# tadpole with an air bubble



## Greg

One of my tadpoles has a small air bubble in it, he is still alive but seems to have a little bit of difficulty swimming around. This just showed up this morning he looked perfectly fine last night. Has anyone else ever seen this happen with their tads, know any thing about this or have any advice on what I should do?


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## thetattooedone

I haven't personally seen it, but I've been told that it can potentially be caused by poor water quality. Some people have reported that water changes have improved the tads condition. Unfortunately, others have said that water changes had no effect and the tad ultimately died. Worth trying though.

Brent


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## Philsuma

breeding-eggs-tadpoles/topic39860.html

Mine still has a huge bubble....Ive GOT to take a pic of it...sorry .....t must still be eating as it is growing and almost 5 weeks old with small legs. Ive tried the water change thing with both spring and Tap water with an increase in bubble size actually....


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## sandycreed

Try scooping it out of the water on a plastic spoon with a little water to keep it moist, but not submerge, it for 10 mins then put it back. I've not tried it myself but others over here have and with good results.

Check the mineral content of the spring water. More often than not they are just as bad, if not worse, than tap water. Over here most brands are too hard and have too high a chlorine content. 

The brand I use - Aqua Pura - has typical values in mg/1:
Bicarbonate = 18
Calcium = 7
Chloride = 11
Flouride = less than 0.1
Magnesium = 2
Nitrate = 6
Potassium = 2
Sodium = 8
Sulphate = 8
Dry residue at 180°C = 63 
PH at source = 6.4


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## Woodsman

I have an Azureus tad right now that had a bubble on his abdomen that caused him to only be able to swim upside-down. It was really distressing, but has resolved and he/she looks just like the others from his clutch. I had thought about euthanising him/her, but now I'm glad I didn't.

Good luck! Richard in Staten Island.


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## lizardstowe

Yea, 
Don't give up on him, I had an Azureus tad that swam upside down almost his entire tadpole career, after he got his back legs he started to level out. He developed into one of the biggest frogs I have now!!

Matt


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## melissa68

It happens. Sometimes they survive others they don't. 

Wouldn't worry about it too much and I wouldn't do anything to try and correct the issue. In my experience most tads will develop ok with a small bubble - they just swim a bit funny until they get bigger.


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## UmbraSprite

I have good luck changing out the water and not feeding for a few days.


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