I just ordered 10 Leopard tadpoles online (the seller had 99.7% positive) but I have 5 goldfish in my little corner pond - lots of hiding places for them since the "racoon attack" & I put a wrought iron window guard over the pond which fits well - so fish & plants are protected now but I really want more plants as they or he shredded them all getting at the fish (one survived). Anyway, I ordered these tadpoles which I hope will ship today & get here maybe Monday or Tuesday. Now I want to know how I can protect them (10 of them) from the 5 goldfish. Any ideas, please?
Should or could they be kept in a large container or bucket? Do they need water movement?
How do I protect my tadpoles from goldfish?
Just regular feeder type goldfish? If so, no worries, they won't bother them. I had as many as 20 goldfish in my pond with all my tadpoles, and there were no problems. Taddies would be happier in the pond than in a bucket- they like to hide in the mud/silt at the bottom. They like still water, but I would get more plants if you can. They nibble on them and get oxygen from them as well.
I hope all goes well with your new babies! :)
BTW- I feel your pain on the raccoon attack. My pond got trashed by them recently, it was a nightmare. I have a small electric fence around it now, which seems to be working quite well to keep them away.
Depends on the size of the fish vs tadpoles. I have common goldfish as small as 2 in eat tadpoles but they are the tiny tree frog type up to 1 inch long.
Its hard to imagine how such a small goldfish would eat a tadpole 1/2 its size. I guess it would take lots of little bites to kill it. Did you witness this carnage! Yikes.
Helen
Sorry, I should have clarified.
I have seen goldfish as small at 2 inches eat tadpoles.
The tadpoles they eat are the small treefrog type that only get up to 1 inch. The 2 inch goldfish eat them before they reach 1 inch. The larger ones like 3-4 have no problem with 1 inch tadpoles. Just a snack.
Thanks for the responses. I'm not sure about the size of the tadpoles though, but the seller said the were LEOPARD tadpoles! I'm really excited about that - I've seen some pictures of Leopard frogs you guy posted and I think they're beautiful - love the spots. I bought 12.
Now, the fish I bought (at Walmart), only one is a survivor from the racoon attack, also a Walmart purchase a month or so ago so he's a little bigger - about 3", the other (4) are about 2".
I don't know if they're considered "feeder" fish - they certainly would be in my 145 gal tank in my office but in my (88 gal) pond they're quite small to me. Are shubunkins considered feeder fish? I know one or two are fan tails and honestly, I just picked out what I considered pretty colors - except one - he was all grey and compared to the others I figured no one would buy him so I did. I also tend to pick dying plants to try to bring back and even adopted a "little brown tabby no one wanted" as she was advertised. She lives the high life now, but I digress.
I remembered I have a little two gallon tank I used to use as a 'sick' tank when needed (haven't used it in 10 years) so what about putting them in there in the house until they are big enough to fend for themselves & too big to get eaten or even nibbled on? Thanks for all your help.
I ran accross this article on taking care of tadpoles. Thought you may find it helpful with your new arrivals coming soon.
http://allaboutfrogs.org/info/tadpoles/index.html
Thanks BeaHive, I read the article and it was very helpful and led to other links - some say O.K., some say no. Rather than take a chance, I found a nice lotus pot in my garage, cleaned it out and filled it about 1/3 full of pond water. I need some more plants because after the raccoon attack, I only had a small plant to spare to put in it. I also put in a piece of driftwood from an aquarium, a few rocks and a very, very small pump for aeration. Then.....I got my babies yesterday - all look healthy and two already have their back legs! I'm so excited. I fed them some fish flakes and found a wrought iron end table that fits over the lotus pot perfectly to protect my babies from any predators at night. When they are big enough, I will put them in the pond with the goldfish and hopefully they will like it and stay. The pond is surrounded by lots of lush tropical foliage for them to hide in when they are full fledged frogs.
I think it's a plan.
Sounds like they will like their new home. Post some pic's if you can as I would love to see them!
Oh, I will.... next week -
New grandbaby on board, about a month early - he's doing fine but the baby shower is this weekend so super busy and one daughter is a teacher so 'we' trimmed many, many laminated posters for her "meet the teacher" night next week - between all that and shopping for the baby, 3 and 1/2 cats, two fish tanks, about 75 orchids, my little pond and now my tad babies and trying to keep (too many) container tropical plants alive with this horrible heat and drought.......I'll try to take some next week for sure. Thanks for your support and help, it means a lot.
Good luck with your new "kids"... it's so much fun watching them grow and change!
Congratulations on the new grandbaby too! Wow! Lots of new babies. My baby daughter left for college
tonight. Time goes to fast!! Just seems like yesterday that she was born!
I'm excited that someone is selling leopard frog tadpoles! Do you mind me asking where you got them?
Me too MerryMary - I don't know if DG has a problem with listing someone from Ebay - do you know? Why don't you send me a Dmail and I will give you the seller's name & other info. By the way, I'm very happy with them - they are fat and happy and very active. Reasonable too - I think it was $15 for 12 and free shipping.
P.S. The seller is in Florida.
Can you post a picture of the tadpoles? I have leopard frogs in my yard but I also have tree frogs, etc and don't know which tadpoles are which.
to be honest... I expect you may need to protect the goldfish from the frogs later.. If you use feeder goldfish from the pet store it will be an affordable way to manage the pond. feeders will have babies - they will serve as food as well, and a few may get large enough to not get eaten. I have a few frogs myself.. 3 green frogs and a bullfrog. I am excited to hear you are getting tadpoles - you will love them and they are great to watch grow up.
-joe-
I just had a huge batch of eggs hatch in one of my ponds. Tads everywhere because I don't have any predators in that one right now.
I have gazillion tadpoles, unfortunately, they are Cuban Tree Frogs, which are an invasive species here in Florida, and have pretty much elimated most of our native frogs. :(
I saw a nice Southern Leopard Frog in this pond so hopefully it's her babies.
Maybe we're related by frog cousins.
Ribbit, ribbit!