Thinking of getting a clawed frog... Couple questions

[DVirginiana]

Hi,

I've been looking into getting an African clawed frog. I am not a stranger to amphibians or reptiles, but if I end up picking this frog up it'll be my first aquatic amphibian. I try to stay away from buying petstore amphibians, but the one I'm looking at isn't from a chain store, and the setups they have for pacs and tomato frogs are spot-on. So I'm not worried about getting an unhealthy frog.

I recently dealt with the death of a much-loved goldfish. However, I do not want all my aquarium equipment to go to waste, and I'm keeping it running so the nitrogen cycle doesn't get thrown off since it took me months to get it right to begin with. I've been doing some research and I'm thinking my setup would be alright for an African clawed frog or two...

It's a 20 gallon long, with a thermometer and heater that I'd keep between 75-80. Right now all I have are some weighted cloth plants and a fake leafless tree-trunk hide, but I would get some large river stones and more hidey places before I put anything in there. For food, I keep nightcrawlers around, and I can easily obtain bloodworms and crickets. I dislike feeding anything pellet food if I can help it...
I raise garters, so there's a decent chance I'll have a feeder guppy tank started up in a year or two.

Right now, I have an air stone, a 150gallon biowheel filter (not a lot of water disturbance surprisingly) and a 50 gallon tetra filter in the tank.

NOW

My questions are: What level of filtration is okay for these guys? I figure not as much as for a fish, but I would like to use a filter, because I don't like using live plants in aquariums.
How many can I keep in a 20 gallon long? If one would be lonely, I'd consider getting two if that's okay size-wise.
What are the necessary water parameters (nitrates, pH, nitrites, ammonia, ect) for these frogs?


One more question; are these frogs prone to many health problems? I've heard they're hardy, but after what just happened with my fish I'm looking for something a bit less fragile.

[mpmistr]

It's a 20 gallon long, with a thermometer and heater that I'd keep between 75-80.

Too warm for X. Laevis, shoot for 68F to 72F, ditch the heater they don't need it if your house temperature does not go below 68F and they're prone to burning themselves on heaters anyways.

Right now all I have are some weighted cloth plants and a fake leafless tree-trunk hide, but I would get some large river stones and more hidey places before I put anything in there.

These are fine, though your frog will enjoy real plants. I would suggest water sprite (indian fern) since they really get the most benefit from floating plants and it will help with your water quality too. Also makes frogs less prone to attempt escape, for some reason.

For food, I keep nightcrawlers around, and I can easily obtain bloodworms and crickets. I dislike feeding anything pellet food if I can help it...
I raise garters, so there's a decent chance I'll have a feeder guppy tank started up in a year or two.

Nightcrawlers are fine. Bloodworms appear to carry risks (bloat), I personally feed my ACF frogs crickets as treats, on a rare occasion. Reptomin is fine for pellet food, though there are better quality pellets out there for sure. I would avoid guppies since one guppy with disease or a parasite will put your frog at risk, just not worth it.

Right now, I have an air stone, a 150gallon biowheel filter (not a lot of water disturbance surprisingly) and a 50 gallon tetra filter in the tank.

Unless the tank becomes a turbulent whirlpool, there is no such thing as too much filtration.

My questions are: What level of filtration is okay for these guys? I figure not as much as for a fish, but I would like to use a filter, because I don't like using live plants in aquariums.

Read above. These guys are poop machines and actually need more filtration than a goldfish. The more filtration, the better. Just don't make it to where there's a ton of turbulence, it will stress the frog. Not sure what you have against plants, water sprite is low maintenance and will seriously enrich your frogs habitat, the simplest of aquarium lights will keep it alive and it grows fast.

How many can I keep in a 20 gallon long? If one would be lonely, I'd consider getting two if that's okay size-wise.

I'd go for two frogs maximum in a 20 gallon long, others may disagree. I personally keep 3 in a 40B, I don't think I'd add more frogs than that. I like to give them all as much space as possible. If you get a single frog, that's fine. They do not get lonely, but they don't mind other ACF. They seem sociable enough but your biggest concern with multiple frogs is that they are roughly the same size because large frogs will make meals out of smaller frogs if it's possible. I would suggest deciding on one or two frogs right off the bat or you will have to purchase a frog of similar size or place one in a grow out tank until it's large enough for cohabitation with the other frog.

What are the necessary water parameters (nitrates, pH, nitrites, ammonia, ect) for these frogs?

Ammonia and Nitrite is extremely toxic, there is no safe amount. If anyone tells you it's okay to see Ammonia/Nitrite above ZERO PPM they are a fool. Nitrates around 20ppm is acceptable but the lower the better. You will always have some level of Nitrates in an ACF tank, weekly 25% water changes will keep them under control.

As far as pH goes these frogs can tolerate a pH of 6 to 8. A stable pH is best but Xenopus prefer hard, basic (alkaline) water. For my ACF aquarium I placed crushed coral in the filter media of my canister to buffer the water, keep the pH over 7 and add some carbonate hardness to the water. This of course is totally up to you, while X. Laevis do best in hard water they will certainly adapt to just about any pH in the 6-8 range, again the best pH is a stable pH.

One more question; are these frogs prone to many health problems? I've heard they're hardy, but after what just happened with my fish I'm looking for something a bit less fragile.

They are not prone to any real health issues so long as their basic needs are met.

Bad water conditions will cause dropsy, bloat, red leg and keeping the water too warm (over 75F) or too cold (under 68F) can weaken their immune systems (or cause stroke if the water is over 80F). Over feeding can also cause obvious health issues, feed adults only every 2-3 days. Small growing frogs can be fed daily but don't let them get too fat.

They are prone to jumping and escaping and cannot survive out of the water for more than a few hours, perhaps 24hrs at most so many frogs are lost due to this so a lid is a MUST. Again I know this from personal experience as I almost lost one of my frogs after he squeezed through a 1/2 inch gap in the lid, they are really good at escaping so always be vigilant, I would REALLY suggest a glass lid and having the back end plastic cut to EXACTLY fit your filters and fill gaps with tape or saran-wrap.

Overall these are very hardy animals and can live 15+ years in captivity.

[MatthewM1]

Mpmistr has got you covered with some great info.

For temps the best way I've heard it described is that if your house is at a temp where you are comfortable than your ACF is probably comfortable

If you are worried about escapes keep the water level several inches away from the top of the tank. I dont even use a lid on mine and I've never had an issue.

Nightcrawlers make a great staple. I know you would like to avoid pelleted food but they contain vitamins and what not the we would normally dust onto feeders for terrestrial phibs. You could still dust what you offer to them but most of it will just end up in the water. And well they love the pellets mine goes swimming up to the top waiting for her sticks when she hears us shake up the container. I feed mine a staple of reptomin floating sticks and offer either a nightcrawler or a dubia roach every now and then to vary it up. If you are breeding the guppies yourself then they will also make good feeders and im sure it would be fun to watch them try and chase them around. If you keep your guppies clean enough you feel comfortable feeding them to your snakes they are fie for your frog.

I probably wouldn't use the log hide unless it has smooth edges, the webbing on thier back feet tears very easily. So make sure you use silk plants if you opt for fake and any hides should have smooth edges. They have poor eye sight and won't really make use of intricate hides they make for fish, flower pots make wonderfull hides for these guys. My ACF's favorite "hide" is a Window cling penguin my girlfriend stuck on the front of the tank she sits next to it all the time.

For substrate river rocks work well you don't want anything like small pebbles because they will accidently eat it while scavenging for food.


Oh and your air stone is unnecessary it will just stress out your frog, they don't have gils, they surface and breath air.

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[DVirginiana]

Thanks for all the info!

I came here because I was getting really odd info just pulling up caresheets from the internet, saying that they could handle nitrates/nitrites and stuff, and that I shouldn't use filtration at all, and that just seemed off. They were also the places telling me about keeping the temps that high :P

As for the heater, it's an aquarium-safe heater (the kind that goes in the water and is safe for fish to bump into and stuff). Would that still burn them? I could set it to the appropriate temp, that way it would probably be off most of the time but if it happened to get too cold, I wouldn't have to worry about turning it on.

I may give live plants a try, especially if they're floating/surface plants. The reason I'm a bit paranoid about it is that I got one once that I thought I had cleaned properly, but it ended up introducing some sort of strange bug into my tank that took forever for me to get rid of :P Also, I had a goldfish at the time, and they would inevitably die after getting nibbled by the fish anyway.

If I get more than one, I'll be getting two at the same time, that are roughly the same size. It'll be a week or two though, so I have time to get their tank set up right.

Yeah, I used to have one of the goldfish with eyes that stuck out on the sides of her head and very long fins, so I'm used to monitoring hides/decorations for sharp edges or even points like are on the ends of fake leaves.

Good point about the pellets, I didn't even think about that. I'll pick up some of those.

[MatthewM1]

Theses guys are a lot of fun they are really verocious eaters. Mine is much more aggressive than my pacman, luckily they don't have teeth so if they nip you while hand feeding it just feels funny.

I also recommend keeping ghost shrimp in there, they help keep the tank clean and they make occasional snacks. They are pretty quick and can usually evade the frogs if there's enough room/hiding spots. My female lays eggs all the time and it's a pain to clean them up so I dumped in the shrimp and they have been devouring them

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[DVirginiana]

Theses guys are a lot of fun they are really verocious eaters. Mine is much more aggressive than my pacman, luckily they don't have teeth so if they nip you while hand feeding it just feels funny.

HA. Just thinking about hand-feeding my pac. She knows tongs mean food, so 99% of the time she ignores hands in her tank, but if she decided to chomp on my fingers I imagine there would be a lot of blood.

[MatthewM1]

Haha yeah I tong feed my pac too he never bothers my fingers but if those tongs get near his face he'll snap even if I'm just trying to move coco fiber away from his face, but I like hand feeding the ACF, been bitten by her a few times it's a weird slimy feeling

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[mpmistr]

FrogsArtNeale this is a good article regarding keeping these frogs in general. The information here is accurate.

Some key points I would comment on would be that heaters aren't really necessary as long as you keep your house at room temperatures in the low 70s. A heater is fine if you really need one in the winter and it has a plastic 'guard' on it. If you lived in a cold area and your house truly did get very cold I would use a heater with a guard. The biggest problem with heaters (besides these frogs are temperate and like water 68-72F) is that frogs tend to wedge themselves against objects to 'hide' and when they do that with heaters it winds up burning them slowly and they don't realize it before it's too late.

There are a lot of Xenopus sp. frogs.. some are tropical but X. Laevis is not, often care sheets confuse Hymenochirus (african dwarf frog, which IS a tropical species) with Xenopus Laevis and inform you to keep higher temperatures.

The need for a lid like Matthew said could be removed IF you lower the water down 4 inches or so. I personally do not have a very tall tank, my 40B is only 16" tall, if I had say, a 21"+ tank I would lower the water enough to prevent escape. Seeing as how you are planning on a 20G Long and that is also, not a very tall tank, I would lower the tank 2 inches from the surface and use a lid simply because two frogs will need all the water volume you can get to maintain proper water quality. I would also highly suggest if your budget allows, a canister filter. I like them a lot because they don't leave much gaps in lids and I feel like they work better than HOB filters, just my personal preference though.

Live plants, especially water sprite floating on the surface removes the need for caves and 'hides' they will use the plants for cover. They will also use the floating plants to rest and bask in. I believe this is what prevents escape attempts, I think these frogs really like to hang out and bask near the surface quite often and the inability to do so kind of freaks them out. My tank has water sprite, amazon frogbit, and duckweed (kind of a nuisance plant but with proper maintenance is awesome at sucking up nitrate). It creates a good 'cover' for these frogs, I believe it makes them feel safer, just a theory though.

The only 'hides' I have for my frogs is a piece of driftwood, they do use it at times, otherwise they just hide in the plants if they're ever startled.

Goldfish are voracious plant eaters. ACF are pretty neutral to plants, they will some times accidentally bite them but always spit them back out. If you introduce strange bugs to your tank I'm sure your frogs would just eat them lol.. You could give your plants a mild bleach dip (talking 1-2% here) that would remove any nasties.

I also keep ghost shrimp in my ACF tank, they seem to be diligent tank cleaners and they do hide/evade the frogs well enough, though I can say on a few occasions I've caught my frogs devouring them.

[SwimminSteve]

Looks like everyone has given you good info already. I would just add that a bare bottom tank is easier to maintain, especially if you are going to feed any sinking foods. And I would also recommend that you still offer a pelleted food as a staple. I use HBH frog and tadpole bites every few days and my frogs are robust and healthy (not fat though). Most of my frogs will only eat sinking or hand-fed food, but I have 2 that have figured out to come to the top for floating Reptomin. I also give feeder guppies as an occasional treat and sometimes frozen blood worms (every two months at most). I've been wanting to try earthworms for ages but I have trouble finding them.
Good luck! You sound like you'd make a great ACF owner.

[DVirginiana]

Thanks for the info, everybody

In regards to the heater, yes it's one of the ones with a plastic guard. Our apartment has really poor insulation, and our air conditioner has a tendency to **** out on us, so I like to have emergency heat options for all my reptiles/amphibians. The heater is one of the ones that self-monitors its own temp. So, like... If I set it to 64 degrees, it would only come on if the tank temp got below that. If that's still a bad idea it's obviously no problem to just take it out though.

I'll probably be back in a week or so with pictures of my tank. I'll get everything set up, and planted and everything. May go ahead and put in some ghost shrimp like someone recommended.

Oh, and just wondering... Do these frogs like to feel like they're burrowing in any way? The reason I ask is that I'm making my turtle a burrow using some PVC pipe, and if I could easily turn the excess into a large underwater 'cave' with smooth sides that is easy to remove and clean.
Any recommendations for covers btw? Like, do you use the hood ones with the lights built in, or just the little mesh covers with holes for the filters?

[DVirginiana]

Huh... Well I'm not sure what I wrote that needed to be replaced with ******, but suffice to say the heating/air isn't reliable

[mpmistr]

Thanks for the info, everybody

In regards to the heater, yes it's one of the ones with a plastic guard. Our apartment has really poor insulation, and our air conditioner has a tendency to **** out on us, so I like to have emergency heat options for all my reptiles/amphibians. The heater is one of the ones that self-monitors its own temp. So, like... If I set it to 64 degrees, it would only come on if the tank temp got below that. If that's still a bad idea it's obviously no problem to just take it out though.

I'll probably be back in a week or so with pictures of my tank. I'll get everything set up, and planted and everything. May go ahead and put in some ghost shrimp like someone recommended.

Oh, and just wondering... Do these frogs like to feel like they're burrowing in any way? The reason I ask is that I'm making my turtle a burrow using some PVC pipe, and if I could easily turn the excess into a large underwater 'cave' with smooth sides that is easy to remove and clean.
Any recommendations for covers btw? Like, do you use the hood ones with the lights built in, or just the little mesh covers with holes for the filters?

Heater with a guard as a safeguard to prevent chilling is perfectly fine. It's the ones without the guard you gotta worry about.

Some people say their frogs dig at the substrate, mine don't, so never observed this. What I do notice is when they're startled they will use their hind legs to 'stir up' the sand to create a smoke screen. A lot of times they wind up covered in sand because of this, which is kind of funny. So plants without a strong root system tend to get uprooted because of this.

Your frogs would like PVC pipe, just make sure it's something they can figure out and not get lost in and drown, they aren't the brightest animals so keep it very simple. Perhaps they are smarter than I give them credit for but i would be worried they'd panic and drown if the cave system was overly complex.. Jenste said they can't figure out 'aqua bridges' (the ones that link one tank to another) so I doubt they'd figure out a complex cave system.

I use a glass lid, with holes cut for my intake/outtake canister filter hoses myself. Works fine, my lights are LED and designed for a planted tank, and they clip on to the sides of the aquarium above the lid but I could rest it on the lid if i wanted to. Since my LEDs are stupidly bright and I don't want my frogs to become blind, I went to Home Depot and cut some clear plastic that they use under CFL lights to diffuse the light and placed it under the LEDs, works great and my frogs can bask safely.