# Feeding tads SuperPig



## Arrynia (Dec 27, 2009)

Those of you that feed/fed your tadpoles Repashy SuperPig, do/did you ever have issues with it making the water smell fouled? It seems that my tadpole cups stink about 8 hours or so after feeding this stuff. The water doesn't cloud up really bad or anything...just alot of red 'scum' on the bottom and sides of the cups.


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## Julio (Oct 8, 2007)

yes you can feed it to them just like spirulina, sounds like you might be feeding too much of it, cut back a little.


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## poimandres (Mar 28, 2009)

Do you do this to tads you raise on your own?

I've been contemplating the possibility of doing this to pumilio tads in their broms...good idea? bad idea?


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## Julio (Oct 8, 2007)

you can try, but i woudl just let them be, unless you are gonna flush the brom axil pretty much that same day i woudl not try it personally


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## poimandres (Mar 28, 2009)

Thanks for the response Julio

Arrynia,

Do you have any photos of tads/developed froglets supplemented with SuperPig versus those not?

I'm curious t know if there is a significant difference in color...might be an interesting experiment to carry out on a few tads from the same clutch.


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## Julio (Oct 8, 2007)

sorry i dont' have any pics, but i can tell you that generally they tend to hold better color through adulthood when supplemented as tads and they do come out brighter then if not fed a color enhancer.


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

This thread has some good pictures (most of the picture links unfortunately didn't hold up with time..) 
http://www.dendroboard.com/forum/general-discussion/26836-color-enhancers.html

Ed


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## Arrynia (Dec 27, 2009)

poimandres said:


> Thanks for the response Julio
> 
> Arrynia,
> 
> ...


Not yet, but i will. The tads that i'm feeding it to haven't started showing pigmentation yet. The pair of vara's are caring for a tad and I will use that as a basis of comparison.


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## poimandres (Mar 28, 2009)

Ed said:


> This thread has some good pictures (most of the picture links unfortunately didn't hold up with time..)
> http://www.dendroboard.com/forum/general-discussion/26836-color-enhancers.html
> 
> Ed


Thanks for digging up that old thread. Lots of good info...too bad that most of the pics are dead links, but that is to be expected from something 2 years old. 

So what do you currently use to add astaxanthin to your frog diet? I believe Repashy SuperPig has it, no?



Arrynia said:


> Not yet, but i will. The tads that i'm feeding it to haven't started showing pigmentation yet. The pair of vara's are caring for a tad and I will use that as a basis of comparison.


Nice...can't wait for the pics!


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

There are several products out there.. for tadpoles either a fish flake that contains it or one could use Cyclopeeze to feed the tadpoles (I use cyclopeeze at home). 

Ed


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## tclipse (Sep 19, 2009)

Ed said:


> There are several products out there.. for tadpoles either *a fish flake* that contains it or one could use Cyclopeeze to feed the tadpoles (I use cyclopeeze at home).
> 
> Ed


I don't have much experience with tads, but I have years of fish breeding experience.. this is what I could recommend for tads as far as products I have experience with that don't contain cantaxanthin:


-New Life Spectrum (flakes or crushed pellets) - no astaxanthin, but this stuff keeps my fish healthier than just about anything I've ever put them on, as well as my roommates' albino clawed frogs (who take the pellets along with bloodworms and red wigglers). Could be worth throwing in. 

-live daphnia - easy to culture, and great for baby fish if you have any. I keep them in my dwarf shrimp tanks because there isn't any cross-predation, no extra tank required. 

-crushed Omega One shrimp pellets - astaxanthin and not cantaxanthin, as well as using WHOLE ingredients (not just "fish meal" which I'm sure is often the leftover trimmings from fish processing... but whole salmon, whole krill, and whole shrimp)


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

A side comment here.. while canthaxanthin has been shown to be a problem in higher levels in some vertebrates it is among the carotenoids that do occur naturally in wild anurans. I would not recommend avoiding it... 

Ed


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