Tadpoles might look like tiny fish, but they are amphibians. As they grow and develop lungs, they need somewhere to hang out near the surface. Even before they grow arms and legs, they adore basking in shallow water, their little faces near the surface. This mini size floating dock works perfectly.

Here's how it works. There is a rectangular chunk of foam with two holes in it. You thread two plastic strips, one through each hole. Each plastic strip has a suction cup at the top and bottom. So the float floats on top of the surface of the water, and can float up and down based on how high the water happens to be. Those plastic strips hold it within a specific vertical plane. So the float can go up, and go down, but it can't wander around in the tank.

The photos might look like the float is plastic, but it's a foam substance. So if your pet is a chomper, this might not be the float for you. With tadpoles, of course, they have tiny little mouths. They won't be nibbling on the float. However, they do love resting on it! The foam is nice and soft for their delicate little bodies. They wriggle their way up the slope a bit, sigh in contentment, and just relax there. When they're done, they wriggle back off.

We did first try a sloped rock in the 5-gallon tank this float is in, but that is rough for the babies and when they're just growing legs. If it had been a smooth surface they couldn't get traction on it. Also, in a five gallon tank, it takes up a fair amount of room to be able to have the gentle slope the tadpoles need. With the float, it takes up only a little room on the surface, it doesn't take up any "swimming" room at all (i.e. they can swim around underneath it) and it's soft.

In our larger 20-gallon tank we do have a sloped rock - we can invest the space required to fit one of those. The larger froglets don't mind the rough surface and can get traction to go up the rock face. But in the small tank, with the tight space and delicate little tadpoles, this float is perfect.

Well recommended, for tadpoles at least :).

Ask if you have any questions!

Buy the Zoo Med Mini Size Floating Dock from Amazon.com

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