Greetings from Canada

[Sandy Bear]

I finally got around to joining this forum, and I'm really glad I did. There is a lot of fantastic members on here and I'm having fun reading the wealth of knowledge and information that is available here.

My favorite frog book is "Amphibian Medicine and Captive Husbandry" (ISBN 978-0894649172). I just bought this text book this summer, and I really wish I had bought it when I first started to keep frogs. I think every frog owner should have a copy of this book, it's really great, and has helped me out a few times already.

I enjoy doing builds for my frogs. I have converted quite a few aquariums and turned them into arboreal set ups for my tree frogs and geckos. I also really like doing the "CrossFire" style enclosures (commonly seen with Bearded Dragon keepers). I built one this summer with a lot of help from my dad. It's a stacked enclosure done in Birch Plywood, the top level houses my bearded dragons, and the bottom level houses my Cane Toads. I think I would like to convert most of my enclosures to this style and do away with most of the glass aquariums.

I have done the Lamisil treatment on all of my frogs. I had a scare about a year ago, when a group of Dwarf Pyxie frogs that I bought from a reptile pet shop started dying on me. They are what I like to call "Captive Bred Technicalities". They originally came from a "farm" in Mozambique, Africa. I only have one of those frogs left.
I was very worried about the possibility of cross contamination from Chytrid Fungus, so I stripped all my tanks, removed any live plants, and put my whole collection into quarantine.
I've spent most of my free time the last year doing the treatments, and redecorating tanks. I'm glad that that is all over with now.

This is what we are keeping at the moment:

Dwarf Pyxie Frogs
Giant Pyxie Frog
Ornate Horned Frog
Cranwelli Pacman Frog (brown, albino, green)
Fantasy Frog (red)
Budgett's Frog
African Dwarf Frogs
Chubby Frogs
Red Eyed Tree Frogs
American Green Tree Frogs
Whites Tree Frogs
Cane Toads
American Toads
Green & Black Poison Dart Frogs
Fire Belly Toads
Leopard Frogs

8 x Leopard Geckos (2 common, 3 Bell Albino, 2 Leucistic, 1 Tangerine)
20+ x Crested Geckos
1x Gargoyle Gecko
2 Bearded Dragons
2 Ribbon Snakes
125 gallon cichlid tank
30 gallon cichlid tank

We also have 3 shelter cats, they are all polydactyls; "The Jerk" (male, black & white tuxedo), "Sparta" (male, Dark Brown tickled tabby), and "Madness" aka "Maddy" (Female Orange Tabby)

[En333]

O dang u got a lot of frogs! And lizards! Wow. And welcome to the forum haha! Omg u have lots of animals.... How many ranks do you have?!?!

[Mentat]

Welcome to Frog Forum Sandy! Wow, you have an impressive pet collection. I'm new to frogs but have kept and bred many fish including cichlids for almost half a century.

[Sandy Bear]

@ Ian
I don't believe in mixing, so everything has it's own tanks. Most of my tanks are Exoterras and Verticals that I have re-built.
Also, all my male cresties have their own terrariums, and I have 3 tanks for the babies set up, and the girls share a larger communal tank.
My Leos, I have 4 tanks for currently, 2 for the boys, 1 shared one for my girls, and 1 for my juvenile Leucistics.
I do still have some of the animals in Quarantine, however they are mostly just too small to put in the adult tanks at the moment.

@Carlos
Our 125 gallon tank is at home, and we have a female tiger oscar, a male abino veil tail oscar, 2 jacks, 2 parrots, 1 kissing gouramis, 2 clown loaches, 1 leopard cactus tail pleco, 1 bristle nose pleco, 3 common plecos, 1 sydontis cat, 2 convicts, and a juvenile arowana. I have the Fluval FX5 filter on the tank, and I LOVE IT.

Our 30 gallon tank is at my work. I work at a retirement home, and our residents and visitors all love to see it. I have 1 "jelly bean" parrot fish, 2 fire mouth cichlids, 1 whitish african cichlid (got him by accident when I bought duckweed), 4 clown plecos, 1 royal pleco, 1 common pleco, 2 bronze corydoras, and 1 pictus cat. There might be a molly still around in there too, as that's what used to be in that tank. I have the Fluval 405 on this tank.

We want to get a really big fish tank some time after my BF is done school. I'm hoping for something around 350 gallons made out of acrylic. There aren't many places that do tanks that big, so if you know of any I'd like to know about them. So far I've found two, but our hard drive crashed like two weeks ago, and I lost most of my book marks

My BF also wants to set up a salt water tank eventually, but I'm not sure if we are ready for that. I have no experience with salt water tanks, so I'm nervous to start anything like that. He really likes the corals and the fancy shirmp and other inverts that you can put in them.

[En333]

Oh tanks haha not ranks lol but that's awesome! Did it cost lots of money to get where you are now?

[Sandy Bear]

Yes, I've spent lots of money on my collection, I couldn't tell you the exact amount. Frogs are quite expensive here in Canada, compared to what they cost in the US
I shop the sales at the pet stores, I buy stuff from the Salvation Army Thrift Stores/Value Village, yard sales and Kijiji (Craig's List). I've gotten some good deals on stuff which really helps as we are on a budget until my BF is done school.

[Mentat]

@Carlos
Our 125 gallon tank is at home, and we have a female tiger oscar, a male abino veil tail oscar, 2 jacks, 2 parrots, 1 kissing gouramis, 2 clown loaches, 1 leopard cactus tail pleco, 1 bristle nose pleco, 3 common plecos, 1 sydontis cat, 2 convicts, and a juvenile arowana. I have the Fluval FX5 filter on the tank, and I LOVE IT.

Our 30 gallon tank is at my work. I work at a retirement home, and our residents and visitors all love to see it. I have 1 "jelly bean" parrot fish, 2 fire mouth cichlids, 1 whitish african cichlid (got him by accident when I bought duckweed), 4 clown plecos, 1 royal pleco, 1 common pleco, 2 bronze corydoras, and 1 pictus cat. There might be a molly still around in there too, as that's what used to be in that tank. I have the Fluval 405 on this tank.

We want to get a really big fish tank some time after my BF is done school. I'm hoping for something around 350 gallons made out of acrylic. There aren't many places that do tanks that big, so if you know of any I'd like to know about them. So far I've found two, but our hard drive crashed like two weeks ago, and I lost most of my book marks

My BF also wants to set up a salt water tank eventually, but I'm not sure if we are ready for that. I have no experience with salt water tanks, so I'm nervous to start anything like that. He really likes the corals and the fancy shirmp and other inverts that you can put in them.

Your tanks sound nice, but be aware that although big, a 125 is too small for an adult Arowana. Also, unless an African Aro (rare filter feeder), as it grows it will eat any fish that fits in it's big mouth.

Largest commercial tanks in USA are 300 gallon made by Marineland; so for larger you are talking custom made ones. I have a couple internet addresses of manufacturers; contact me when you are ready and have lot's of cash on hand; those tanks are expensive.

If interested in a reef type SW tank; best reference to get you started is "The Conscientious Marine Aquarist" 2nd ed. dated 2008 by Robert M. Fenner. I used to have a few FOWLR (Fish Only With Live Rock) SW tanks but took down most and only kept one for my pet Undulated Triggerfish. Also have 7 FW tanks running for my cichlids and a Betta. Other pets include an ABF "Stilgar;" an unnamed C. cranwelli Pacman; and four arboreal Tarantulas.

[Sandy Bear]

Oh, we are aware that the arowana is too small for our current tank. He's not very old though, we got him almost a year ago, and he was a tiny little thing then. He's about as long as my Oscars are, so probably about 12" - but I haven't properly measured to be sure. We weren't actually planning on getting the arowana until this year, but the pet shop got them in last winter the same week as my BF birthday, and he really wanted that, he'd already been waiting over two years to get one. It's a silver arowana, we named it "Stanly", lol, we're not actually sure of the gender.
My BF should be done school this spring if all goes well, then we can get our tank

This is when we first got the arowana. We put him in a 30 gallon temporarily until he got a bit bigger. He's a fussy little guy, and will only eat live food. Worms are his favorite, and starts to "prance" around the tank when he gets fed them.




The largest commercial tank I can get here in Canada, is a 200 gallon tank. I'm not sure who makes it though, maybe Hagen. Last time I asked was about 2 years ago though, so I may ask if they can get a Marineland tank that big. I can settle for a 300 gallon tank, but if not we will be going custom. I'm not too worried about the cost of the tank, my BF is in school to be a Chemical Engineer, so he will be getting paid well when he gets a job.


I was wondering if I could pick your brain about something? I'm having an issue with my female Tiger Oscar "Dexter". She's about 3 years old, and seems to be in a "funk". We aren't sure if she's poorly, or just being moody.
Basically, she's not interested in eating much (BF can't remember the last time she actually ate something), she spends most of her time either sitting at the bottom of the tank (like they do when they sleep), or sitting at the top of the tank and she looks like she is breathing hard. We have the Rena 400 air pump in that tank with two large ball air stones. None of the other fish have labored breathing.

Up till this spring we had 2 other Oscars in the tank with these. "Napoleon" was paired up with "Dexter", and they laid eggs regularly. However Napoleon jumped out of the tank while I was at work and I found him dead on the floor. Since he's been gone, Dexter has laid eggs once and that was a couple of weeks ago. I think she has paired up with Misha, who we suspect is male.
The other fish was another male Oscar named "Charlie". He developed HITH, he got one spot on his face and died quickly after that.

I don't have much to do with the fish tank, that's mostly my BF thing, but he's quite worried about Dexter, she's our first Oscar. I don't see anything noticeable that looks like fish disease (ick, fungus, anchor worms, etc...). There hasn't been anything new added to the tank since we put Stanly the Arowana in there, about 7-8 months ago.
Her diet consists mainly of: buggies, worms, cocktail shrimp, some cichlid pellets and fish flakes

[Heatheranne]

Welcome to the forum .

[Mentat]

...I was wondering if I could pick your brain about something? I'm having an issue with my female Tiger Oscar "Dexter". She's about 3 years old, and seems to be in a "funk". We aren't sure if she's poorly, or just being moody.
Basically, she's not interested in eating much (BF can't remember the last time she actually ate something), she spends most of her time either sitting at the bottom of the tank (like they do when they sleep), or sitting at the top of the tank and she looks like she is breathing hard. We have the Rena 400 air pump in that tank with two large ball air stones. None of the other fish have labored breathing. ...
Her diet consists mainly of: buggies, worms, cocktail shrimp, some cichlid pellets and fish flakes

What are tank's water parameters (temp., pH, ammonia, nitrites, & nitrates) and water change schedule? Breathing hard could mean an external small parasite infection like Oodinium or Costia; but in a tank it should spread to other fishes. Other possibilities are internal bacteria or parasites or maybe something natural like old age. Although wild Oscars are strong fish; they have been inbred so much by industry, their immune system is affected and many have become magnets for all kinds of fish diseases like HITH (Hexamita) you mentioned.

[Sandy Bear]

Well, I'm sad to report our "Dexter" died today. I'm wondering if she had that Lateral Line erosion, but I haven't been able to find any good pictures of it to compare. She was missing some scales along her lateral line, but I'm not sure if that is just some damage that she sustained from from the other fish when she was being inactive. Her behavior reminded me a lot of what our Charlie was like when he go Hole in the Head.
Anyways, BF has been really busy with school this year, and hasn't been diligent with the tank, so I think I will be helping him out with that now.