Need experienced African Dwarf Frog gurus
Got one of those tiny aquariums that includes a live plant, colorful gravel, "living gravel"m and two ADF. i realized immediately that no animal should be placed in such a small container.
unfortunately, one of them escaped a while ago, so i believe the female is all alone.
I have several questions
- I'm going to get this little froggy a bigger tank for sure. I'm thinking of making one myself because I can make it wider, since i know the frogs can drown. Do I need to include "living gravel"? I didn't know gravel could be alive, but If i were to hypothetically fill the bottom of the tank with gravel, what should I use?
- What type of plants are compatible with the frog? the plant included was a bamboo stalk, and I was thinking of making getting one or two more of those stalks to add to the bigger tank
- Are ADF social? This little loner seems pretty excited to see me whenever I feed it, and will literally come to the screen to greet me and follow my face/ finger around the tank. Should I add another ADF to the tank?
- In addition to more ADFs, I was thinking of adding a single Beta fish to add some variety to the tank. What should I know about putting these two together? Has anyone mixed the two peacefully before?
Does anyone have anything to contribute for a new ADF owner?
Re: Need experienced African Dwarf Frog gurus
Make sure you add the betta last. as long as the betta establishes himself after whatever else is in there (assuming friendly and non colorful additions) even an aggressive betta should leave the adf alone. Provide lots of cover and expect the frog to be shy for awhile well he gets used to the betta. The adf will do better in numbers 3-4. If your getting a betta I'd have no more than 2 adf and a betta in a 5.5+ gallon or 3-4 adf and a betta in a 10 gallon to keep aggression down. The adf later when bigger may gang up on your betta later though so be warned. get some of that cheap floating live plant stuff they keep them in at the store fern or something frogs love that stuff. give them a hiding spot and place to chill near the surface since they breathe occasionally like betta from the surface. low flow hob filter for betta and adf something like a turned to low flow marina slim s15 or s10 or a good sponge filter. Whatever the substrate make it dark and make sure it's large or very fine. adf have huge mouths and they are dumb and blind and have been known to eat little pebbles they can fit in their mouth and die from not being able to pass them (impaction?). That's all I know good luck. live planted tank is better of course. Hand feed the adf and distract the betta with pellets before hand. a stylish dish helps with bloodworm mess and establishing a feeding time and routine for the adf.
Re: Need experienced African Dwarf Frog gurus
The only things I would add are:
1) don't feed any freeze-dried foods (fresh or frozen is OK). Freeze-dried foods cause bloating which cannot be easily treated.
2) make sure the lid is secure, even though these frogs are fully aquatic, ADFs have been known to explore places outside the tank which is generally fatal for the frog