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Tiny bullies - what to feed?


Hazara

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We set up our campsite just before Xmas, and the boy caught some tadpoles, we took em home and biffed them in a tank. I gave them a ground up pleccy tab and left them alone for 9 days or so as we went back camping.

Fully expecting them to be little fuzzballs by the time we got back, I told the boy he could have 2 cockabullies to replace the expected to be dead tadpoles.

Anyway, got home & the tadpoles are 4x the original size and growing daily with more pleccy tabs.

Just wondering what I can add to the tank to help the little fish survive - I know as older ones they can take flake food, just not sure about these ones.. they are about 10-14mm long.. Dont really have time to grow brine and dont have a source of daphnea either...

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if you thought they were going to die why would you take them? :facepalm:

:sage:

So... as a kid your parents never let you have a small pet that was out of the ordinary... I feel sorry for you, to love and lose builds character...

They had a better chance in the tank than they did when the motorbikes started ripping through the puddle... unless you are on about the fish?

They have a heap of cover, and have survived a damselfly larvae too for a few days.

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It's animal cruelty. To take a animal and not feed it purposely. I had tadpoles as a kid, and when I went on holiday I released them. Local ponds creeks ect. Not just leave them for dead.

Sorry but your best bet is build the pond this weekend, put the tadpoles in and leave the bullies in the tank.

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.... I had tadpoles as a kid, and when I went on holiday I released them. Local ponds creeks ect. ....

Okay mate, and I'm sure your idea of re-releasing animals into the wild is a smart thing to do...., and by far the best decision.. but clearly I had a reasonable idea of what I was doing even tho I was preparing my son for the worst.

So what did you feed your juvenile cockabilies?

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:sage:

So... as a kid your parents never let you have a small pet that was out of the ordinary... I feel sorry for you, to love and lose builds character...

They had a better chance in the tank than they did when the motorbikes started ripping through the puddle... unless you are on about the fish?

They have a heap of cover, and have survived a damselfly larvae too for a few days.

i am a kid and i know that leaving somthing alone for 9 days is animal cruelty and 'love and lose builds character' ? whats that mean teaching them to be cruel to animals ? honestly

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i am a kid and i know that leaving somthing alone for 9 days is animal cruelty and 'love and lose builds character' ? whats that mean teaching them to be cruel to animals ? honestly

Well, I left my 190 liter amazon tank for that same time with nothing more that an extra big feed the night before, those poor buggers were starving when I got back, all dancing around the front of the tank... cruelty - nah just neglect, it's a different class.

My boy learnt a solemn lesson last year when his pet snails all died in jar he left in the sun - man they were gross... but I suppose if I go on any further you will have peta on me... I have other stories of child destruction of animals....

Anyway, apart from the daphnea idea that you clearly missed from my first post... any better ideas on what to keep these fellers happy?

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Microworms. Nice and easy to maintain. My culture needs to be reset at the moment, so I am unavailable to give you any, but there are plenty of people out there with them. Try put a post on the WTB section.

I'm not going to tell you how you want to live your life. :smot:

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Microworms.

....

I'm not going to tell you how you want to live your life. :smot:

Yeah mate, but I have already said I dont have time for brine shrimp... I have had whiteworm cultures before but never looked into microworms... got a link?

Might try the old wheat & water in the hot water cylinder trick....

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http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/fishfood/microworms.php

Simple as,

Cook porridge and cool

Add microworm starter culture

Add sprinkle of yeast

Put it all in a ice cream container, punch a few holes in the lid with a nail

Wait a day (normally 3ish) but stick it in the hot water cupboard to speed it up a little.

Feed.

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Or...

One small Gladware container or small container from the supermarket deli - punch some small holes in the top, but not too many and not so large that fruitflies can get in.

One WeetBix

Add warm water and mix to a not too stiff paste - will firm up when the Weetbix absorb the water.

Very small pinch of yeast, such as Elfin or Edmonds that comes in a box with sachets in - snip the corner and sprinkle a bit into the palm of your hand to avoid putting too much in the mix. Put a peg on the top of the packet when finished and store in the fridge.

Stir

Add worms from previous culture - no need to mix in, and make sure the mix is not too hot our you will kill them and the yeast.

Sit in a warm place - mine live on the glass top of a tank next to the light, or in the hot water cupboard.

When they are breeding prolifically they will begin to crawl up the side of the container.

I use a small paint brush to brush them off the side of the container to feed out.

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Dried daphnia are readily available from most LFS.

cruelty - nah just neglect, it's a different class.

Because that is soooooo much better... (also I find "class" a little juxtaposition)

I'll admit that fish can go a surprisingly long time with little or no food, (still doesn't make it right) but tadpoles, I am surprised they survived.

again, purposeful removal of an organism from its habitat (no matter how you try justify it ie. motorbikes) knowing that you are not going to be able to look after them, and knowingly expecting them to be left to die (and you admit you fully expected them to) is cruel in my humble opinion. If you were expecting them to die, then how is the fate with the motorbike any different? if anything, a slow, starving death in a tank that would be fast filling with Ammonia and nitrites as the other tadpoles die around them seems a hell of a lot worse than squished by a motorbike...

Yea, as kids we all had things we shouldn't of, and we killed countless snails, tadpoles, birds even, but that was usually without parental consent, and we didn't know any better. You should though, and should be setting example.

Just my opinion, I could care less if you disagree or have any further "justification" :thup:

edit: Oh, and the New Zealand Animal Welfare act 1999:

(1) A person commits an offence who wilfully ill-treats an animal in such a way that—

(a) the animal is permanently disabled; or

(b) the animal dies; or

© the pain or distress caused to the animal is so great that it is necessary to destroy the animal in order to end its suffering.

(2) A person who commits an offence against this section is liable on conviction on indictment,—

(a) in the case of an individual, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 years or to a fine not exceeding $50,000 or to both; or

(b) in the case of a body corporate, to a fine not exceeding $250,000.

In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires, the term physical, health, and behavioural needs, in relation to an animal, includes—

(a) proper and sufficient food and water:

(b) adequate shelter:

© opportunity to display normal patterns of behaviour:

(d) physical handling in a manner which minimises the likelihood of unreasonable or unnecessary pain or distress:

(e) protection from, and rapid diagnosis of, any significant injury or disease,—

being a need which, in each case, is appropriate to the species, environment, and circumstances of the animal.

So be glad they didn't die. I can hear the clamouring " they're just tadpoles" But it doesn't matter, its an animal... deal...

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Dried daphnia are readily available from most LFS.

Because that is soooooo much better... (also I find "class" a little juxtaposition)

I'll admit that fish can go a surprisingly long time with little or no food, (still doesn't make it right) but tadpoles, I am surprised they survived.

again, purposeful removal of an organism from its habitat (no matter how you try justify it ie. motorbikes) knowing that you are not going to be able to look after them, and knowingly expecting them to be left to die (and you admit you fully expected them to) is cruel in my humble opinion. If you were expecting them to die, then how is the fate with the motorbike any different? if anything, a slow, starving death in a tank that would be fast filling with Ammonia and nitrites as the other tadpoles die around them seems a hell of a lot worse than squished by a motorbike...

Yea, as kids we all had things we shouldn't of, and we killed countless snails, tadpoles, birds even, but that was usually without parental consent, and we didn't know any better. You should though, and should be setting example. agree 100% :hail::hail:

Just my opinion, I could care less if you disagree or have any further "justification" :thup:

edit: Oh, and the New Zealand Animal Welfare act 1999:

So be glad they didn't die. I can hear the clamouring " they're just tadpoles" But it doesn't matter, its an animal... deal...

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I'll ignore all the fluff about the tadpoles...

I caught some bullies about that size last year, I feed my natives beef or chicken heart. For only two that snall I would buy chicken hearts from the pet food section of the supermarket, frezze them then cut off slithers with a sharp knife and dice that.

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I'll ignore all the fluff about the tadpoles...

I caught some bullies about that size last year, I feed my natives beef or chicken heart. For only two that snall I would buy chicken hearts from the pet food section of the supermarket, frezze them then cut off slithers with a sharp knife and dice that.

Good on ya, so am I: and thanks for the meat idea, I'll give that a go - they have made their little territories in the tank and defend them... the kids love watching them having a go at each other. I'm surprised they also are seen in the upper levels of the tank in some plant matter that I'm sinking. I have also thrown aphids in there - I havent seen where they went, I think the tadpoles found them.

@Joe - thanks for clearing that up, I've always called the ones over a couple of inches long bullies, but for some reason never the millions of little ones.

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