Bloated ADF

[MadameGrenouille]

yes, plants do help to cycle a tank, they filter your water by taking the waste in your tank as a nutriment, they kind of eat ammonia and nitrites to produce nitrates at the end(with the help of good bacterias) (nitrates are good when they are not too high), but the cycle can take a while so your test quit will be your best friend while cycling your tank. For a quarantine tank, a two gallons will be good, with a small filter, I had two adfs in quarantine, in a 1.5 gallons for a few months, I had to put a sponge on thefilter outlet because the waterflow was too strong

[celticstarb]

Make sure to only use decorations that can be bleached and sterilized. Also keep the QT bare bottomed. I use 2 inch terra cotta pots to give them hiding places when in QT.
Personally, I use sponge filters in my QT, but any filter you can easily sterilize with bleach or by boiling will work. If you use bleach, rinse everything in tap water then soak in water with double chlorine remover. Set everything aside until it's completely dry. If you have live plants in your QT you can sterilize them with a 1:5 bleach solution for up to 3 minutes. At the 3 minute mark, rinse well with tap water and soak in water with chlorine remover. But, be cautious as some plants melt in bleach; so, some there might be some trial and error.

After your frogs are finished with their quarantine, break down the QT and sterilize everything. Then, if you need to use it again at a later date, sterilize everything immediately before setting it up again.

Do daily water changes in the QT while in use. I know some people keep a cycled QT, but I worry about contamination. Also, it is good practice to prepare your water the night before your water changes. Add an airstone to the water and let set overnight. Check the temp and pH to make sure they match before adding it to the tank to prevent shock. I know it sounds like a lot of work, but it's only temporary and will be over before you know it.

I agree with MadameGrenouille that a 1-2 gallon aquarium will be fine. I wouldn't go less than 1 gallon so your frogs won't get too stressed.

[justin31love]

Thanks. and would it be completely necessary to get a filter for the QT tank, with daily water changes?

[MadameGrenouille]

Maybe not with some daily water change, depending if you have 1 or 2 fogs in quarantine and how much you feed them.From my experience, I would add some filtration. I had two and water was not clear even after water change, that is why I got a filter, Elite filter for betta tank, a bit strong, that is why I put a sponge on the outlet, you should follow celtictarb's suggestion and get a sponge filter,they are more adequate for adf's

[justin31love]

So I got 2 new frogs today and currently they are in a small critter container that is about 3 gallons. I don't have a filter, but I will be doing daily water changes. So, should I be doing 50% or full water changes daily? Also, I tested my water in my 5.5 gallon tank that I have been doing daily 50% water changes with and it had about 3.0 ppm nitrites, almost zero ammonia, and no nitrates. I then did a 50% water change. Do you guys think nitrates will appear soon?

[celticstarb]

For your QT, you should do at least 50% a day, but may have to do more depending on how much you are feeding. Testing is the only way to be sure.

As far as your display tank goes, it is progressing as it should. Hold off on water changes until you see nitrates (hopefully in a week or two). Since there are no frogs in your tank, you will need to "feed" the bacteria. I use Dr. Tim's ammonium chloride, but others just throw in a pinch of fish food and wait for it to break down. Personally, I am not a fan of the fish food method.

I consider my tanks cycled when it can convert 2ppm ammonia down to nitrates within a 12 hour period.

[justin31love]

Thanks so much!. But also in my 5.5 gallon tank there is currently one frog by itself that I feed every other day. So should I do 50% changes every other day?