Good point Bill. I should have been more thorough in my explanation (like I said earlier we need to start a frog thread if we are getting into deep detail).
Ya'll hit me kinda hard on a Monday morning, but if memory serves me correctly.....
The tads have lungs even when they do not have legs, but the lungs are underdeveloped. As they age (grow legs and mature) they will crash the surface of the pond and appear to "breath". Actual oxygen uptake is not what they are doing, but instead they are experimenting. Another point to make here is the fact that while they appear to "gulp" oxygen, they are actually helping to mature and develop their lungs. Mind you they are not using this oxygen like we do (or like they will do when they become frogs), but they are helping to expand their developing lungs and prevent lung collapse.
This above is pulled from memory so give me the liberty to edit later when I get a chance to look some things up.
Dan- As far as the diffuser goes, just make sure that you are not bubbling the tads to death. Is there a slow setting that you can use for the diffuser? Maybe just run it in the evening? Depending on the heat you may get away with the airstone by itself! You do want some algae buildup in the tank if possible, so too much circulating water could present a double whammy on the tads.
Deb
