# Raising tadpoles



## Rocktaki (Apr 4, 2018)

Don’t kick me for asking this but being very new to the hobby and not actually having any tadpoles yet. I was simply curious has anybody put there tadpoles a fish tank with other fish? For example I have a 5 gallon nano tank with bubble filter and some small shrimp species. And very some very small fish! I could be toatally wrong on this but am very curious if anybody has tried or why it would not work. Thanks for the replies!


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## Encyclia (Aug 23, 2013)

I am not sure I would recommend that, especially when they are small. Sometimes they seem incredibly vulnerable. The other factor is that (I think) you are assuming that they can be raised together. This maybe true of some species at some points in their life cycle, but is not true of all dart frog tads. Many of them seem to have a cannibalistic streak. I and many other people tend to keep their tads isolated in separate plastic cups. Some tads will cohabitate (I have had good luck with terribilis tads AFTER the first couple of weeks; I have lost whole clutches of freshly hatched tads when trying to put them in with older tads, though), but not all. I have found it safest not to roll the dice and just keep them separately (other than terribilis which I continue to cohabitate). Other folks may have more specific rules about which species are safe to keep together.

Mark


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## daryl34 (Feb 24, 2007)

it should work, just remember animal interactions. Fish like to eat too.


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## S2G (Jul 5, 2016)

I have. Terribilis tads did ok but still lost a few. I wouldn't try it in a 5g though. Tincs are very cannibalistic. 

I now raise mine in invidual deli or Dixie cups.


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## Socratic Monologue (Apr 7, 2018)

Rocktaco said:


> being very new to the hobby and not actually having any tadpoles yet


Since there is a notable learning curve on raising tads (that, in my limited experience, is not lessened by having aquarium experience), I'd recommend following best practice procedures before you go trying anything out of the ordinary. Even if it is possible to raise tads with fish, when something goes wrong you will have much less luck troubleshooting the situation since there is much less collective knowledge of this sort of approach.

Short answer: when you're a novice at anything, do things by the book if you want to be successful.


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## Betta132 (May 12, 2012)

Bad idea. Fish will bite at the limbs and tails of your tadpoles. 
Dart frog tads are very vulnerable. They'd normally hatch out in tiny cups of water, or in puddles. They aren't likely to encounter fish in the wild. 
Plus, fish introduce more variables- fish need the right food, the right water chemistry, and add more waste. If you want to raise tadpoles with fish, go with tadpoles that actually live in ponds, like leopard frog tadpoles.


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