Spring is my favorite season. Why? Well, there are a lot of
reasons. The flowers, the bugs, and the animals are a few of them. But most of
all, I love it when the frogs begin to lay their eggs. For years, my brother and I have loved to ride
our go-kart out to the pond behind our house and hunt for frog eggs, or spawn. It’s
really fun to collect and care for the developing frogs, and in this post I’ll
teach you how.
First, you’ll need to search for frog spawn. Try looking in
ponds and large puddles, and ask people who have ponds if they’ll let you look
in theirs. You’re bound to find it at some point, so keep searching!
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| On our way to the pond |
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| Wading in |
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| Searching for frog spawn |
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| Isn't that magical? |
Once you find some spawn, gently cut the twig or stick it’s
attached to so that you can remove it from the pond. Then, gently place it in a
jar of pond water such as this one:
Now, you’re probably going to want to collect all of the
spawn you see, but try to resist the impulse. For one, you don’t want to damage
the ecosystem by over-collecting, and secondly, if you care for the spawn
properly, every egg in the yolk sac will hatch into a tadpole. You’ll have to
provide housing for every tadpole that you hatch! So unless, like me, you have a lot of tanks, you probably shouldn’t
go collecting more than one or two yolk sacs at a time.
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| The necessary equipment for keeping tadpoles. A turkey baster, a small net, a magnifying glass, an aquarium thermometer, algae wafers, tap water conditioner, and a journal. All that's missing is the tank itself! |
In order to hatch tadpoles from the egg, you will need a
hatching tank. My brother and I have found that it is easiest to have two separate
tanks. One is used to hatch the tadpoles, and one is used as the tadpoles’
habitat until they turn into frogs. The hatching tank should be very simple. It
shouldn’t have any decor or substrate. (Substrate is material that covers the bottom of an aquarium, such as sand or gravel.) It should contain only water and the
yolk sac itself. It needn’t be large, a capacity of about a gallon will do.
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| One of our hatching tanks. As you can see, the tadpoles have eaten their yolk sac and are ready to be moved to a grow-out tank. |
The water should be treated with a tap water conditioner manufactured
for fish. My favorite brand is API. Water conditioner removes chlorine, heavy
metals, and chloramines from tap water, all of which are toxic to tadpoles. Once
the tadpoles hatch (which usually takes about fourteen days), you can leave
them in the hatching tank for a few days to allow them to get their bearings. Then
you can move them to the grow-out tank. The grow-out tank should have a
capacity of at least 5 gallons. The water in the grow-out tank should also be
treated with water conditioner. If you decide to use a substrate (you don’t
have to) do not use aquarium gravel.
Young tadpoles will get stuck in it and die. Use aquarium sand instead, as the
grains are too small to allow space for tadpoles to get in between them. The
grow-out tank does not need a filter. An air stone can be provided, but I have
had tadpoles both in tanks with and without them, and have found no difference
in the development of the tadpoles. You’ll also want some sort of hiding spot
in the grow-out tank, a terracotta pot works exceptionally well for this
purpose. Avoid any decorations made for fish, as they often contain metal which
is toxic to tadpoles when rusted. You’re usually better off simply using a few
rocks from the garden as decor. Pondweed is a very good choice to add to the
grow-out tank, as tadpoles will feed on any algae that grows on it, and it will
function as an extra hiding spot.
25% water changes should be performed in the grow-out tank weekly.
The correct amount of water can be removed from the tank using a small pitcher.
Be sure not to catch any of your tadpoles in it though! Replace the water with
conditioned water that is the same temperature as the water in the tank.
The first few days after hatching, the tadpoles will feed on
their own yolk sac. After they’ve finished, you’ll need to think about feeding
them. Most tadpoles are herbivores, so you can usually feed them wafers
manufactured for algae-eating fish. If your tadpoles just won’t eat the wafers,
perhaps they are carnivores. In this case you can feed them a high-quality
goldfish food. I feed my tadpoles daily. The amount you feed will depend on how
many tadpoles you have. If the water starts to dirty, start feeding less.
Good luck, and have fun!
