Quote Originally Posted by Kay View Post
OK, a couple of people have said my water temperature is too warm. What should it be? Also, how do I lower the water temperature (other than adding cold water). I do not have any type of heat source on the tank.

If I change the water 2/3rds @ a time, do I still do that weekly? I have taken everything out of the tank and scrubbed off everything a few times. However, I thought it disturbed the toads so much. They took a few days to resume their normal activities afterwards. I will go back to doing that also along with the vacuuming.

Thanks everyone for your suggestions! I appreciate them all.
I would recommend trying to get the water temps down to the low 70's. If you're using a lamp, keep it off the water. Keep the tank away from the window- if that's a possible heat source. You can also keep your house temp lower and the water temps will follow the room temps. (Then, if the land areas are too cool, you can use a really MILD lamp bulb to set up an 80F basking spot).

If doing a thorough cleaning disturbs your frogs, maybe continue doing that on the schedule you've kept and just work on keeping the water clean. A 2/3 change once a week should be ok. If you notice no change after a week or two, then maybe worry about doing the thorough cleanings more often.

A few other ideas:
-You said you dust your crickets- with what? Do you use calcium w/ vitamin D3? Do you give them a multivitamin? I also gut load my crickets with food high in calcium and carrots (the carrots help with their belly color, and might impact their back color).
-Your filter is meant for a 55 gallon and is in a partially filled 20 gallon. Is there a lot of current in the water? I usually see the frogs in calm pools with little current- so keep that in mind. The filter might be keeping your water clean, but is it turning your water into an ocean?
- Also, bottom line- your frogs might just be darker. There might be no reason to worry. There are brown/red FBTs. If you know your toads naturally have a green back and it looks like it has a black dye over it, then take a close look at how you keep your enclosure and make some small changes a little at a time if necessary. Hope we've helped!