Raising Tadpoles (Day 136) - The Lone Survivor
Day 136
I transferred the largest froglet to the juvenile section in preparation for my transferring of the 3 newly developed froglets out of the tadpole tank over to froglet section of the 20 gallon tank. In total, this brings us to 8 froglets and 25 juvenile frogs in the 20 gallon aquarium and 10 tadpoles in the 10 gallon tank. There are two more tadpoles that will be developing into froglets within the next week.
It's been several days since my female, Tiny, last laid eggs (at least 4 - 5) and she's shown no signs of laying anymore. Now imagine my shock today at finding that there was a single small tadpole swimming next to Tiny's foot when I checked on the tank prior to feeding. Somehow, through a combination of luck, instinct, and sheer will, this one tadpole had managed to survive in a tank with an oversized filter and two hungry adult frogs actively scooping up eggs before they could hatch.
After such an impressive display, it just felt wrong to leave the little fellow to its fate. Therefore I decided to transfer the tadpole to the new carrier tank I just bought and fill it with water from the main tank. Once all that was set up, the only thing left to do for today was to give the tadpole a name. After surviving all of that, there seemed to only be one name that seemed appropriate - say hello to 'Marcinko' (bonus points to anyone who gets the reference)!
It was necessary to keep Marcinko separate from the rest of the tadpoles in the 10 gallon tank for sizing reasons. Not only could any newly developed froglets I don't catch in time eat Marcinko, the larger tadpoles themselves could inadvertently cause damage. Marcinko is currently 9mm (3/8in) long, still being quite young at under a week. Meanwhile, the fully grown tadpoles are 55mm (2 3/16in) long. The growth on these little fellows is impressively quick. From less than a week after just developing from their egg, some can grow over 6 times their initial size within two months.
Current Totals:
10 - 10 gallon (Tadpole Tank)
33 - 20 gallon (Frog Tank) [8 froglet, 25 juvenile]
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