my frog ate gravel help

[mpmistr]

I tried to reply this morning but the comp was acting up, no your not a bad frog mom, we all have issues from time to time that we can't help. When I decided to rescue BudUgly I researced substrate and read about them eating gravel, and then thought about the sand and how much of a pain it would be to clean his tank, so I got river rock. the smooth stones in baggies you can buy. so much easier to clean & he doean't harm himself on them and he can't eat these either.

I use sand in my aquarium and I don't find it difficult to clean. It's actually a little easier since there is no junk that can fall into the substrate, I just hover the gravel vac over the sand and it sucks right up.

[SailAwayAK]

You could try making a pea/worm burrito. I have seen a worm head cut off and then using a syringe stuff some squished peas inside.

[PHYSCODELIC63]

I don't have a vac, I just scoop water out and I get so far and put the container down and Bud ugly just swims right in & I continue to empty the rest with another container. I can clean it in about 8 min

[Jenste]

You should look into a gravel vacuum.
Waste and left over food particles are heavier than water particles so they settle at the bottom of the tank. Removing just the top layer of water is not properly cleaning your tank and leaves vast amounts of decomposing particles at the bottom which have a negative impact on water quality.

They are cheap and extremely easy to use and greatly reduce water changing efforts. They even have the ones that hook right to your sink which drain the dirty water out of the tank and right down the drain and then with a flip of a switch it pumps fresh water right into the tank. All you need to do is add the decholorinator right to the tank.

[mpmistr]

You should look into a gravel vacuum.
Waste and left over food particles are heavier than water particles so they settle at the bottom of the tank. Removing just the top layer of water is not properly cleaning your tank and leaves vast amounts of decomposing particles at the bottom which have a negative impact on water quality.

They are cheap and extremely easy to use and greatly reduce water changing efforts. They even have the ones that hook right to your sink which drain the dirty water out of the tank and right down the drain and then with a flip of a switch it pumps fresh water right into the tank. All you need to do is add the decholorinator right to the tank.

I may want to add that since I've switched to sand substrate I've noticed a few things..

First of all, gravel vacuum and water changes REALLY should be done once a week, the waste that accumulates is rather astonishing, and I hand feed my frogs reptomin to make sure they all get the same amount (which literally causes ZERO food waste).

I have -froglets- as in ACF that are maybe 1.5 inches at best and they are HUGE POOPERS. These guys really have a heavy bioload even as tiny frogs. I cannot even imagine how much that bioload is on ADULT ACF. These guys put out more waste than even a Goldfish and that's another reason I would not keep ACF with Goldfish, they're both incredible waste producers... the amount of water you need to keep that ecosystem clean is very high.. you would seriously need a 125 gallon+ tank to mix ACF with Goldfish..

So if any of you guys do not vacuum and do a 25% water change weekly I highly recommend you start, it makes a huge difference. As for water conditioner I recommend Prime, it kills chlorine and ammonia, it's good stuff.

[FrogLover2009]

Everyone here has given some great advice. Let me say that you are not a bad frog mom. Nobody is perfect. Not even animals. We do what we can to care for them and maintain them. They are just like children. They put things in their mouth that is not supposed to be there but it should be fine as long as you get some bigger rock to use that it cant fit in its mouth. I use big rocks that it can hide under and lay on. Your doing fine. Don't be so hard on yourself. --FrogLover2009