Transferring tanks, cycling time, frog tolerance, water testing, etc

[0h hey]

Ok, so hi everyone I just joined the forum today
I have had two african clawed frogs for a couple of years now. One is named Astro, a male, and the other is Olive, a female. They breed about once a month but I don't want any more frogs so I just leave their eggs to be eaten. The male sings a lot and they always look pretty content- just hanging out in their little flower pot homes.
I don't actively monitor water conditions in their current aquarium, an 8 gallon bioOrb. When I set it up I had no idea about cycling a tank or anything and killed many fish, I did not have the frogs yet at that time. After the fish died I just gave up and let the tank sit fish free because it's pretty and I guess that's how my tank got cycled without me knowing it. One day I bought the frogs and dropped them in and here we are today.

My frogs are all grown up now and I'm moving them to a 20 gallon. The 20 gallon is currently set up and I am kind of learning this cycling thing as I go along. It has sand substrate, one anubias plant, a piece of driftwood and a little cave. It has been sitting for about 4 days. Wednesday is when I planted the anubias and I also added some stress zyme. Last night I added a block of brine shrimp to seed the tank. Today I added some of the filter media from their bioOrb (ceramic rocks that doubled as the substrate in the old tank) to help boost the process even more. Astro and Olive are still in their bioOrb waiting patiently (more patient than me) for their new home to be ready.

Of course this is the longest I have ever kept anything alive in an aquarium and I have gotten quite attached to my hardy little warriors. I want to do everything right this time!

My actual questions are-
Do I even need to do fishless/frogless cycling for this new tank? I have done full water changes, with untreated well water, and they've made it through that.
Their bioOrb usually has visible bacterial blooms and they seem getting along fine- am I a terrible person for not doing anything about this?
Should I invest in a water testing kit to track the cycle and monitor ammonia and nitrite/nitrate levels?

I have allowed myself to be comfortably ignorant in the past but I dropped a good amount of money on their new tank and I want to make it perfect for them.
Any advice is appreciated!

[Jenste]

I would move them immediately into the 20 gallon and keep up with water changes - the 8 gallon tank they are living, especially orb shaped, is just not big enough for 2 adult frogs.

I would invest in a kit, API has a really decent one. Don't use the paper test strips as they are very inaccurate and can make you feel as if all is well when in fact things are going to hell in a handbasket

So move your frogs to the new tank and just keep doing water changes - - even 1/4 a tank daily will be fine as long as you are consistent.

[rodsboys]

I agree with Jenna, transfer them now. Bag up the rest of the old media and shove it into the new filter too.

[Collegekid]

Mine handle cycling fine, just keep up with the partial water changes! A testing kit is a good idea, I like the API one.

[0h hey]

Thanks for the replies!
I moved them into their new tank today. I tested the water and the ammonia is still up there around 1 ppm (according to a liquid test). The PH is beyond crummy too (according to test strip) but they are doing ok. I have at least been showing some nitrates (test strip again).
They were more spooked by the new lighting it seems. They calmed down once we turned off their tank light and some surrounding lights in our apt. Hopefully after a night of getting used to the tank they will be less alarmed when I turn it back on in the morning. I have some live plants I want them to get some light.
They haven't been in a tank with corners since they were froglets. They are so used to swimming around in circles. That sounds kinda sad but at least they never bumped their noses!

I have one more question- the water I'm using is city water so I usually give it two days for the chlorine to dissipate. I let it sit in 1 gallon containers. I only have five of them though. If needed I can buy a couple more jugs of spring water. I have read in other places that the water may be dechlorinated after less than 24 hours of sitting out- is this true? If so I can go ahead with another water change tomorrow instead of waiting till Wednesday.

Thanks for the advice- it is great having so many experienced ACF owners in one place to learn from.

[Kristen87]

Thanks for the replies!
I moved them into their new tank today. I tested the water and the ammonia is still up there around 1 ppm (according to a liquid test). The PH is beyond crummy too (according to test strip) but they are doing ok. I have at least been showing some nitrates (test strip again).
They were more spooked by the new lighting it seems. They calmed down once we turned off their tank light and some surrounding lights in our apt. Hopefully after a night of getting used to the tank they will be less alarmed when I turn it back on in the morning. I have some live plants I want them to get some light.
They haven't been in a tank with corners since they were froglets. They are so used to swimming around in circles. That sounds kinda sad but at least they never bumped their noses!

I have one more question- the water I'm using is city water so I usually give it two days for the chlorine to dissipate. I let it sit in 1 gallon containers. I only have five of them though. If needed I can buy a couple more jugs of spring water. I have read in other places that the water may be dechlorinated after less than 24 hours of sitting out- is this true? If so I can go ahead with another water change tomorrow instead of waiting till Wednesday.

Thanks for the advice- it is great having so many experienced ACF owners in one place to learn from.

Personally I've found the best way to cycle a tank is to limit water changes unless the readings are on the very highest end of the scale, while using a product like stress zyme or Prime which detoxifies the ammonia/nitrites so that they are not harmful to the inhabitants. If you continually do water changes then the bacteria that you are trying to grow in the filter to naturally rid the tank of ammonia/nitrite will not grow as quickly because it will have no ammonia/nitrite to feed off so the whole cycle process will be extended. For me this makes it easier to monitor when your water has completed its nitrogen cycle too, as you will see a major spike in ammonia and this will then drop down and you will have a major spike in nitrites which will then also drop and then depending on the amount of live plants in your tank you will have some nitrates which will hopefully drop (plants will absorb the nitrates from the water). I know other people prefer to do daily water changes to make sure the chemistry is at a safe level but I find this isn't necessary if you are using a product to detoxify ammonia/nitrites while leaving them present in the water to assist in the growth of good bacteria in the filter media. This is just my personal opinion and what has worked for me though.

I'm not overly experienced with stress zyme but I know the product I use - Prime - removes chorine and chloramine so I just add that to my tap water so that I don't need to leave it sitting for any time and can pour it in straight away. You might want to read the bottle of yours and see if it does the same thing