Mold - A danger or problem?

[Hoppity100]

You have a habitat like mine! I clean my water often and use the net to skim out bugs and any dirt. What kind of substrate do you have and is there anything else in your tank where you see mold? Do you have algae? If you have wood under water I'd put it up high enough so its out of the water. I have a wood log that is sitting on rocks and its not in the water. I would clean your water more and remove anything that absorbs water. Hope this helps.

[Gnag the nameless]

Really? I'd like to see your habitat. What kind of frogs do you keep in it?

I clean my water a lot too, but the filter does help a lot. I've not any algae in the tank currently, though I was thinking of getting real plants other than the moss. I use smooth rocks for everything, and moss covers most of the wood and land area, though the land area is small and the frogs never go onto land. And yes, the wood is in the water. It forms a nice cave for the frogs. I don't really want to move it, either, my frogs would freak out. It's the only hiding space they use.

Here's some photo's of the updated tank, the earlier photo of the tank tank is outdated. I just added the moss and more plants yesterday, actually.


Notice the flashlight, water conditioner, cricket quencher and diet in front of the tank.

A view of the side. Sorry for the light, it's due to the UVB lamp.

The corner. Hopefully, the frogs will bask here now. That watery area is actually an entrance to the cave.

The cave entrance. The middle of the log is actually hollowed out, so they have a reliable source of air, which means they can stay in the cave the whole day, partially submerged, in a dark spot, and air. They only come out to bask at daytime. Nighttime is a whole different story.

This is a photo I took of Gnag with the flashlight. The frogs will hunt during the "evening" [when I turn off the UVB lamp and turn on the dimmer incandescent light across the room] and finish hunting when I turn off the light. Then they'll swim around for the whole night. That's the time to get photo's. Gnag is often calm, and doesn't swim away when I'm taking photo's. Bumpy is a different story. Move too fast, too loud, she'll swim like a bullet into the cave. My goal for the end of this month is to get a nighttime photo of her. Not going to be easy.

[Hoppity100]

Thanks for writing and posting pics! You have a more fancy tank set-up than mine. Mine is easy and I like building all the decorations, and at different levels. I have hiding places, cave, wood log above water, plants, heater. Months ago I read that someone had a fogging machine, don't recall the frog type but all I could picture was some big machine the size of a buick. I have the easiest remedy: to create humidity I cover part of my tank with clear plastic wrap and I get instant humidity. I have done this during winter, summer will be different. I don't see a need to buy a fogger. This might be needed for a frog other than a FB, but my method works ok. I am on a budget and what happened is: I was in a pet store one day looking and they put FB's in with RCC's. Well, the tank was very poor for frogs: only 1 hiding place, no plants, no rocks, no caves. To make it worse they had a gravel bottom. It was like someone would not even make the effort to create a better habitat when they could have. I rescued the FB's but bad thing is, they'll continue keeping frogs this way. I would not house them with crabs!

I care for other pets and have 3 tanks. My frog tank is by a window (but no algae, its winter) and they get to feel sun. If its warm I can crack a window open so they get outside air. If its cold I can cover the top which creates humidity and close drapes at night. I feed mine crickets and alternate with wax and meal worms. I spent 2 hours today cleaning then re-arranging their tank. So, I rotate myself among 3 tanks (other is fish and hermits) and care for a dog and cats, oh and possum family and squirrels. I find pets very fulfilling, always have. Do you have more pets?

[Gnag the nameless]

It was my pleasure, I love talking about my frogs and showing their tank to people

I'm trying to add more hiding places, currently, without really disrupting the environment. No luck so far except the moss clearing between the leaves in the corner, and neither frog has utilized that yet.

I just spray the moss and leaves with de-chlorinated water from a sprayer, and that works fine. But they're Bullfroglets, so it might be different for FBT's [I'm actually uncertain what Bumpy is. She's smaller, has a narrower nose, and doesn't look too much like your average Bullfroglet. But she's had no problem living beside Gnag.]

I've seen bad petstores, one where they over-sprayed a baby pacman's tank with water, another where they used woodchips with White's Tree frogs. Ugh, I don't go to either of those places anymore. But keeping FBT's with crabs! That's risking both of the animals lives! The FBT's could poison the crabs whilst the crabs could attack the FBT's!

In terms of frogs, I've only Gnag and Bumpy, currently. But I plan on getting another Ranid, maybe a Red-legged frog or Wood frog. I would get a Crawfish frog if I knew where to find them. I love Ranid's, they're my favorite kind of frog, and someday, I'd love to be the Frog Forum expert on Ranids.

My frogs don't have access to sunlight, but they have a UVB lamp, so I suppose that compensates for it. I feed my frogs gut-loaded crickets and earthworms on occasion, though once it is late-spring, I'll start buying earthworms again. My family also has 2 cats, Osiris, a Bombay cat and Flopsy, a Calico-Tabby mix. Despite the fact they belong to my brother and sister, I'm usually the one who cares for them. I have had 4 Dwarf Hamsters in the past, the last one passed away 1 1/2 years ago. I've also successfully kept a Woodbug farm when I was younger [I eventually had to let them all go because the tub I was keeping them in was getting overcrowded]. Oh, and I have a spare 2.5 Gallon, 10 Gallon, and 20 Gallon, all of them I have little use for. I'm saving up for a 55G for Gnag, and I'm either going to keep Bumpy, or give her to a trusted friend who has volunteered to adopt her when she gets too big.

[Gnag the nameless]

Ah, so many posts!

Hoppity100,

The frogs, in their natural environment, had lots of submerged wood where I caught them, and the frogs there thrive, so I doubt submerged wood will hurt them. [They are indeed WC, but since they are invasive frogs, you're supposed to kill any you catch. Instead, me and my friend let them go, except for Gnag and Bumpy, of whom I decided to keep on my birthday.]

Bill,

I second you on that. Mold breaks down things, and as much as the filter will do me good, the bio-filter which is partially compromised of the mold will help keep the tank clean as well.

[Hoppity100]

You took them from the wild? Do you have pet stores? Are you going to keep them? I keep my wood dry so it can't get gooey or grow fuzz. The frogs in the wild may live under wood but I would think since they are in open air and get sun plus get to hop away as they please, they are not confined with wood that is affected. No, submerged wood shouldn't unless it has stuff growing on it. What are invasive frogs? Do you mean overpopulation or destructive?

[Hoppity100]

A filter should help alot but I change my water then skim it with a net. I'm picky about having frogs be in clear water, which I like for them.