nurglespuss
Fish Gatherer
Hey all,
Bit of an odd observation this one, not sure where to put it...
Anyway, back when the frogs started spawning here in the UK, I captured a few new hatched tadpoles and popped them into my temporate tanks so I could watch them grow and turn into froglets, which could then be released with the best possible chance of survival. (No I don't have a TV
).
The little beasties soon grew and were quite commical too. I never saw them eat though, and assumed they were seeking out residual food from feeding th fish, and generally grubbing around (perhaps also munching on the eggs my whiteclouds are always throwing everywhere!).
However, I noticed a few snail shells appearing, and that my mystery snail ( a new addition) would not come out of its shell. I kept observing, but could not find a reason for this mystery. Both pond snail, bubble snail and ramshorn snail shells were to be seen. It was then that I saw it, the tadpoles weren't interested in the fish food at all, but were literraly sucking snails out of their shells! I've never seen this behaviour before.
Needless to say, the (very) large and healthy tadpoles were removed from the tank to avoid further loss or stress. Immediatly, the mystery snail started to move about and feed....
So there we have it, the things you can learn!
All the best!
Bit of an odd observation this one, not sure where to put it...
Anyway, back when the frogs started spawning here in the UK, I captured a few new hatched tadpoles and popped them into my temporate tanks so I could watch them grow and turn into froglets, which could then be released with the best possible chance of survival. (No I don't have a TV
).The little beasties soon grew and were quite commical too. I never saw them eat though, and assumed they were seeking out residual food from feeding th fish, and generally grubbing around (perhaps also munching on the eggs my whiteclouds are always throwing everywhere!).
However, I noticed a few snail shells appearing, and that my mystery snail ( a new addition) would not come out of its shell. I kept observing, but could not find a reason for this mystery. Both pond snail, bubble snail and ramshorn snail shells were to be seen. It was then that I saw it, the tadpoles weren't interested in the fish food at all, but were literraly sucking snails out of their shells! I've never seen this behaviour before.
Needless to say, the (very) large and healthy tadpoles were removed from the tank to avoid further loss or stress. Immediatly, the mystery snail started to move about and feed....
So there we have it, the things you can learn!
All the best!
