New to ACF ownership...Recently upgraded my frog's tank and have some Q's.

[lbecktell]

Hi there!

I am the proud caretaker of a 1 year old male ACF named Michigan J. Frog. He came to me from Grow-a-frog and I used to keep him in one of their provided enclosures until I knew better. From some reading on the internet, I quickly upgraded Michigan to a 20 gallon tank. For about 8 months, he lived in the tank without a filter and I performed frequent, near-100% water changes because his tank would become so filthy. The bottom of his tank was bare. I finally saved up enough money to upgrade his tank, and this is what he has now as of last night...

-20 gallon tank
-large river rock substrate (between 1"-1.5")
-piece of mopani driftwood
-Various anubias species
-Fluval 306 canister filter
-A mug and an open "clamshell" to hide in and under

Now for my questions--please bear with my lack of experience, I don't have a good aquarium store catering to amphibian owners nearby, and I just want to do right by my little friend--I bow to your expertise and your advice.

Since yesterday, I noticed he is much darker in color than he typically is. Is this normal?

He's also hanging out at the bottom of his tank a lot more than usual. Usually he hangs right near the top. Should I be worried?

I am having trouble dropping his food nuggets in such a way that he can reach them or grab them. They mostly fall between the rocks and I am concerned he won't be able to get any, ever. He previously would use his little hands to scoop them up from the tank base when they fell in front of him. He is kind of a shy guy and never really took to swimming up to meet me for food. I am concerned he is not getting enough nutrition and I really didn't stop to think this might be a problem with this substrate..

Finally, the 306 is working great and it's very quiet, but will it generate too much motion in the water for him? Should I get a spray bar?


Thank you so much for taking the time to read my post!

Lili B

[lbecktell]

Anyone?

[Doug]

Anyone?

Xenopus do change color, darker is generally a better sign than lighter. Lighter can mean the frog is sick-- sometimes. Sink a large, wide clay saucer into the gravel to put food. This is the best method to feed xenopus and hymenochirus in my experience. I wouldn't worry about the frog spending more time on the bottom. Sometimes a sick frog will spend MORE time near the top too, but it depends.

One last thing: clawed frogs should be kept 76 degrees or below. Too warm of water can make xenopus more susceptible to bacterial infection.

Xenopus were my first frogs I ever kept but from experience, they are more susceptible to bacterial infections because they are touchy about water temperature and quality.

[lbecktell]

Xenopus do change color, darker is generally a better sign than lighter. Lighter can mean the frog is sick-- sometimes. Sink a large, wide clay saucer into the gravel to put food. This is the best method to feed xenopus and hymenochirus in my experience. I wouldn't worry about the frog spending more time on the bottom. Sometimes a sick frog will spend MORE time near the top too, but it depends.

One last thing: clawed frogs should be kept 76 degrees or below. Too warm of water can make xenopus more susceptible to bacterial infection.

Xenopus were my first frogs I ever kept but from experience, they are more susceptible to bacterial infections because they are touchy about water temperature and quality.

Thank you so much!!!

I purchased two terra-cotta dishes for him. And recently went onto xenopus.com and purchased some sinking frog food which he may enjoy more than his grow-a-frog food, as well as some earthworm pellets and freeze-dried bloodworms.

Should I be adding a preventative anti-bacterial enzyme (like Lymnozyme) to his water to ward off any infection?

[Doug]

Thank you so much!!!

I purchased two terra-cotta dishes for him. And recently went onto xenopus.com and purchased some sinking frog food which he may enjoy more than his grow-a-frog food, as well as some earthworm pellets and freeze-dried bloodworms.

Should I be adding a preventative anti-bacterial enzyme (like Lymnozyme) to his water to ward off any infection?

I wouldn't do that. Bacteria are notorious for developing resistance to antibiotics. Just make sure to watch the temperature in the summer time. I don't recommend freeze dried bloodworms to pipid frogs. There have been reports of dwarf frogs getting bacterial infections / bloating from freeze dried worms. Use frozen worms that you can thaw in a cup.

Use sinking frog food as the staple, and supplement with crickets, worms, and pieces of lean beef, chicken or fish. Gelatin based food works well too, but it can be messy. I used to feed Silurana tropicalis a gelatin based food that I made myself.

If you plan to get more types of frogs-- something that many new frog keepers are unaware of-- always keep anything that comes in contact with Xenopus separate. Xenopus are carriers of chytrid which is lethal to many other frogs including dwarf frogs.

[CJP32]

Sounds like a nice upgrade for your frog. I'm pretty new to keeping them but I can say I had river rock in the tank when they were small. It was nearly impossible to clean without removing or moving it around quite a bit. Now I have natural play sand and it's much easier to maintain. Looks nice too.