Raising Tadpoles (Day 137) - A Preventable Death
Day 137
I found the smaller of the two froglets had passed away some time during the day and immediately set about testing the water parameters. There was nothing unusual about the froglet physically, no out of place cuts or abrasions. In both the 10 gallon tank and 20 gallon tank, I tested the PH levels, the carbonate hardness, KH, and the general hardness, GH. I decided not to test either the ammonia, nitrite or nitrate levels due to the fact that an ammonia or nitrite spike will leave burns and if nitrates had somehow risen to lethal levels without my knowledge, more than one animal would be displaying adverse symptoms.
Taking all of this into account, the most likely causes would therefore be either another PH drop in the 20 gallon tank or an unknown general hardness issue that had developed without my knowledge. The final results of the tests were as follows:
The PH level of the 10 gallon tadpole tank was still at 7.6 and the PH level of the 20 gallon froglet/juvenile frog tank was steady at 7.4, not enough of a difference to cause death in a healthy froglet. The carbonate hardness, KH, of the 10 gallon tank was 152 ppm, while the KH of the 20 gallon tank was 161 ppm. The KH levels are nearly the same and I'll admit a bit of befuddlement as to why there appears to be a new upper limit to the PH level in the 20 gallon tank, in my other tanks, the water stays constant at a PH level of 7.6 at such a KH level. Finally, the general hardness, GH, for the 10 gallon tank was 161 ppm and the GH for the 20 gallon tank was 233. Clearly, I'd say we've spotted our issue here that led to the death of this froglet. Since I had lost the pipette I normally use to measure the Replenish about a week or two ago, the overall amount of general hardening agents entering the water must have been severely deficient. Prior to transferring any more froglets, the GH levels will be brought in line - I added additional Replenish to the 10 gallon tank yesterday. I've also procured another pipette - never trust the liquid measurements the cap provides, despite the claims of any company, they simply are not accurate enough. I should have rechecked the water hardness before transferring the froglets, forgetting about a simple test that only takes a few minutes is an easily preventable mistake to make that can clearly have severe consequences.
Current Totals:
10 - 10 gallon (Tadpole Tank)
32 - 20 gallon (Frog Tank) [7 froglet, 25 juvenile]
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