Radical algae treatment... tadpoles?

[Kezzab]

I have two nano tanks running.

One is high tech, cost me god knows how much and causes me mostly stress. It is covered in staghorn algae and houses about 6 shrimp (2 Amano, 4 cherry).

The other cost the sum total of £15, features so far unidentified plants, dirt and assorted wildlife from our local pond/bog and runs on ambient light, no ferts, no co2, barely filtered, room temp. It is a pleasure. Plants are thriving, water is crystal clear. Zero effort.

To the pond tank i added some frog spawn. The tadpoles hatched and are growing well. It is very noticeable that they have hoovered up decaying plant leaves and algae that was on the rocks and glass - the tank looks very clean.

So the questions are:
- Could tadpoles be transferred to a high tech tank with out killing them (18c vs 22c)?
- If they could be, would they eat staghorn algae as voraciously as they appear to eat the algae in the pond tank (mostly GSA)?
- Should i just, in the name of 'science', choose a few plucky volunteers and see what happens?

 

[zozo]

Tadpoles as many other aquatic lifeforms eat Phytoplankton, (photosynthesizing microscopic organisms) many green and brown algae are, also cyano bacteria (blue algae) but if they eat the blue, dunno.

Staghorn is a red algae and classified in a different order.. 🙂 Diatoms are the most common phytoplankton around and very common in our tanks, they might just prefere that if available.. But hence in the name of sciense, why not give it a go, can't hurt i guess.. And if so we all would like to know and roll over the floor laughing that we didn't think of that sooner. I red many articles where is stated no fish or shrimp known eating staghorn, but witnessed hungry Amanos eating it, probably depends on how hungry they are and what available. So who knows.. 🙂

Just do not mix tadpoles families, they do not like competition and secret a kind of poisson to kill off other tadpoles not spawn from the same pudding.. 😉

 

[Kezzab]

Cheers Zozo, i'll give it a bash and see what happens...

 

[zozo]

Good luck keep us informed.. I guess you know about tadpoles that at the point their gils transform to lungs they stop eating algae and go on feeding predatory.. Sometimes even cannibalistic.. 🙂

 

[Kezzab]

Yeah, i'm aware the diet changes, and i've seen the cannibalism before... I'm going to get some frozen blood worm, midge larvae etc for when the change happens. I may have to return a few to the pond as well, there's probably 50 in the tank so it might get a bit crowded when they grow on. They are quite partial to cucumber as well in my experience.
The journal is here: http://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/metamorphosis.40205/#post-438564

 

[Kezzab]

Should add, one pioneer has been transferred across....

 

[chrismiller12341]

As they grow they might turn on your shrimp. Not sure. I figure if they will eat eachother shrimp would be just as tasty. From my dart frog knowledge they love themselves some insects. He'll Bull frogs will eat birds.

 

[PARAGUAY]

Great experiment but the downside it would only be a "spring clean" as the Common Frog only spawns in cooler spring temperature and the tadpoles develop over late spring/early summer maybe a tropical species would fare better?

 

[zozo]

maybe a tropical species would fare better?

Want take long and you'll have a tropical frog farm.. Or tropical frog legs for dinner till the end of days..
If it's for fishless planted tank only i think Daphnia might do even better, they live off the same stuff and breed all year long. 🙂