# Anyone use a hatchery?



## Link3898 (Sep 18, 2008)

this is the first time i have had darts lay eggs at home, in a non controlled environment (I.E. not at the zoo inside the indoor rainforest Tropical Discovery) for the non obligate egg feeders do people use hatchery type setups? my frog room is in my bedroom which is in the basement. and its ambient temp is about 65-70 deg... is that too cold for the eggs? the vivs are kept warm via lights and small heaters. heres what i was thinking about doing, and so let me know what your thoughts are. 

i was thinking about using a 10 gal tank and the 501 turtle canister filter and an aquarium heater and some egg crate for a shelf above water level.
basically fill the tank half full, and have a shelf covering one side. the other side will be left open water for tadoples in screen tubes. this way the water stays a constant temp, i can keep a glass lid which would keep the humidity high, which would help keep the eggs hydrated and be able to grow tadpoles out at the same time.


any thoughts on this? by the way the eggs are azureus, and i dont think this clutch is good but this means that they are old enough now so i need to have something to grow future eggs and tads out in.


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## Kiari43 (Mar 6, 2006)

Your setup sounds fine as far as temperature. Are you planning to keep each tad in their own separated screen tube?


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## gary1218 (Dec 31, 2005)

Here's what I use. I think it's pretty typical of what a nuimber of other hobbyists use as well.

http://www.dendroboard.com/forum/parts-construction/16988-newbies-first-egg-tad-set-up.html


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## Link3898 (Sep 18, 2008)

> Your setup sounds fine as far as temperature. Are you planning to keep each tad in their own separated screen tube?


 yeah i was planning on keeping them separated, and using super glue to attach one end of the screen tube to the inside rim of a plastic petri dish to keep them upright and give the tads some water while i do water changes. 



> Here's what I use. I think it's pretty typical of what a nuimber of other hobbyists use as well.


 you know what? i will keep that in mind because it looks very similar to what i was planning only the tadpoles are in little containers instead of individually sectioned off in one large container. that also cuts the canister filter out of the picture... do you do water changes with a turkey baster? and how often?


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## gary1218 (Dec 31, 2005)

It may be a little hard to see in the pictures but the tads are in individual containers sitting on top of the egg crate. The water in the large sterilite tub comes up to just the bottom of the tad containers.


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## Link3898 (Sep 18, 2008)

yeah, i saw... sorry i guess i misworded that last reply. i mean to say your tadoples are in little containers, instead of having them all in the main area sectioned off in their own tube so all would be sharing the same water... i am thinking i like your setup more and more though... less potental for loosing all the tads if one gets something.


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## zBrinks (Jul 16, 2006)

I just keep my tads in 16oz deli cups with a bit of oak leaf, and some hornwort. At those temps, it would probably take 3-4 months for the tads to morph out, but they'd be nice and big.


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## Link3898 (Sep 18, 2008)

well thats good to know that its not to cold.. is this hornwort? or liverwort? this is what ive got growing in a few vivs on the shoreline of the ponds











can it be grown underwater? i assume you are keeping your tadpoles under moderate light? and would java moss work as well?


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## asilsdorf (Sep 7, 2005)

I'm using a setup like the link in Gary's post. BTW, thanks for the idea Garry 

Tads are in 16oz deli cups, no water changes and very little top off necessary as the lid keeps the evaporation down. I start the tads with about 1/2" of water (tadpole tea), a piece of oak or magnolia leaf and some riccia or java moss. As they get bigger I add more water to the cups. 

The whole thing is on a plant shelf below two shop lights and the white lid seems to allow enough light through to keep the java moss alive and allow some algae growth.

Currently, I'm keeping the eggs with the parents until they are ready to hatch as I'm trying to slow them down. But, when I raised the eggs in the "hatchery" I used an inverted deli cup, with vents cut up the sides, over the eggs to act as an umbrella and keep condensation from dripping down on the eggs. Not sure if this was necessary but it seemed to help with egg survival.


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## zBrinks (Jul 16, 2006)

That plant is a liverwort. It grows best for me when it's feet are wet and the bulk of it is above the water, but it can be grown underwater.


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## Mac (Aug 14, 2007)

zBrinks said:


> I just keep my tads in 16oz deli cups with a bit of oak leaf, and some hornwort. At those temps, it would probably take 3-4 months for the tads to morph out, but they'd be nice and big.


just wondering "what temps" you were talking about, and what species in general this is referring to..


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## Link3898 (Sep 18, 2008)

well i need to rethink the whole thing or something as i set the water heater to a low setting, and it leveled out at 75 deg F steadily for a few days and then it went Nuclear and heated the tank up to mid ninteys overnight and killed every egg in there.. which sucks cause the first egg they laid was developing very nicely and then they laid 6 more which are toast. 

are there better brands of heaters than others? this one was new... the first time it was used was in this setup and within a few days of using it it melted down and i had set it up properly. i just got a bum heater, but really dont want to ever have that happen again.


(by the way its a topfin and i dont plan on using another one ever)


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## gary1218 (Dec 31, 2005)

I've always had very good luch with Visi-Therm Stealth 50 watt heaters. I also use a small pump to circulate the water. It helps to give you a constant temp throughout the container and avoid hot spots.


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## Link3898 (Sep 18, 2008)

alright cool, ive got dozens of small pumps lying around... now to find one of those heaters.. does petsmart or petco carry them?


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## gary1218 (Dec 31, 2005)

Link3898 said:


> does petsmart or petco carry them?


I believe they both do. But, I usually have good luck finding them cheaper on line even with shipping costs added on.


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## zBrinks (Jul 16, 2006)

Link3898 said:


> temp is about 65-70 deg...


 Temps referred to are above. The species I've morphed out at those temps are R. imitator, D. leucomelas, D. tinctorius, D. auratus, and P. vittatus. When the temps are in the high 60s, it takes about twice as long for the tads to morph, but they morph huge.


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## Nick_ (Mar 24, 2008)

Link3898 said:


> well i need to rethink the whole thing or something as i set the water heater to a low setting, and it leveled out at 75 deg F steadily for a few days and then it went Nuclear and heated the tank up to mid ninteys overnight and killed every egg in there.. which sucks cause the first egg they laid was developing very nicely and then they laid 6 more which are toast.
> 
> are there better brands of heaters than others? this one was new... the first time it was used was in this setup and within a few days of using it it melted down and i had set it up properly. i just got a bum heater, but really dont want to ever have that happen again.
> 
> ...



In relation to heater knowledge, I would never use a heater that did not have actual temperature settings reguardless of the brand. The built in rheostats in such heaters are very delicate and malfunction eventually. I wont even service customers tanks that use these heaters due to liability issues with my insurance. The most accurate bty far are the ones that utilize dial on a box that is inline with the power cord, next to those types hydor, jager, and stealth heaters are the most reliable in my experience. Hydor was recently aquired by an american based company but there are still left overs that were manufactured in italy, these are superior to the newer ones made stateside unfortunatley. I would also avoid heaters made specifically for vivariums/terrariums, as they have no controls and are preset with a flimsy rheostat as previously mentioned.


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## Link3898 (Sep 18, 2008)

Nicholas OConnor said:


> In relation to heater knowledge, I would never use a heater that did not have actual temperature settings reguardless of the brand. The built in rheostats in such heaters are very delicate and malfunction eventually. I wont even service customers tanks that use these heaters due to liability issues with my insurance. The most accurate bty far are the ones that utilize dial on a box that is inline with the power cord, next to those types hydor, jager, and stealth heaters are the most reliable in my experience. Hydor was recently aquired by an american based company but there are still left overs that were manufactured in italy, these are superior to the newer ones made stateside unfortunatley. I would also avoid heaters made specifically for vivariums/terrariums, as they have no controls and are preset with a flimsy rheostat as previously mentioned.


hey thats very helpful i dont know much about heaters except they are a device which can fail... lol so that helps alot in deciding what to try next


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## Ronm (Oct 1, 2006)

Here's my setup. But the largest ventri-tads I get are swimming in between the Ikea glasses


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## Link3898 (Sep 18, 2008)

gary1218 said:


> I believe they both do. But, I usually have good luck finding them cheaper on line even with shipping costs added on.


Petsmart will price match with the internet prices just print out the page and take it to them. i scored a 501 turtle filter for $23 doing that 


i got more eggs developing so time to get this put together  i will be using plastic condiment cups for the tadpoles. we will see how that works


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