Newbie tadpole feeder question!

[screaminleeman]

Hi,

I have been into the hobby for a little under two years, and have a question pertaining to feeding tadpoles to my aquarium fish.

Every year (it started this weekend) tree frogs come from all around and due their shrill chirping mating ritual on the pool cover of my inground swimming pool. Each year, when I open the pool, the week before Memorial day, we have to use the pool skimmer to net out hundreds of thousands of tadpoles before removing the cover.

We literally fill entire 5 gallon bucket full of the things, and dump them on the lawn as fertilizer. The birds go berserk eating them, and we usually find a black racer snake or two in the cover devouring these things. I would think it safe to use these as feeders for my fish after a quaranteen period, but I figure I'll ask the experts here first.

The one major drawback that I see is that I am not positive that they are frog and not toad etc... I did have Jingles (my Bichon-Poo) go after one of the adults and it secreted some goo into her mouth that caused her to "foam" at the mouth for a couple of minutes. She was fine after that!

What do you think?

 

[Noto]

Larval treefrogs seem to be safe feeders. I have fed some (from nearly-dried-up ponds) to sunfish, turtles, and salamanders with no issues. Toads wouldn't be able to get into an above-ground pool. If you want to be sure, take a close look at one of the tads: treefrog tadpoles have their eyes placed laterally (on the sides of the head) and a high tail fin that comes well forward onto the back; toad tadpoles have eyes placed dorsally (on top of the head) and a low tail fin that is only on the tail.

 

[screaminleeman]

Cool,

I will post pictures around opening time and "test" them with some of my Bluegills and Crayfish before risking it with non'native tropicals!

It is wierd. These tadpoles begin getting legs at under a centimeter. On years with a very warm spring, they are fully developed and hopping at what I would still say is less then a centimeter. The are all black as the ace of spades, in tadpole or tiny "frog like" phase.

 

[CTU2fan]

Sounds like treefrogs, toad tads get a bit bigger and metamorphoze later.

 

[Noto]

They are very likely spring peepers.