Tadpole Dilemmas

[katman]

Hi folks. It's tadpole season out here in California, and we're now the proud foster parents for about 300 of them because we couldn't just let them die when their small pond dried up in the sun.

We have an ammonia problem, and are wondering if you might offer some advice.

We're using a couple of tanks, sized to accommodate that many tadpoles (5 & 15 gallon) - but like all babies, they're either eating, resting, looking cute, or crapping. Even with frequent small feeding of foods like Sera Micron, and frequent water changes that include dosings of the change water with AmmoLock, our Ammonia alert (great product!) seems stuck in the "Alert" zone. At least it isn't going higher, but it isn't going lower, either. Since Ph Alert (great product #2) confirms what we already knew and tells us out Ph level is consistently in the 8.0 range, that's a problem.

I should add that we're on a well - this Ph level is normal for our water, and matches outside ponds like the one the tadpoles were found in (I tested). But it's hard to bring down, even using Ph decreasers, and dangerous to change things too much because tadpoles are far more sensitive to these shifts than fish.

So we've really, really got to lower the ammonia levels and keep them low.

Tadpole tanks can't use filters, because tadpoles are small and don't swim well. They'll get sucked in, or sucked against the filter and hurt. All water changes are manual, therefore, and so any solution we seek needs to be a manual solution that works without a filter.

I'm looking at stuff like Purigen, Matrix, de Nitrate, et al, and wondering if one of them might help if used as a gravel substitute. Getting all the detrius out of the gravel is hard to do without a pump + filter, so maybe biological warfare will help. Or do you have something else?

Your sensors were so well thought out, I figured you'd be my best bet to help stay ahead of the game. Thoughts?

[Tech Support GL]

Since you are keeping tadpoles, the regular water changes are very good to keep down waste. As long as the pH is kept constant it should be fine. You do not really need to use a substrate. Give the tadpoles plenty of light to create some algae growth for feeding and change the water regularly. At some point it may be a good idea to put them in a natural pond or body of water.

[katman]

OK. The Ph isn't going to budge - the buffering capacity of our water is almost off the scale according to my test kits, and I asked my wife about her experiences with the hot tub she used to have here. Yup - huge rebound effect in action that kept Ph stable in a place she didn't want.

Unfortunately for our tads, too, that place is a high place.

Second set of questions...

[1] Of Matrix, deNitrate, and Purigen (telling the difference in terms of when to buy what is hard among those 3), which product would work best under the following conditions?... let's say that yes, we're going to keep changing the water, but we also need gravel anyway for our larger 15 gallon tadpole tank and would like a gravel that will confer some other benefits. The tank has a regular and noticeable current both top and bottom (air wand mounted on the side produces one), but no filtration system. Which of Matrix, deNitrate, and Purigen works best in that setup? Or are all so far away from ideal use that we're better off just getting Fluorite Red?

[2] We're also thinking of installing a pond in the backyard. That *will* have a filtration system, but we're also considering the advantages of an active gravel bed in places to help keep things stable. PondMatrix has recommendations for use in that way, as wel as in filters. Is there anything else you might use as part of a pond gravel bed?

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RE: the tadpoles, it has been incredibly dry this year, which really limits safe local tadpole release options. We do have plans to release them into suitable local areas post-metamorphosis; as frogs (Pacific Chorus Frogs, we think), our options expand.

[Tech Support GL]

If you plan on using Matrix and De*nitrate as gravel in your 15-gallon tadpole tank, I would suggest using a combination of Matrix, De*nitrate and Flourite Red as your substrate. Both Purigen and MatrixCarbon http://www.seachem.com/products/product_pages/MatrixCarbon.html are aggressive in removing organic waste. Yet in your case, it would be helpful to periodically dose the tank with Stability http://www.seachem.com/products/product_pages/Stability.html in order to supply your tank with enough nitrifying and denitrifying bacteria to handle the bioload. With either substrate you choose it will take time to get the bacteria populations up enough to consume waste and especially without a filter.

With a backyard pond set-up, you could use a mixture of Flourite Red, Onxy Gravel http://www.seachem.com/products/product_pages/OnyxGravel.html and Pond Matrix as your pond biological filter. This will not only support aquatic plant ideal in a pond setting but bacteria as well to decompose plant matter and other waste produced by the tadpoles. If you intend to raise these tadpoles in that pond, I advise against adding any fish to the pond. Otherwise, a small pond may not be able to sufficiently support the tadpoles and fish. Large fish may also consume he tadpoles.