How do we keep our frogs?

[celticstarb]

Sometimes we have to make fewer and larger water changes, because we have to work 40 hours a week as well as take care of our kids. Sometimes we have tap water that is unsuitable for our frogs, and can't afford to buy large amounts of filtered water... We can come up with so many situations that affect our husbandry techniques.


Since there are so many ways to care for clawed frogs successfully, I thought it would be interesting to see how everyone keeps their clawed frogs.


Here's how I keep mine:


I use 4 different setups. I use "eggcrate" light diffusers for lids on all my tanks (Lined with fiberglass window screen for small frogs and tads.)


Breeding Adults


Aquarium - DIY rack system with 6 tanks


Filter - 29 gallon sump and canister filter with UV sterilization


Temp 72 degrees F, raised to 78 for spawning


Substrate - bare bottom


Decor - 3 inch PVC pipes cut in half to make caves. Sharp edges are smoothed with a heat gun.


Feeding schedule - sinking Xenopus pellets (Monday and Friday), nightcrawlers (Wednesday)


pH - 7.9


Water changes - 50% on Friday and as needed. I test the water before feedings


Lighting - 12 hours indirect fluorescent


Resting (non-breeding) Adults


Aquariums - 29 gallon with max 4 frogs each.


Filtration - power filters


Temp - 72


Substrate - play sand


Decor - plastic ornaments, driftwood


Feeding schedule - Mon & Fri sinking Xenopus pellets. Wed nightcrawlers


pH - 7.9


Water changes - 50% on Friday


Lighting - indirect fluorescent 12 hours


Tads


Aquarium - 10 gallon


Filtration - HOB power filter with sponge over intake


Temp - 72-74 degrees F


Substrate - bare bottom


Decor - none


Feeding schedule - Xenopus tadpole powder twice daily


pH - 7.9


Water changes - 25% daily or more if needed


Lighting - indirect fluorescent 12 hours


Froglets


Aquarium - 10 gallon


Filter - HOB power filters, sponge over intake


Water Changes - 50% on Monday and Friday. More if needed. Tested daily before feeding


Substrate - bare bottom


Decor - PVC pipes


Lighting - indirect fluorescent 12hours


pH - 7.9


Feeding schedule - daily Xenopus pellets

[Jenste]

Here's how I keep mine, granted it is not as extensive as I did in the past as I am not currently breeding.

On all tanks, Wednesday = 50% water change. Saturdays = 75%.

1) 72 gallon bow front as main housing of 5 adults, filtered with two Penn Plax Cascade1500 filters (rated at 200 gallons each). Light/moderately planted low tech. Housed with fancy goldfish. I have been successful with it but it is NOT something I recommend to new frog owners or others unless the tank is large enough to satisfy the needs of both species.
2) 26 gallon bow front houses young adults. Usually 2-3. Filtered with a Fluval U4. Light, low-tech plantings
3) 20 gallon long houses young adults. Usually 2, sometimes 3. Filtered with a Fluval U3. Light, low-tech plantings

Diet consists of primarily Reptomin with weekly earthworms. Whole for adults, chopped for young ones.


In the past I had these in addition to four 30 gallons (would separate males and females for breeding), an additional 20 long, and eight 10 gallons for growing out tadpoles. Ah those were the days
In the past couple years I sold off/gave away most of these extras.
When breeding, Tadpoles would get 2x daily 75% water changes. Froglets would get daily 50%. Breeding pairs would get daily 30-50% water changes so that when the eggs were laid and the adults removed the water was as moderately clean. All Tadpole tanks were filtered with sponge filters. Breeding pair tanks were filtered with U3s or U4s.

[celticstarb]

I sold off or gave away most of mine, too. I miss having tads, but had to slow things down to concentrate on school. I kept a pair of laevis, and a female and froglet borealis for future breeding. I am thinking of adding muelleri soon. I would love to add as many different species as I can, as many are not available to hobbyists.

[Jenste]

I had Laevis, Borealis and Tropicalis at one point (wasn't breeding the Tropicalis, just keeping). I was also breeding Axolotls. When we decided we wanted to start having our own family I cut back so it would be less work. Now I am finally pregnant and keeping just Laevis, I am looking forward to one day rearing little tads again just for fun.

[celticstarb]

Congrats on the baby! That's wonderful! In a few years, raising tads with him/her is a great way to teach him/her about the wonders of nature. My great nephew is turning 2 next week and is starting to appreciate animals. Right now he is in a kitty phase. Every time he visits, the first thing he does when he comes in is yell, "kitty," and chase them around the house. It's amazing how gentle he is with them. He has also started taking an interest in the frogs. He will sit and watch them for 15 minutes at a time. He points and giggles at them when I give them worms. I think that watching their personalities and interests develop is the most rewarding thing in the world.

[Jenste]

It's a girl and she is due in a little less than 15 weeks. And I showed restraint and designed her nursery with owls, not frogs lol.
I can't wait for her to see the frogs and goldfish. Our cats will have the biggest adjustment

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[celticstarb]

Owls are a wonderful choice. I love the folklore about them. My mom collects owl figurines.

Yeah, the first time my nephew came over he was just starting to walk. My cats would look at him then look at me, and back and forth. I could almost hear them saying, "Daddy, what is this thing?" Once my nephew started running, the cats decided that was enough for them. Now they scatter any time he visits, lol. Probably smart on their part, although my nephew is surprisingly gentle with animals and younger kids. He's never tried to hit them, and when I hold one for him to pet, he pets them very gently. My niece and nephew are doing a wonderful job raising a loving gentle boy. Sorry if I wax eloquent, but I am so proud of my new nephew.

[Jenste]

You'll never need to apologize to me for being proud of your family!

We are looking forward to raising her to be an animal lover like the rest of our family members. Cats to cuddle with, frogs and fish to watch and "help" care for. My nieces (from my husband's side of the family...all my sisters are teenagers and I do NOT want to be an aunty from one of them anytime soon!) are wonderful girls but my 13yr old niece Leigha is the Dr. Doolittle of the family - animals just adore her unlike anything I have ever seen before. We all hope she becomes a veterinarian when she is older, she has such a gentle touch and soothing presence that even the most nervous, least friendly animal seeks out her affection.

[celticstarb]

One piece of info I forgot to include is salt. I add one teaspoon of salt per gallon of water. I find that this small amount of salt is a great preventative for many pathogens. I haven't had any issues with fungus or bloat. I also noticed decreased mortality rates in tads after adding salt to their tanks.

I use instant ocean salt. I prefer marine salt. Others use water softener salt or "aquarium" salt, but these only contain sodium chloride. Marine salt is a mix of many different salts and trace elements. I think these trace elements are very beneficial to our frogs.

[Gemma]

It's a girl and she is due in a little less than 15 weeks. And I showed restraint and designed her nursery with owls, not frogs lol.
I can't wait for her to see the frogs and goldfish. Our cats will have the biggest adjustment

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Congratulations, Jen!

[celticstarb]

Anyone else willing to share their techniques?

[mpmistr]

Can't really say I have much technique for keeping clawed frogs since they're very easy to keep, but here goes..

I keep 3 females and 1 male in a 40 gallon breeder. I use an Eheim 2217 canister for filtration. I have a lot of drift wood pieces in the tank on the bottom, the frogs like to chill out in it. I attached java fern to the drift wood so it makes it look nicer. Substrate is just simple aquarium sand. I did try adding oak leaves for 'leaf litter' on the bottom, but it turns out oak leaves degrade pretty quickly, so I don't bother anymore.

I have an abundance of duckweed and water sprite growing up top and I have added some pothos growing down the side of my tank with the roots in the water. There's some vals growing in the sand but I removed most of those plants because the frogs uproot them anyways. I try to keep the temps at 70F if possible but my tank is 75F right now because it's still summer. The lights on my tank are a Current Satellite LED+, which is kind of cool because it has a remote and is competely adjustable and even has presets for weather effects (like clouds, storms, night time, ect). I usually don't keep the lights on very high, I am pretty sure clawed frogs dislike bright light in general, the floating plants cut down on light quite a bit, I feel this makes the frogs more active in general.

For food, one or two nightcrawlers a week and reptomin. I used to keep feeder mollies and ghost shrimp in the tank but I got tired of breeding mollies and ghost shrimp aren't for sale around here anymore, either way the frogs ate them all anyways. I do kind of miss having the shrimp, they added some variety to the tank and do live a surprisingly long time with clawed frogs since the frogs don't notice them that much (but do find them eventually..).

Once a week I change out 15-20 gallons of water and replace it with treated tap. I've never had any issues with the health of my frogs, I've kept them this way for about three years now.

[celticstarb]

Thanks. This is a great way to show how people can use different techniques and still keep healthy happy frogs.

I have never tried leaf litter since hard water gives better breeding results, and my tap water is very hard. But I have heard others use it and have similar results with their breeding. I am using leaf litter for my Pipa pipa, but just to give them a since of security (plus it's fun to play "Where's Waldo" with them since they blend in so well, and look like a leaf.)