# Tadpole Rearing System



## FrogNick (Jul 2, 2009)

Tadpole Rearing System

Here are some pictures of my tadpole rearing system; some of you would have seen similar designs on Dendroboard as that’s where I got the idea from. It’s basically a under bed storage box with plastic half pint cups with holes at the bottom of them. The external filter is an Eheim Ecco 2232 which cleans up any waste that falls through the holes then circulates the clean water back in. So far it’s been running for about 2 months and I haven’t lost a single tad yet. Previous to this I had a similar set-up without the filter but would occasionally end up with a dead tad. Using this system it has made life allot easier as I don’t need to worry about water changes any more, just need to top up and feed as often as I like.



































I am looking in building a more permanent system, at the moment the plastic cups take up too much space as they are tapered. At the bottom they are 5cm in diameter but at the top this is 7cm so in a space of 50cm by 35cm it can only hold 20 cups. After scouring the internet I managed to find the ideal cup which were 5cm in diameter and 7cm high (125ml) with a thread which will stop them falling through. They are made from polypropylene which won’t shatter or crack unlike polystyrene cups and are complete clear.
Appleton Woods Polypropylene
My only problem now I have to buy 380 which I would never use so if anyone is interested in setting up a similar system it might be worthwhile.

Thanks
Nick


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## chulainn (Nov 29, 2009)

i think when (sept 26) get my darts i will set one up like this 


great set up 

please post more pics of ur set ups


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## Morgan Freeman (Jan 14, 2009)

That's a really cool set up. I always wondered how to keep tadpole water clean and filtered.


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## andie (Sep 23, 2007)

Ive seen these systems disscused on denroboard and they seem to be the biz. My first year breeding darts and the endless water changing individual cups has been very time consuming and having staple water conditions can only be good so yea, i'm thinking of doing something similar. I would be interested in 50 of those cups nick


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## soundstounite (Sep 6, 2009)

hey nic,thanks for the extra info,how much do you recon the setup cost? How often do you need to change stuff in the filter?Ofcourse you have plans to increase the no. of cups,but if one used a larger water container how many tads do you think this is capable of dealing with? In your opinion do you think it would be better to rear large nos of tads in more than one setup like this,rather than have all your eggs in one basket as it were?(obviously when a large group of any animal are together there is an inherant risk of desease of any form taking out lots of individuals).Again,THANKS for showing us this,stu


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## FrogNick (Jul 2, 2009)

andie said:


> Ive seen these systems disscused on denroboard and they seem to be the biz. My first year breeding darts and the endless water changing individual cups has been very time consuming and having staple water conditions can only be good so yea, i'm thinking of doing something similar. I would be interested in 50 of those cups nick


OK see how much interest I get then I might order some there won't be any mark-up on the price I pay.


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## FrogNick (Jul 2, 2009)

soundstounite said:


> hey nic,thanks for the extra info,how much do you recon the setup cost? How often do you need to change stuff in the filter?Ofcourse you have plans to increase the no. of cups,but if one used a larger water container how many tads do you think this is capable of dealing with? In your opinion do you think it would be better to rear large nos of tads in more than one setup like this,rather than have all your eggs in one basket as it were?(obviously when a large group of any animal are together there is an inherant risk of desease of any form taking out lots of individuals).Again,THANKS for showing us this,stu


Not very often the filter is for 100 Liters of water so its more than capable. the cups I'm thinking of buying are about 33p each. The filter cost me £40 but its second and usually cost £80. I would be planning to make a system that can hold at least 50 cups which might reside on 2 draws with an in and out tube on each draw. As far as putting your eggs in one basket not realy an issue as they are quite easy to raise and having them in the same body of water makes it easier to control temperate and so on. You could have lots of smaller system like racks of 10 cups if you wanted to be really carefully but I haven't had any problems yet.


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## FrogNick (Jul 2, 2009)

chulainn said:


> i think when (sept 26) get my darts i will set one up like this
> 
> 
> great set up
> ...


some pics here 

http://www.reptileforums.co.uk/forums/amphibian-pictures/556097-dart-frogs-pics.html


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## soundstounite (Sep 6, 2009)

CHEERS mate


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## chulainn (Nov 29, 2009)

FrogNick said:


> some pics here
> 
> http://www.reptileforums.co.uk/forums/amphibian-pictures/556097-dart-frogs-pics.html


 
i have seen these but would love to see more picutures


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## Jezza84 (Dec 9, 2009)

nice setup, will be somthing for me to look into in the future thanks for sharing that.


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## richie.b (Oct 27, 2008)

I used this system works really well but i used the tubs waxworms came in they worked well and already had holes in
Nice to see the frogs doing well Nick


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## FrogNick (Jul 2, 2009)

Hi Richie,

Chris did mention you had a similar system set-up did you use a filter?

Nancy are doing well female is on her 3rd fertile clutch this week but no froglets as yet.


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## andie (Sep 23, 2007)

FrogNick said:


> OK see how much interest I get then I might order some there won't be any mark-up on the price I pay.


Let me know via PM please when you know whats what, as ill probably end up losing this thread :blush: cheers..


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## richie.b (Oct 27, 2008)

FrogNick said:


> Hi Richie,
> 
> Chris did mention you had a similar system set-up did you use a filter?
> 
> Nancy are doing well female is on her 3rd fertile clutch this week but no froglets as yet.


The system i used was a 2foot fish tank with small internal filter, heater and a couple of bunches of elodia and java fern in the water below the tubs, plants grew well because there was enough light going through the glass tank

Glad to hear the nancys are doing well, the froglets will come and there will be no stopping them then, love nancys one of my favourite and certainly on top of my list when i start up again, well those and lots more pumilio


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