# Tadpole tea?



## Tricolor189 (Sep 17, 2012)

how exactly do you prepare it?by boiling the leaves right if so how many?or can i just throw the leaves in without boiling them?


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## Tinctoc (Sep 15, 2012)

Want an easier method? Tetra Blackwater Extract is excellent for making a tannin rich tadpole water.


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## mydumname (Dec 24, 2004)

I just put a piece of leaf in the tadpole cup. It created tannins. I think boiling it results in instant tannins and having it ahead of time.


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## erik s (Apr 12, 2010)

This is what I do....
Boil up some r.o. water
Turn off the heat, throw in some leaves
Stir from time to time until it cools
Then strain thru a fish tank net
Pour into bottles....and BOOM....tadpole tea!!!!


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## BlueRidge (Jun 12, 2010)

Tinctoc said:


> Want an easier method? Tetra Blackwater Extract is excellent for making a tannin rich tadpole water.


The Tetra product doesn't have the same beneficial properties as boiling an Almond leaf. I bought Almond leaves from a sponsor on here but you can find them in some well stocked grocery stores.


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## Tricolor189 (Sep 17, 2012)

erik s said:


> This is what I do....
> Boil up some r.o. water
> Turn off the heat, throw in some leaves
> Stir from time to time until it cools
> ...


nice i'll try this method thank guys.


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## Tinctoc (Sep 15, 2012)

JaredJ said:


> The Tetra product doesn't have the same beneficial properties as boiling an Almond leaf. I bought Almond leaves from a sponsor on here but you can find them in some well stocked grocery stores.


I've used it for years and never had any issues with it. Of course, I also placed small pieces of oak leaves in the tadpole rearing vessels.


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## erik s (Apr 12, 2010)

JaredJ said:


> The Tetra product doesn't have the same beneficial properties as boiling an Almond leaf. I bought Almond leaves from a sponsor on here but you can find them in some well stocked grocery stores.


You've found almond leaves at a grocery store!!!...wow!!!


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## BlueRidge (Jun 12, 2010)

Yeah, a Harris Teeter had them in a foreign food section with the Indian foods. Apparently they are a natural medicine used in Hindu cultures.


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## mordoria (Jan 28, 2011)

Easiest tadpole tea yet....... Roobois Tea. Just put a tea bag in a bottle of water


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## crested (May 15, 2011)

> Originally Posted by Tinctoc
> Want an easier method? Tetra Blackwater Extract is excellent for making a tannin rich tadpole water.
> 
> The Tetra product doesn't have the same beneficial properties as boiling an Almond leaf. I bought Almond leaves from a sponsor on here but you can find them in some well stocked grocery stores.


Curious: 

Had 6/6 tads develop in black water extract trough to real healthy froglets. Must admit, I did some informal experimentation... 3 tads I used 3 drops of blackwater extract per FF cup 1/2 full of water, vs 3 tads using 1 drop per 1/2 full FF cup. 

By no means am I trying to claim it's a 'scientifc' finding, but for me there was a noticeable, positive, difference in the rate of development (approx 2-3 weeks faster) and increased size/activity level of froglet it produced having used 3 drops vs 1...

Curious, what is in the backwater extract missing that negatively affects them?

No trying to be negative, but I am very curious about what could be added to assist further... (other than almond/oak leaf, maybe Java Moss). 

Regards,


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

JaredJ said:


> The Tetra product doesn't have the same beneficial properties as boiling an Almond leaf. I bought Almond leaves from a sponsor on here but you can find them in some well stocked grocery stores.


 
I'm going to call this buying into the BS of the marketing campaign... The main claim to fame for Indian almond (Terminalia catappa) leaves is the high levels of humic acids and the presence of a bioflavenoid (quercetin) which is extremely common in many plants including those used to make tadpole tea and black water extracts... Note the name of the bioflavenoid... quercetin, and we can readily locate the plant for which it as names... Quercus, which are the oak trees... Yes, oak leaves contain it... And humic acids are the main product of blackwater extracts..... 
There is nothing inherently wrong with using Terminalia catappa leaves since they are a ready source of humic acids but there isn't anything that proves that they are actually better than other sources... 

Some comments 

Ed


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## Tinctoc (Sep 15, 2012)

Thanks, Ed, for the precise clarification on the whole concept behind 'tadpole teas'. My biggest reason for using BWE is because it was readily available locally and inexpensive...As a source of tannins/humic acid, I found it worked just fine alone or in conjunction with oak leaves. All of my tadpoles morphed out healthy and robust (unless there were other underlying development issues such as SLS, which I only experienced in a small batch of vents).


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## Dendrokeller (Sep 5, 2012)

Hi,
try soft water with a few bags of roobois tea,oak leaves & alder taps.
Greetings


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

Dendrokeller said:


> Hi,
> try soft water with a few bags of roobois tea,oak leaves & alder taps.
> Greetings


 
When you suggest soft water do you mean water that has had ion exchanged where calcium and magnesium are replaced with sodium and/or potassium ions (this is a common reference to soft water in the US). 

Some comments

Ed


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## ZookeeperDoug (Jun 5, 2011)

I don't even bother making tadpole tea anymore. When tads hatch and are ready for cups, I put put a decent sized portion of indian almond leaf in an 8 oz or 16 oz deli cup with some water and the tadpole. Some would probably recommend letting the leaf sit in the water at least overnight to release some humic acid and tannins but have not found this to be a nessesary step.

I have tried various products like BW extract, betta spa, etc, but dont really think they offer much more benifit than the leaves and the tads chew on the leaves anyway.


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

When I was rearing non-obligate tadpoles, including those of other taxa like hylids, I would do the same thing with red oak leaves. They worked just fine... 

Ed


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## Tinctoc (Sep 15, 2012)

I've also just used bottled spring water with pieces of pin oak leaves and it worked fine as well. The pieces of leaves also served as something for them to munch on.


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