NANFA-L-- Who Eats Tadpoles


Subject: NANFA-L-- Who Eats Tadpoles
From: Mark (nanfa at jonahsaquarium.com)
Date: Wed Oct 27 2004 - 07:25:21 CDT


At 8:16 AM -0400 10/27/04, Dean A. Markley wrote:
>Wow, pickerels love tadpoles? Now that's the first fish I've seen
>that seems to eat them! I have a 125 gallon tank with a 9 inch
>longnose gar, 4 4 inch pumpkinseeds, a 5 inch redeye and a pair of 3
>inch bullheads. This summer, I added 6 tadpoles from a local pond
>(bullfrogs?). The fish investigated them rather closely but refused
>to eat them! Now I am shocked that the gar didn't try but I find
>it astonishing that the bullheads haven't eaten them at night. They
>seem to devour everything else their barbels come in contact with.
>My opinion so far is that the cats are far more aggressive than the
>gar!
>
>BTW, I use pellets and flakes for these guys except Mr. Gar. Mr Gar
>prefers minnows, goldfish or young platies/swordtails from the LFS.

Yeah, in the past, I haven't really messed with tadpoles, but I
brought some home last summer since there were so many in the
Killbuck marshes. My large pickerels scarfed them down like cheetos.
They were frog tadpoles, likely bullfrog or leopard frog or both. I
know what you mean about bullheads. I don't usually keep them,
especially with other fish that I want to do well. Also, I recently
repeated a previous experience in which I got a pickerel to take and
eat a dry cichlid stick. If they are ready to feed and see it hit
the surface, thay will sometimes strike and consume it. The other
pickerel in the tank did not follow suit. I used to have a pickerel
that was fed nothing but cichlid sticks. Most of them seem to
require live stuff, though.

-- 
Mark
Conejo Creek drainage
California USA

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: Fri Dec 31 2004 - 11:27:54 CST