Hello, New pixie owner

[Motob3000]

Hello,
I recently purchased an African Bullfrog from a local shop for $50.00. Pretty steep, but I wanted one and thought it might be best to support local business. I have had him(I hope) for about two weeks. He is currently setup in a 5 gallon with a heat pad on the side, coconut sub, large water dish, a 40w red bulb and a few fake plants. He has been eating dusted crickets and worms since I got him. He's a very aggressive feeder. Lately, I have to be careful when I clean his water bowl. He now dives at my hand, even if I fed him recently. He seems very healthy and on Dec. 29 weighed 22 gr. I will weigh him again in a week and post the results.

I got lucky and found a 40 gal. breeder tank for $40(new). I plan on doing a 50/50,60/40, 70/30, water/land setup with plants, canister filter(fluval 105), water heater, etc. I would also like to have the water deep enough for a few fish. I just want them there for decoration and as a possible food source. I calculated that I would have about 15 gallons and a depth of 7-8". Is this too deep for him? What if I put a rock or rocks at depth of 3-4" or wherever his comfort level is..? Are there any benefits to keeping fish in the tank?

I know there is a lot of info on this forum and it has helped me so much in setting up and caring for my African Bullfrog. Very curious about sex, I am guessing/hoping male because of his aggressive feeding but I have no baseline to compare.

Any input or opinions are highly appreciated.

Thanks,


Last but not least I would like to find a glass or metal lid that will house two lights, one with light for plants and frogs, and one red bulb for heat. Trying to heat the cage as efficiently as possible and I understand a heater in the water section will help maintain the terrariums temperature

[Mikey]

Hello sir congrats on your new pixie!

Let me first say the pixie you got is indeed an adspersus or giant so no worries in that department! He is very nice looking as well. Coco fiber or eco earth is the perfect substrate.

-The aggression you are seeing is perfectly normal for a growing pixie. From my experience I have noticed much more bold aggression for food from my growing males than my females but that is a complete guess based on experience as your pixie is too young to tell. Either way don't be nervous around him, if ur gonna clean his cage just reach in behind him with ur hand flat and grab him, he won't grab u unless u dangle ur fingers in a hesitant way in from of his face.

- As for a 50/50 or 60/40 mix of water and dry this is possible, but I completely avoid it for many reasons. Ammonia levels in the water, even with proper canister filtration will become extremely high from defication and urination. Not to mention the strain that your filter will have to suck water from a lowered level (8-9" of water). Not sure if you have witnessed defication from an adult pixie, but its a little different than a fish! an immediate water change is going to have be done no matter what!. I used straight eco earth (coco) with a water dish that is large enough for the frog to easiliy get in and out of. Out of the 20 or so adults I have, I might clean of poo from the actual eco earth once a month? it is very uncommon for my frogs to NOT deficate in their water bowls. I'd say 98% of the time I simply grab the bowl, and dump it into the toilet. They are essentially water bowl trained. Back to the 50/50 set up, heating it poses a problem as well. Your frog is going to want to spend the majority of its time in the water side, which makes heating incredibly difficult because for proper digestion you will probly have to heat the water unless you have rather warm ambient temps from your house. I keep all my frogs at 82-84 warm end, 76 every where else. Needless to say the 50/50 idea is such an awesome idea! but I do not use it because my frogs sitting in their own ammonia scares me. ( Oh and 8-9 inches is too deep, aim for the frog to not have to strain to have its chin above the water, thats the best rule of thumb for water depth, a full grown pixie may not be 8-9 inches tall!). A heater in the water section scares me as well.

-I'd aim to have a glass or plexi glass top to keep heat and humidity in it will save you a lot of trouble!.

-Heating the tank with an above tank heat emitter would be your best bet, or possibly a heat pad on the side of the tank (not on the bottom because they can burrow and burn themselves)

-Crickets are great to feed to pixies, I just prefer earth worms . You can buy them from walmart for 3 bucks a container (20 worms) and it is a very cost efficient, easy way to feed young pixies and they absolutely love it. I have fed some of my frogs earth worms from quarter size to 2-3 lbs and have never had to add any type of suppliment.

http://www.frogforum.net/african-bul...caresheet.html :::: this caresheet provided as a sticky on the top of this forum section is the best compiled info on ABF I have ever seen and would be an excellent read for you when you have some down time!

Hope I could help!

[En333]

Welcome to the forum!

[Motob3000]

Thanks Mike for all the helpful information. I thought 8-9" was too deep. I think I will use a piece of plexi glass with holes drilled in it and make a platform that will cover the water area and sit in at an adjustable depth. I can adjust it as he grows. I will install the heater so it is 6" below the frog. That's a good way to keep him away from it. I understand the simplicity and effectiveness of using a plastic bowl that can be dumped in the toilet and flushed. Probably doesn't get much more cost effective than that. However, when I got the frog I was looking forward to creating a little eco system for him. I'm still in the planning stages so we will see what happens after I put the tank together. It could be too much hassle and expense. I figure I can remove the larger peices of waste with a net and remove/replace a portion of the dirty water daily to keep the ammonia concentration to a minimum. Sometimes I change my frogs dish twice a day or more. Somedays I dont have the time to change it three times a day.

I think I will pick up some earth worms next time I go by walmart. Crickets at Petco were .14 cents a piece! Thanks Again for your help and information. I will update this post on Jan. 6 with his new weight as well as some pictures.

Thanks,
Ben

[Mentat]

Welcome to Frog Forum and congrats on new African Bullfrog! If you look around on this section can find other's mixed water/dry set-ups. A few points mostly based on my aquarium experience.

- No fish recommended; they are just a source of disease and parasites.

- Ammonia is only a problem in an unfiltered or new set-up filter tank. Once nitrifying bacteria colonize the filter's biological section the bacteria will reduce ammonia into nitrites (1/2 as bad) and then nitrates (not bad unless very concentrated (more than 50 PPM). You then lower nitrates with weekly water changes (% depending on your tank and frog size). Can get a nitrates test kit if interested in tracking your actual levels and adjust water changes accordingly. Normally it takes around a month to get a good colony established in system. Can reduce that to around a week with a commercial product like Seachem's Stability. Do not recommend products that will lower ammonia, since they will sequester nitrites from your bacteria colony and starve them to death, resulting in biological system crashes. There are products that state will instantly cycle a tank (i.e. Biospira) but they are $$$. Have to do partial daily water changes until your ammonia level stays at zero. Do use a good water conditioner for starting your tank and all water changes.

- Your filter (canister right?) should work OK and as long as you keep lower than tank (floor level if tank is in stand), gravity will provide water flow to it. Starting the flow might take a bit of work due to tanks low water level but it's doable. When changing water do rinse your filter media in removed tanks water (tap will kill good bacteria) and do not replace all media at the same time. I do not use carbon (too aggressive removing stuff from water) unless removing medicine in my fish tanks; but that is up to you. Do rinse it well because it's powder is an irritant.

- Do estimate the actual volume of water in set-up and then get a heater recommended for that volume (not for tanks total volume). There are many out there but in my opinion; can't go wrong with an Eheim. They are sturdy, totally submersible and highly efficient. Set it up so frog can't reach it and route electric cable so frog can't bite it.

Good luck!

[Motob3000]

Mentat,
Thank you for all of your specific information. I know there are a lot of things I still need to learn and when I set up my breeder tank I can refer to the information you provided me. I have put feeder fish in his bowl before, but they didn't last long. Sounds like they dont have any business in a abf tank. I just weighed the little guy today. Last week was 22gr. He now weighs 50gr! Including a pic I took right after weigh in.

Thanks again for the helpful information.

[Mentat]

Mentat,
Thank you for all of your specific information. I know there are a lot of things I still need to learn and when I set up my breeder tank I can refer to the information you provided me. I have put feeder fish in his bowl before, but they didn't last long. Sounds like they dont have any business in a abf tank. I just weighed the little guy today. Last week was 22gr. He now weighs 50gr! Including a pic I took right after weigh in.

Thanks again for the helpful information.

You are welcome; glad to be of help! Yep, their growth rate is phenomenal. Got Stilgar, my ABF, back in November 10 at close to 2 in. and nearing two months later it's reaching 6 in. SVL!

[Motob3000]

- Ammonia is only a problem in an unfiltered or new set-up filter tank. Once nitrifying bacteria colonize the filter's biological section the bacteria will reduce ammonia into nitrites (1/2 as bad) and then nitrates (not bad unless very concentrated (more than 50 PPM). You then lower nitrates with weekly water changes (% depending on your tank and frog size). Can get a nitrates test kit if interested in tracking your actual levels and adjust water changes accordingly. Normally it takes around a month to get a good colony established in system. Can reduce that to around a week with a commercial product like Seachem's Stability. Do not recommend products that will lower ammonia, since they will sequester nitrites from your bacteria colony and starve them to death, resulting in biological system crashes. There are products that state will instantly cycle a tank (i.e. Biospira) but they are $$$. Have to do partial daily water changes until your ammonia level stays at zero. Do use a good water conditioner for starting your tank and all water changes.

- Your filter (canister right?) should work OK and as long as you keep lower than tank (floor level if tank is in stand), gravity will provide water flow to it. Starting the flow might take a bit of work due to tanks low water level but it's doable. When changing water do rinse your filter media in removed tanks water (tap will kill good bacteria) and do not replace all media at the same time. I do not use carbon (too aggressive removing stuff from water) unless removing medicine in my fish tanks; but that is up to you. Do rinse it well because it's powder is an irritant.

Good luck!

I ran my tank setup with a fluval 206 for about two weeks prior to adding him to the tank for the reasons you mentioned above. I have been doing daily water changes removing about 2.5 gallons of water and replacing it with treated clean water. Except for the substrate the water seems very clean.

When I was using a water dish and it was dirty. I noticed my African Bullfrog would avoid it and choose to bury himself. If there is a problem with the water in the tank are there any telltale signs? Will Diesel avoid the water if its not good for him?
Thanks again Carlos!