in the kiddy pool with the lotus, while I sang "Born Free".
<kidding> ;-)

If you need another "indoor" pond project let me know and I'll repost my
Ponsai directions. Or make a fairy garden complete with mini pond:
http://users.owt.com/jjspond/koipond/photos/pond22.jpg :-) By this time
you should be thinking, "I'm not the only bored ponder hindered by
weather." ;-) ~ jan

>On Mon, 13 Jun 2005 13:17:13 GMT, "Gail Futoran" > wrote:

>Ways to get into trouble when it's too hot to work
>outside for long:
>-take a spare 2 gallon Eclipse aquarium and set it
>up in the bathroom on the (generous) vanity
>-add some treated tap water and fill up with pond
>water
>-add several anacharis
>-add some aquarium decorations (clean)
>-scoop up some tadpoles in a bucket
>-add tadpoles to "pond"
>-Wait to see what happens. :)
>
>I get a gadzillion tadpoles in my inground pond then
>most disappear and I never get to see what they turn
>into. :( So this is the solution. I'm not filtering the
>water (did include a bubble wall) but I monitor it,
>mostly by smell, and will probably do a careful partial
>water change every week or so. The tadpoles seem
>happy. I feed them some algae flakes I use for my
>tropical fish but they also can be seen working on the
>tank sides and the decorations. The light is on during
>the day and I turn it off at night.
>
>Gail
>near San Antonio TX Zone 8
>

~Power to the Porg, Flow On!~

[Gail Futoran]

"kathy" > wrote in message
oups.com...
>
> Just make sure that their food is mostly
> vegetable matter.
> Their digestive systems are set up to be
> vegetarians, the long coiled gut. When they
> change they will be set up to be carnivores.
>
> They do get animal protein in the pond, zoo
> plankton caught up in the algae and they will
> even nosh on a dead sibling but they need
> lots of veggies.

That's good to know. I think they're mostly relying
on whatever came with the pond plants I included,
as well as algae growing in the Eclipse since I put
pond water in there. I'll be careful about supplements.

Gail

[Gail Futoran]

"~ janj JJsPond.us" > wrote in message
...
> I'm with you Gail, only better, I was able to haul my terrarium into a 1st
> grade class room with a few tree frog eggs. The terrarium water part only
> holds about a gallon of water. I used a small undergravel filter from a
> large brandy glass shaped fish bowl. I can't say I was the best keeper as
> far as water changes (with my pond water) and feeding went, but after 9
> weeks and on the 2nd to the last day of school we had a tree froglet stuck
> to the glass of the aquarium. It was so small that from the outside we
> thought it was a snail. Course I looked closer as I was wondering why it
> had crawl so far up the glass out of the water. This all came home with
> me,
> when school got out, but not wanting to deal with any more "inside" pets
> they got to go in the kiddy pool with the lotus, while I sang "Born Free".
> <kidding> ;-)
>
> If you need another "indoor" pond project let me know and I'll repost my
> Ponsai directions. Or make a fairy garden complete with mini pond:
> http://users.owt.com/jjspond/koipond/photos/pond22.jpg :-) By this time
> you should be thinking, "I'm not the only bored ponder hindered by
> weather." ;-) ~ jan

Thanks for the links. I suspect if I put one more
artificial body of water in the house (there are also
six tropical fish tanks) DH will freak. :)

I enjoyed your story and wish I knew some kids
to share this with. DH makes the right noises but
he's not really into wildlife like I am.

Gail

[~ janj JJsPond.us]

>DH makes the right noises but
>he's not really into wildlife like I am.
>Gail

I figure if mine doesn't say, No, and he rarely does, probably because he
knows he has to come up with a good reason for saying it. I can go for it.
I had about 10 various bodies of water and tanks for a while. Since going
back to work I've trimmed it to 7, if I don't count the ponsai and the
terrarium I brought home. Guess that's not much trimming is it? <s>

At least 2 of the tanks are my son's so I don't have to worry about those,
and another 2 are my large fantails waiting to go out to the lily pond
later this week (I hope). 1 quarantine tank with only a lonely pleco, so
not much care needed there either. No critters in the patio pond, just add
water as needed. So in reality I really have trimmed the work load. ;-)
~ jan

~Power to the Porg, Flow On!~