# Bloated tinc tads



## jaysnakes (Jul 5, 2006)

Ok I've been having an issue with my dwarf cobalt tadpoles. My pair of cobalts have been laying fertile eggs for well over 6 months. First I had an issue with my tads not hatching out of the eggs, then i went through a spirt of about 10 froglets with sls and now my tads keep getting bloated and they seem to get massive bubbles underneath their skin. 

Nearly half of all my tads are becoming bloated only a week or two after hatching. I've tried changing the water and that hasn't seemed to help. I feed them mostly tadpole bites about 3 times a week. They are in a small incubator with the temp is kept between 74-76F. I usually put a small piece of dried spaghnum moss in each cup for them to chew on. 

The parents are 14-15 months old. They are getting dusted flies with every feeding. And they usually lay me a clutch of 5-8 eggs every week. Though 2-3 of the tads usually dont hatch.

I recieved my first truley healthy froglet this week. I hope I have more on the way but all these bloated tads have me baffled. 

Has anyone ever come across this problem? I have been raising up imitator tads the same way for nearly 8 months and have never had an issue with bloating.


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## zBrinks (Jul 16, 2006)

Is there any way to keep them a little cooler (around 70-72F) and only feed them sparingly 1-2 times a week? Whenever I've had issues with bloated tads in the past, it was due to their water becoming fouled.


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## UmbraSprite (Mar 2, 2007)

Ease up on the feeding. Tadpole bits foul the water pretty quickly. I stopped using them altogether and have moved to spirulina flake with some chlorella algae mixed in. 

I have 100% success getting rid of bubbles by changing them into clean water and not feeding (or just barely) until the bubble is gone.


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## jaysnakes (Jul 5, 2006)

Ok so I started an experiment with my last four tads that just hatched out 5 days ago. I did not put them in my incubator so they are at room temp 70-72F. I have only fed them once (2 tadpole bytes) in a full 16oz deli cup. And one of the tads is already visibly bloating. 

I am using tap water ran through a brita filter attached to my faucit and then I let it sit for nearly 24hrs before useing. Could the problem possibly lie here? I really dont know what else it could be. 

I may try using only water on the next group and see if the small piece of spaghnum moss I usually put in each cup may have something to do with it. I wouldn't think it would but I really dont have a clue what else it could be.


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## McBobs (Apr 26, 2007)

Instead of Brita water, try using RO/DI water from the pet store and give the tadpoles a couple days before feeding them anything. Also, instead of tadpole bites, try using flake fish food supplemented with spirulina. One more thing that you could try is to add a little bit of java moss to each cup with a bright light so that the moss will provide a little biological filtration in the water. 

I use tadpole bites almost every other day but have never had a problem with tadpoles bloating and not being able to sink to the bottom. 

Just a couple ideas for you to think about. 

-Matt


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

If you look at the feeding patterns of the tadpoles, they are omnivores and as a result I've never been found of the idea of a plant matter only diet for them. IF you think that water fouling is the issue, try using the spirulina/chlorella mix listed above and offer live black worms as the source of animal protien. The worms will stay alive and if added in small amounts won't foul the water. 
Alternatives to try are using larger containers, putting the containers under stronger light to see if getting algae growth (and associated protozoal communities) changes anything. (the algae and bacterial biofilm help keep the water quality better). 
Have you had the adults checked for parasite loads?

Ed


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## ccc (Nov 22, 2006)

Ed,

Do you use live black worms with your tadpoles? 

Chris


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