Ammonia issues

[snobordnwifey]

I posted a couple months ago after one of our ACF's died. We still have one ACF and I'm having a really tough time controlling the ammonia in the tank. It almost always seems to be in the "dangerous" range. It's only in a semi-dangerous range when I do a full water change/mostly full water change. Even then, it still seems to have issues. I realize that it's not a great idea to do full water changes on a regular basis, though. It takes awhile for the tank to stabilize, right? I was sure he would die a few months ago after our other one died, but he's hung in there and seems to be quite active and happy now.

What can I do to help this water issue? I have taken out the rocks, thinking that the food was falling down into them and rotting (even though I had cleared out a spot so that the food would fall onto the bare tank floor). We now have sand as a substrate. Frog seems to be eating the food up when we feed it. We have a side filter (not sure what it's called). What else can I do to control the ammonia in this tank? It is a 10 gallon tank, but we only have one frog. I didn't realize we needed a bigger tank when we had the two frogs. I never realized that these little grow-a-frogs would grow to require so much more than the company we got them from told us. Nevertheless, I certainly want to take care of the little guy the way he deserves to be taken care of. So, can anyone help me here?

Froggy grandma to Freddy, formerly known as Summer

[mpmistr]

I posted a couple months ago after one of our ACF's died. We still have one ACF and I'm having a really tough time controlling the ammonia in the tank. It almost always seems to be in the "dangerous" range.

Danger range is any amount of ammonia over zero.

It's only in a semi-dangerous range when I do a full water change/mostly full water change. Even then, it still seems to have issues. I realize that it's not a great idea to do full water changes on a regular basis, though. It takes awhile for the tank to stabilize, right? I was sure he would die a few months ago after our other one died, but he's hung in there and seems to be quite active and happy now.

There is no semi-dangerous range. Any ammonia or nitrite present in a tank is toxic to a frog. Doing 100% water changes may be disrupting the cycling of your tank, also are you treating your water with a dechlorinator? I would recommend SeaChem's Prime because it is not only a dechlorinator and neutralizes heavy metals it ALSO bonds to ammonia transforms it into a much less lethal compound, ammonium.

What can I do to help this water issue? I have taken out the rocks, thinking that the food was falling down into them and rotting (even though I had cleared out a spot so that the food would fall onto the bare tank floor). We now have sand as a substrate. Frog seems to be eating the food up when we feed it. We have a side filter (not sure what it's called). What else can I do to control the ammonia in this tank? It is a 10 gallon tank, but we only have one frog. I didn't realize we needed a bigger tank when we had the two frogs. I never realized that these little grow-a-frogs would grow to require so much more than the company we got them from told us. Nevertheless, I certainly want to take care of the little guy the way he deserves to be taken care of. So, can anyone help me here?

Froggy grandma to Freddy, formerly known as Summer

Sounds like this tank needs to cycle. Having a bare or sand bottom will help with keeping the tank clean but still, you need to cycle this tank. The reason you have ammonia is because the nitrification process has not kicked in that breaks NH3 (Ammonia) down into NO2 (Nitrite) which is then broken down into NO3 (Nitrate) which can be controlled via partial water changes.

I found myself in the same boat you did, I got into frogs and I didn't cycle my tank and I had ammonia present. Luckily I didn't lose any frogs but the tank was a single froglet ACF in 20 gallons and I did a lot of partial water changes. What I would do (and what may have saved my frogs) was I found a friend who had some -used- filter media from a cycle tank and put it in my filter and let it run for a week. Transferring over some beneficial bacteria from another tank jump started my tank and got it fully cycled fast.

I use this method to jump start new tanks, I keep 3 HOB filters on my 20G (I've since moved my frogs to a 40 gallon breeder) running all the time to keep the BB in case I want to start a new tank or lend some BB out to help a friend starting a tank.

Hope this helps.

[snobordnwifey]

So you are saying find someone who has an aquarium and will allow me to use some their filtering materials? What exactly does it mean to "cycle" a tank? Obviously I'm new to all this. Thank you for your help, btw. I really appreciate it. I feel terrible that I have no idea what I'm doing. I certainly don't want our frog to suffer because of my lack of experience.

[snobordnwifey]

And yes, we are using a dechlorinator. I believe we are using something called Start Right. I think I also have some enzyme type stuff that I have put in in the past, but haven't recently. Would that help? I think it may be stresszyme or something like that.

[mpmistr]

What cycling a tank means is that your aquarium has developed enough 'beneficial bacteria' (which I will refer to as "BB") to break down the waste your frog creates making it a safe environment for him to inhabit. When your frog poops it creates Ammonia (as do fish), the Ammonia is toxic but when BB is present it will break this toxic substance down into Nitrite, however Nitrite is even more deadlier than Ammonia and it is even further broken down into Nitrates. Nitrates are toxic but to a MUCH lesser degree and can be kept low (under 20ppm is optimal) by weekly water changes.

African Clawed Frogs are sensitive to water quality, perhaps not as much as some fish but it's still deadly to them and can kill them (or weaken their immune systems to allow opportunistic bacterial infections set in, such as red leg).

The best place for this bacteria to develop is in the media of your filter (never clean a filter media in tap water, the chlorine will kill the bacteria).

Long story short, it takes time to cycle an aquarium. Since your frog is already present I feel your best bet is to jump-start it with used filter media, that is filter media from a healthy well established tank and has been kept moist and the BB has not died out. I would avoid 'magical potions' sold by fish stores as these do more harm than good, you just need a dechlorinator to remove the chlorine and heavy metals from your tap, period.

This article may help: Establishing Biological Cycling in Freshwater Systems

Have you considered moving your frog into a larger tank? The solution to pollution is dilution, after all. The more water your frog has to frolic in the less toxic the water will be. 10 gallons really is the bare minimum for these frogs, they are much happier and healthier in larger aquariums. A 20 gallon long aquarium would be pretty ideal for a single frog.

I know PetCo runs really sweet deals on 40 gallon breeders and lower, $1 per gallon. Just a thought.

[snobordnwifey]

Thanks Michael. That was very helpful. I have put out a call for help on FB and if I don't get any responses, I will go to the aquarium store to see if they can help me. I'm a little hesitant on that one because who knows what kind of stuff they've got going on in their tanks, though.

[Heatheranne]

Check to see what type of filter you have. I would recommend a good bio filter. Biofilters with have an extra pad in them for good bacteria to grow on. This will help. Beneficial bacteria will also grow amongst any gravel within the tank, but a bio filter is best.

When starting up a brand new tank, I like to let it cycle for a good 6 weeks. I start it with a fish or two (nothing expensive because they sometimes do not make it through) to start the nitrogen process. Works well. In general, this is just a waiting time. Weekly partial water changes keep the levels down slightly, but you actually want the cycle to take place. Once the cycling has taken place the nitrogenous wastes can be broken down by the good bacteria, and your tank can handle more guests. Partial water changes will still be needed, but the good bacteria have multiplied and are ready to do their job .

I would keep your frog in fresh dechlorinated water, changed daily until your tank cycles. He is likely toxic. How is he today?