I have an old tank and a few questions...

[rabidfroggie]

Hello, I am new to the forum. I joined as I have been considering re-adding an African Dwarf frog to the family. I had one when I was a kid, but it's been a few years since Puddles passed away. When I was in college, I had a 5 gallon tank that held a betta fish and a few plants. I still have the tank, stored in it's box. I miss having an aquarium in the house but I'd like get a frog rather than fish.

So here are my questions and sorry if they have been asked a thousand times before, I don't have much time today to go through all the forums. I will later tonight, so bear with me

Sites say 1 gal per frog is the minimum but that seems so small. Can I ethically put 2 frogs in a 5gal tank? Do ADF prefer a buddy or as they get older will they be more likely to want to be alone? I don't need to put more than 1 frog in the tank if the 1 frog will be happy being alone, I just want to make sure that 1 alone will be ok and happy.

I've seen on sites that a bare tank bottom is better than gravel for a frog. Is this true? Is there some bottom layer that is better for a frog or should I just leave it as glass?

What depth should I look for when filling the tank?

I've lost the filter in the process of moving a few times. Is there a filter than would be best for a 5gal tank?

How long from setting up the tank to adding the frog should I wait? I remember from my youth that fish are very sensitive and we waited a few weeks for the tank to mature before getting fish added. I plan to give the tank a good scrubbing this weekend and get things started.

Speaking of starting, how do I go about starting a tank for a frog? What things should I do to prepare it? Is there an additive I should look for?

I remember we used to rehydrate bloodworms and other little critters for Puddles and we had a plastic petri dish in the bottom of his tank where I would place his food. Is this still a good method? What sort of things should I feed my new friend when I get him? I want to make sure I do things right as I have the knowledge at my fingertips this time around.

Puddles never did but my betta tried it a few times, can a ADF jump from the tank?

Again, sorry for the newbie questions. I'd like to be well informed Thanks in advance!

[CJP32]

I only have African Clawed frogs so I can only help so much but here is what I can tell you.

For a 5 gallon with only a dwarf frog or two a sponge filter might be your best bet. They do need an air pump but they are cheap and easy to maintain. I have several as secondary filters in my tanks and they work great. Check ebay or amazon, the ones I have cost less than $5 and do the job.

For the clawed frogs a bare bottom, large river rock or fine sand is recommended substrate. Bare glass is easiest to clean but I don't like the way it looks. I tried river rock and it was very difficult to clean. Now I have natural play sand and it works well for me. It looks nice and is pretty easy to clean.

You will want to cycle the tank prior to adding the frogs. It basically involves getting bacterial to grow in the filter and tank that will break down ammonia into less dangerous nitrites and nitrates. A water test kit would be helpful or you can ask your local pet store if they can test it. That way you can avoid a dangerous ammonia spike. There are some additives that claim to avoid it but I've never tried any. Also make sure to use a water treatment to remove any chlorine from your water.

Good luck and make sure to post some pics once you have things settled.

[amphib]

I not quite sure what you mean by rehydrate but im going to guess that you mean frozen bloodworms or other aquatic animals and those would do fine, if you mean the freeze dried some say it causes bloat in aquatic amphibians cause of the air in the food but ive been using it for a year with my two dwarfes and they are fine, i should mention though that I have been feeding frozen the last month and they do seem to prefer frozen to freeze dried but ultimately they aren't picky. There are also pellets made specificaly for them but because mine are in with fish the frogs dont get the pellets before the fish do