What's wrong with my Frog?

[mpmistr]

No the quality is fine. Here's what I think.

The gravel may be a problem if ingested, that could cause him to be impacted.. but that doesn't explain the sores.

What's a carbon filter? Sorry for my ignorance on this one. The way most filters work is the water is cycled over media and eventually that media grows beneficial bacteria and it breaks down your frogs ammonia into relatively safe nitrates. Carbon can be helpful for some things but it in itself isn't filtration really. Do you know what make and model the filter is? I don't think they make carbon only filters though yours may have a carbon component (keep in mind this carbon media typically only lasts a few months at most).

One last question.. who else inhabits this tank with this frog? You it's not a pleco is it? Those can be aggressive and attach the slime coat of a frog when hungry (they're territorial too!).

BTW Stress Coat isn't bad, you get more bang for the buck with SeaChem Prime though (and it's better at removing ammonia).

[PineappleProducer]

Probably a bad choice of words on my part. The filter media is a cartridge and its inside a filter that hangs on the back of the tank. A Whisper 10-30i, to be exact. The plecos are in a separate tank. I do, however, have six tetras (1 rosy, 3 white skirt, and 2 red serpae) that also inhabit the tank the frog is in, and they've never bothered each other.

[Bog]

The gravel is definitely worrying. Have you played with the idea to switching to extremely fine sand, large river rocks, or even a bare bottom tank?

Because the cartridge comes with carbon (and therefore you can't remove it without getting rid of your beneficial bacteria), I recommend moving Claude to the ten gallon (and of course moving the baby plecos already inhabiting it) and treating him there. Xenopus laevis shouldn't need a heater unless your home is abnormally cold, and with daily water changes, you can get away with not having a filter until he is better.

Also, just be mindful of the fact that tetras, when stressed, have the tendency to nip, so it's a possibility that instead of the water quality, they themselve caused the sores which then got infected. Just a possibility, nothing more.

[mpmistr]

Probably a bad choice of words on my part. The filter media is a cartridge and its inside a filter that hangs on the back of the tank. A Whisper 10-30i, to be exact. The plecos are in a separate tank. I do, however, have six tetras (1 rosy, 3 white skirt, and 2 red serpae) that also inhabit the tank the frog is in, and they've never bothered each other.

Whispers are fine, I've used them in the past. I think the tetras may be nipping this frog, but it's just a hunch. Tetras are pretty nippy fish aren't they? There's a good chance it just happens when you're not watching.

If it's not the fish nipping, it's a water quality issue. Have you considered just getting a 20 gallon for this frog and keep it alone?

[PineappleProducer]

Well, I did plan on moving the frog to his own tank once he got bigger (I'm sure he'd make a meal out of them fish). I guess this could just speed up the process. I guess I could move him to the 10 gallon and move the plecos to the 20 gallon and go from there. If I'm able to get what I need on Thursday, that should help immensely. A shame the gravel isn't a suitable substrate - I'm quite fond of gravel... How does aquarium sand work exactly? I can only picture it being stirred up really easy and clogging the filter and just being a big mess.

Also, this could also be an issue, and I'm embarrassed to admit it, but what do you all use for surface agitation for your frogs? I read that air stones and similar things aren't good for the frogs, so I don't have one in the tank, but consequently the surface of the water looks absolutely disgusting.

[mpmistr]

Well, I did plan on moving the frog to his own tank once he got bigger (I'm sure he'd make a meal out of them fish). I guess this could just speed up the process. I guess I could move him to the 10 gallon and move the plecos to the 20 gallon and go from there. If I'm able to get what I need on Thursday, that should help immensely. A shame the gravel isn't a suitable substrate - I'm quite fond of gravel... How does aquarium sand work exactly? I can only picture it being stirred up really easy and clogging the filter and just being a big mess.

Also, this could also be an issue, and I'm embarrassed to admit it, but what do you all use for surface agitation for your frogs? I read that air stones and similar things aren't good for the frogs, so I don't have one in the tank, but consequently the surface of the water looks absolutely disgusting.

I think your 20 gallon is overstocked and you are suffering from water quality issues. That's not to say the fish aren't also nipping the frog, it's quite possible.

What you have is a build up of organic waste, surface agitation won't fix it. You can use a paper towel, by laying it over the top of the water it may soak some up. It will come back of the water quality issues aren't resolved though.

I use sand, it's fine. I've had canister filters, HOB filters, and internal filters and they all survived sand substrate.

Here's a picture of my tank currently 40 gallon breeder with 4 adult clawed frogs (including 3 huge females). With sand I've found that you don't need a lot, just sprinkle enough on the bottom to give the appearance of ground cover.
https://postimg.org/image/gwdbxzvov/

Honestly you could just go bare tank, put a towel under your tank to give the illusion of substrate. There's no best way to keep ACF and the frogs couldn't care less about substrate.

I think moving the frog to a 10gallon is fine but I would invest in another 20 gallon long. The reason is because 10 gallons are just so hard to keep stable, too little water volume. It's just really hard to control temperature, water quality, ect..


Oh and yeah, air stones are fine, but not really necessary.

[PineappleProducer]

I cleaned out the gravel about a week ago. Do you think the water quality will, for lack of a better term, stabilize or improve since I have done that? I don't know what other organic waste I could be failing to see.

P.S. That's a lovely looking frog, I must say.

[mpmistr]

I cleaned out the gravel about a week ago. Do you think the water quality will, for lack of a better term, stabilize or improve since I have done that? I don't know what other organic waste I could be failing to see.

P.S. That's a lovely looking frog, I must say.

Thanks! But can you see the other hidden one?

You honestly probably have too much fish and frog poo and too little water. Cleaning the tank will help but overloaded tanks tend to not be stable (ammonia builds up fast & the filter beneficial bacteria can't break it down fast enough).