*Hello & Help*

[JButera]

I completely agree about having a cycled tank, but from my understanding a cycled tank and a tank that receives 100% water changes on a daily basis or every other day pretty much has the same water parameters. I currently have a cycled cherry shrimp tank and the parameters are as follows: 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, 5ppm nitrate and a pH of 7.6. My tap water is almost the same except for no nitrates and a pH of 6.8 - 7.0. I do dechlorinate and temperature match when i do water changes. I'm Not saying this is the way to go because of all the commotion involved in doing a large water change 3 - 7 times a week but I can't imagine the ammonia level building up to a toxic or unhealthy level in such a short period of time. *Or am I totally wrong???*

[celticstarb]

That's not exactly how it works. In a fully cycled tank, the beneficial bacteria kick into action as soon as there is any ammonia. If the tank is fully cycled and you take an ammonia reading at any point during the day, it should read 0ppm.

With daily water changes, you have 24 hours of ammonia buildup. You may start out with 0ppm ammonia, but in 24 hours it can quickly rise to 1 or 2 ppm. And water changes also stress the aquarium inhabitants.

I was told that for aquatic frogs, ammonia feels like when you have a bad sunburn and go back out in the sun.

[JButera]

no argument here about having a cycled tank, but it's the level of ammonia and how fast it rises is the issue. I'm not sure how much ammonia one frog plus some uneaten food can produce in 24 hours (in 2 gallons of ammonia free water) but 1ppm - 2ppm in 24 hours seems kind of high. Tbh I'm hoping it's a lot less then that.

[celticstarb]

They are such messy eaters, and produce a lot of waste. Another consideration is water temps. Dwarf frogs are kept a tropical temps, which is perfect for organics to break down quickly. It sounds high, I know, but is definitely possible