New addition plus near heart attack

[reptileszz]

OMG why do my frogs want to leave the tank so bad?

I went out to buy some more plants and possibly a battery operated sludge sucker thingy. I went to the store the battery operated thingy was supposed to be sold at, its a nice fish/pet store that is't the closest one to my house so I dont frequent it very often. No sludge sucker but the owner suggested cory cats to stir up the detritis so it would go in the filter. OK, I tell him I will look around and I googled "cats with clawed frogs or some such" and saw that they were acceptable. I didnt come here tho so I hope they are. I got 3 of them. ATM they are definitely too big to eat.

So while I was looking around I see a tank of "large clawed frogs" which are not that large but are all larger than Alvin. Well, I was comparing what looked like alvin in another tank and decided that Alvin would definitely not fit in the smallest normal one (with spots) mouth. So I bought him. He is definitely larger than Alvin but not a ton. He doesnt seem interested in the catfish at all as they are too big to eat presently.

So anyway, I bring all this home along with a new plant and two new moss balls and while I am arranging everything apparently Alvin got out. What the heck. I mean really. I moved one plant and Alvin took off. The top was totally open. I thought I heard something behind the tank but thought it was just me moving stuff around. Then I got nervous and started looking for Alvin. I couldnt find him anywhere. I went to find a flashlight to look underneath. When I came back up Alvin was right there on the floor in front of the tank with dust bunnies stuck all over him (mental note, time to vacuum under there). I nearly passed out. He looked terrible and had only been out for like 5 min. I carefully held him in the tank and got the dust off of him and he was breathing heavy. I balanced him on top of the wisteria for now. I think he is ok? I had a cat looking around like something was going on but he followed me downstairs to get the flashlight so I dont think anything happened to him except a 2 foot fall and then a 3.5 foot fall. I hope he is ok. This is just ridiculous how they get out!

And now I am nervous that the cats were a bad idea. Thoughts on that everyone?

Thanks for this great forum,
Carole

[Mentat]

Hi Carole! Humm... how high from top is your water level? Do you have a floating deck or something Alvin could jump off? Those are pretty tall falls for a small frog; is Alvin OK now?

Cat's bad idea? At least they did not eat Alvin ! Good luck and have a nice weekend !

[Jenste]

Ok, yikes! Glad Alvin is ok.

First of all, Corydoras (your cory cats) are a very bad idea with african clawed frogs. They have small spines on their fins...when something tries eating them, their spines injure their would be attackers insides. Not good for the frog or the corydoras.

Don't waste your money on a battery operated siphon. The battery part is a lovely money wasting gimmick.

Either buy a Python which can hook directly up to your sink, thus making it much easier for water changes and it gets rid of the bucket, or buy a regular siphon minus the battery.

Also, you should never just put new and old frogs together. This goes for fish also. The importance of Quarantining any and all new additions cannot be stressed enough. You should also thoroughly rinse your new plants before they go into your tank to rinse off the store's water and any hitch hiking snails/snail eggs.

I would return the cories asap (also they are a schooling fish who are supposed to be kept in groups of at least 6 of the same species). They may look fine this moment, but long term it is not going to work out well for one or both species.

[reptileszz]

Well, it appears I am doing everything wrong. And Alvin doesn't look good. Not good at all. I went away before for about 15 min and when I came back he was upside down at the bottom of the tank. I fished him out expecting him to be dead. He isn't dead yet but it doesnt look good. I might just take it all back and give up. Not doing anything right.

Carole

[Jenste]

Try putting him in some very shallow (just enough to cover most of his body but keep his nostrils in the air) water in a covered container (Tupperware even). He is probably a little shocked, stressed, tired and sore from his adventure. They start drying out very quickly and their muscles are primarily water. Dehydration makes it very hard for them to swim for a while afterward.

This is a learning curve. We have all been where you are. Don't give up due to a few hiccups. I have been exactly where you are. I didn't start out knowing a lot about frogs...I learned and most of the early learning was just because I kept screwing up and was trying to figure out what the heck was going on.
Wrong species bought? Check. Wrong tank set up? Check. Jumping frog? Check. Wrong tankmates? Check. Putting frogs together too soon? Check. Wrong food? Check. The list goes on and on. A few months from now you will be the one giving advice to other newbies.

[reptileszz]

Try putting him in some very shallow (just enough to cover most of his body but keep his nostrils in the air) water in a covered container (Tupperware even). He is probably a little shocked, stressed, tired and sore from his adventure. They start drying out very quickly and their muscles are primarily water. Dehydration makes it very hard for them to swim for a while afterward.

This is a learning curve. We have all been where you are. Don't give up due to a few hiccups. I have been exactly where you are. I didn't start out knowing a lot about frogs...I learned and most of the early learning was just because I kept screwing up and was trying to figure out what the heck was going on.
Wrong species bought? Check. Wrong tank set up? Check. Jumping frog? Check. Wrong tankmates? Check. Putting frogs together too soon? Check. Wrong food? Check. The list goes on and on. A few months from now you will be the one giving advice to other newbies.

I have him in shallow water propped up on wisteria. Now he really looks dead. Zero movement. Really? After 5 freaking minutes out? I dont get it. Very angry and sad.