FBT's and small fish? Good or bad? Your Views!

[Ribbity]

I was considering putting a couple of fish in with my FBT's viv, but am in two minds about it? what are your views?

Ribbit

[Surrealasm]

First of all, what type of fish? That makes a huge difference.

Second of all, know that you're going to need some kind of hella filtration system to make this work. The FBTs have some kind of toxic secretions from glands in their skin. That is going to pollute the water like crazy. SO not only are you now managing your Ammonia, Nitrite, and Nitrate levels, you've also got chemical X in the mix.

All in All I'd say it would be safest not to try it out. I would worry for your fish more than your frogs for sure.

However, if you have something large, let's say a 50 gal or so, and it's got a riparium set up, where the frogs have plenty of moist on-land options and the fish have a seperate water-area, that could actually work out. You'd probably be able to do water changes before Chemical X built up to lethal amounts. But once again, I'm not sure if there are very many people out there who know the effects of FBT toxin on fish.

[ApxWingman]

I have read many different forums about this, and I am currently building a new tank where I will be introducing fish into the mix. As long as you have a good filter, and do regular water changes then you should be fine. As long as there is no build up of toxins. Make sure to keep a close eye on the fish and the ammonia levels and you should be ok.

[Eight]

I was thinking about this yesterday and came to the no conclusion. I'm on expert, and I don't even have any FBTs. I'm trying to get my first enclosure set up for some of these little guys and I've come across a few nuggets of info. First they secrete toxins as mentioned above.I've read in places that this takes place when they feel threatened, but that could easily be wrong and could be a constant thing. The other nugget I found was that they prefer still water (or as close as you can get to it with a filter).

So for my enclosure set up it would be a definite no. I wish to keep the water a little more shallow and as still as I can while filtering it, which would be impossible if I were trying to filter the toxins from the water, especially with it being only a few inches deep.

Of course your setup will most likely be different, and I would imagine the water would be easier to keep toxin free if you had a larger volume of water, as you could get away with a stronger filter and with more water the toxins wouldn't be as concentrated as they would be in a smaller volume.

I'm sorry if any of this is incorrect but it's an educated conclusion. For me, I won't try this until I know the fish will be fine without any added stress to the toads.

Sam