Children love to watch cute little tadpoles turn into frogs like magic, and so do many adults. Tadpoles are a good addition to any community tank, and are harmless to their neighbors. They are pretty easy to take care of, here's how.
Catching/selecting
You can buy tadpoles in some pet stores in the fish department, but I enjoy catching most of my pets. If you do go to a store, try not to select a pet that has already begun to form its limbs as this will take away from the experience of watching the full transformation. Catching them is rather easy. In the spring, just go to a river or lake with a butterfly net and scoop them up. If you are having trouble finding them, toss in a piece of lunchmeat, this will sometimes attract small schools of them as they can smell food from a good distance away.
Housing
You don't need much at all to raise a tadpole, but to keep them happy I would suggest at least a large goldfish bowl and an air filter. Like fish, tadpoles have gills, so you need to keep up the oxygen in the water. They love aquatic plants to nibble on and hide around, so keep that in mind when deciding on your setup. Also put in a rock or something for you tadpole to hide behind. In the wild their only defense is camouflage and hiding.
Feeding
Tadpoles eat algae, dead leaves, and pretty much anything edible. Luckily they also eat fish flakes, which is what I recommend you feed them. Many tadpoles will learn to swim belly up to eat the floating flakes, or scavenge them from the bottom after they sink. The baby frogs can smell food and will generally converge on it in mass.
Friends
Tadpoles are harmless to fish and each other until they develop into adult frogs, so you don't have to worry about them hurting anything you put them in with, and there are few animals you would put in a tank that would harm them. Among those threats are turtles, crayfish, and predatory fish. As long as you don't mix these with your tadpoles, you should be in good shape.
Other considerations
Although tadpoles are harmless, once they grow up they will eat anything that moves small enough for them to swallow, and that includes fish. When you tadpole fully develops its limbs and spends most of its time at the surface, it's time to transfer him into his own tank. When this happens, your pet's needs will change, and for that I recommend reading my guide on catching and keeping frogs. Tadpoles develop much faster in captivity than in the wild because they are better fed and taken care of. They also live longer lives overall without the threat of predators. Some species of frog stay in the tadpole faze for two years or more. Toad tadpoles are much smaller, black instead of green, and transform in about six weeks.
