# cloudy tadpole water



## Rain_Frog (Apr 27, 2004)

It seems counterintuitive-- but mantella tadpole containers that I leave a bunch of soil / muck in and that I don't change much water from the beginning have LESS cloudy water compared to containers that I change every few days.

Does anyone know how to stop cloudy water if I'm doing regular water changes? Are these bacterial blooms harmful to them?


----------



## Julio (Oct 8, 2007)

ad some live floating plants such as duck weed.


----------



## earthfrog (May 18, 2008)

When I add spirulina to the water, it starts growing and filters some of the wastes out. You could add some riccia or java moss to the container or tadpole tea and you'd have to change out the water far less often. Bigger containers help, too.


----------



## Chris Miller (Apr 20, 2009)

earthfrog said:


> When I add spirulina to the water, it starts growing and filters some of the wastes out.


Interesting I was unaware that you could grow spirulina from dried sources. I've always wanted to mess around with it growing in bags in my window but heard you needed to start with wet living cultures.

As far as the muck goes I wonder if it's provides extra surface area for the nitrfying bacteria to live on. Also, when you are changing a large percentage of a volume of water you are wiping out a lot of the bacteria that live in the container and keep it cycled which will allow ammonia and then nitrite to build up quickly leading to the cloudy water bloom when the bacteria catch up. I doubt the bacteria itself are much trouble to the tads, but the conditions that lead to their bloom probably are.

I get around this by using as large a volume of water as possible and adding water plants, especially floating ones. You can't beat water hyacinth and duckweed for keeping the nitrogenous compounds in check.


----------



## jubjub47 (Sep 9, 2008)

Chris is exactly right. The tadpole cups have very little surface are to house bacteria. When you change large amounts of water...relative to the container...you are flushing out this bacteria. Plants are going to help keep levels in check, but will not necessarily help with bacteria growth. I personally just use java moss and top off cup after evaporation and never do water changes.


----------



## earthfrog (May 18, 2008)

Aurotaenia said:


> Interesting I was unaware that you could grow spirulina from dried sources. I've always wanted to mess around with it growing in bags in my window but heard you needed to start with wet living cultures.


It must depend on the conditions, I guess. It's probably more likely to grow in UV light with ample frog wastes to feed on---I definitely can tell it's growing, though. I only had it grow well in a shallow dish---like half an ounce of water---where the tad was over a month old and oxygenating the water well. The water stayed clear and lovely while there was algae growing.


----------

