In need of a little guidance...ADF questions

[sapo2201]

I have a 30 gal that's been sitting in my living room for months completely set up but with no life in it just begging for a critter to take residence. I've had adfs in the past and thought it would be fun to have them again. I completely tore down/cleaned/rearranged the tank to suit their needs (was previously set up for aquatic turtles) and will post some pics tomorrow for those visual people out there. The tank is not filled to max and is probably holding around 20 gals. I am currently running a fluval submersible filter rated for up to 20 gals. Is this filter suitable for adfs or is there a better alternative for filtration? I do have a NIB Marineland Bio-Wheel HOB filter (the same type of filter I used for my past adfs) also rated for 20 gals which I planned to use but was concerned about too much water movement at the surface.

When I had my adfs many years ago, I only had 2 in a 10 gal. I've found mixed opinions as far as a general rule of thumb for number of frogs per tank. My 30 gal has a footprint of about 36 L x 12 W. According to some websites I could house as many as 15-20 frogs in my tank which I think is absurd. I was thinking of starting with 4-6. Any thoughts?

My freezer is already stocked with bloodworms and I also plan on picking up a pelleted diet for frogs and some freeze-dried tubifex worms. I saw a vid of a pair of adfs lovin' a cube of tubifex worms. Any other suggestions for a varied diet?

I really appreciate your help! Thanks a bunch!!

-Steph

[Jenste]

Hi!
First off - ditch the freeze dried tubifex. They are known for causing constipation. Freeze-dried in general I would avoid all together. A great pelleted diet is HBH frog and tadpole bites.

I would say 6-10 frogs would be happy in this tank. Have lots of hiding places, water depth under 14 inches. Filtration is great, either one should be fine. You can use decorations such as tall pieces of driftwood and floating plants to disperse the flow.

Also, they like warmer water - - use a heater to keep the temperature in the higher 70*s F.

[sapo2201]

Thanks Jenste. I haven't gotten the tubifex worms yet so I'll just cross those off my list. I've run into another issue. I tested the old water in the tank before dumping it and starting fresh. This is what I got:

Ammonia: 4 ppm
Nitrate: 200+ ppm
Nitrite: 0 ppm
Hardness: 25 ppm
Alkalinity: 0 ppm
pH: 5

I retested the water after draining and refilling with my python and thoroughly cleaning the gravel twice. Here's the results:

Ammonia: 1 ppm
Nitrate: 0 ppm
Hardness: 300 ppm
Alkalinity: 140 ppm
pH: 7.8

All ideal, aside from the ammonia.

I was concerned that there was still some ammonia in the water (I used a double dose of prime like I've done with all of my fish tanks) and that the water was still cloudy after several hours. When I got up this morning I expected the water to have cleared up, which it didn't. I tested the water params again this morning...

Ammonia: 0.5 ppm(yay!)
Nitrate: 10 ppm (yay again!)

here's where things get sticky..

Hardness: 150 ppm
Alkalinity:100 ppm
pH 7.2

What would cause the hardness, alkalinity, and pH to fall overnight? The cloudiness isn't a huge concern as I'm guessing its a bacterial bloom since the tank has been up for so long with a good bit of ammonia in it. I am re-using the gravel that I used for my turtles (now wishing that I hadn't). When the turtles were in the tank I'd notice air bubbles coming out of the gravel which I knew from having fish for years was no bueno. I've noticed a few more of those air bubbles come up when the gravel is disturb even after gravel vacc-ing and giving a good stir.

I was planning on picking up my ADFs today, but my water params have made me nervous...any thoughts on the situation? Sorry for the long-winded post :-).

-Steph

[Jenste]

How deep is the gravel that you are getting bubbles? I would say you need only a very thin layer. Personally, I would recommend bare bottom or sand substrate for ADF. They dive bomb after going up for air and gravel can be a sharp landing. Also, their food and waste can get trapped in the gravel, fouling up the water faster.

Substrate should be under an inch in depth - this will avoid gas bubbles forming.

As long as you are willing to do a partial water change daily to keep levels down during cycling, I see no harm in getting ADF today. I would do 30+% daily to be on the safe side.