Please don't yell at me

[ramble]

Because I didn't buy them. I wasn't even asked. My mom got my 5 year old two ADFs in one of those Brookstone "ecosystem" things for his birthday. As soon as I saw it, I knew there was NO way this was a good idea so I came here and saw the other thread confirming my suspicions.

I have to go to the pet store this afternoon anyway so I would like some quick advice on what I should get to properly care for them and I will do all my proper research later.

I have a 10 gallon tank and a 20 gallon long. 5 gallons are cheap if those would work better. Does it matter how fine the gravel is? I have some larger gravel in the 10 gallon already.

I know I will need plants, what kind are good? I have frog pellets and bloodworms. They're supposed to get 2 pellets each twice a week, that doesn't seem like enough.

A quick list would be great if anyone sees this in the next few hours.

[Greenlove]

Your 20 gallon long would be very good for two reasons, one being that these frogs are not supposed to be in very deep or high tanks because they are not great swimmers and need to be able to reach the surface to breath, and two, because they are very active and need the space. They also need a lot of hiding places in the tank because they are naturally very skittish (they are often prey for a lot of animals in the wild). They are bottom feeders and rarely eat at the surface. I think Reptomin (sp?) is what a lot of people feed these kinds of frogs, along with blood worms, brine shrimp, dried krill, baby shrimp, very small fish and small earthworms. Feeder size is going to be dependent on the frogs age and size. I don't know about the gravel, I would think that bigger would be better so they don't ingest it. The plants can probably be any kind that you would put in with fish. Ask the people at the pet store. They don't always know what they are talking about but surely they can help you with the plants that they are selling for frog and fish tanks. I have never owned an ADF. This is just info that I gathered quickly off the internet to help you get them into a better enclosure. Hopefully someone that has more experience with these frogs can help you with additional info. Good Luck and keep us posted on your progress.

[Greenlove]

Also, I agree that a few pellets a week are NOT enough to keep these frogs alive and healthy. My nephew has some sort of aquatic frog, he's had it for years, it's albino and has webbed feet. He feeds his pellets everyday and the frog is very happy and healthy. He also gives it live feeders but I'm not sure what, maybe worms and fish. Hope this helps.

[ramble]

Thanks for the help. I've been trying to read up before I go, so much info out there.

It looks like if I do the bigger gravel I need to give them a dish so they don't lose their food in it. That seems easy enough.

I still can't figure out if it should have a filter or just do water changes.

I will see if they have a lid for the 20gal. The 10gal I have won't work because it's a cheesy little bow front thing and I can't properly seal the top.

I'm going to guess they tell you not to feed it more because then the tank won't be in balance. Yeah, not worth it to me to starve the poor things so they don't need to be cleaned as often.

[ramble]

I'm also worried about moving them up by that much (to 20gal) without cycling the tank. Is there a rule of thumb? They are in maaaaybe 20-30 ounces of water right now. ETA: Does the Safestart stuff work well enough to be able to move them sooner?

[Greenlove]

My nephew has never put a filter in with his frogs and they seem to be just fine. I think he said he does water changes every 15 days. I think he also breaks down the tank every few months to wash all the gravel and hides and stuff, apparently it gets kinda slimy in there . Maybe just skip the filter for right now until you can get a consensus on the forum of what other people do, I'm sure you'll be going back to the pet store within a few weeks and you can pick one up if need be. I did just read something (I'm still researching to try and help), about how one person said the frogs don't like the filters in the tank, not sure why, noise or vibrations maybe? Sorry, I don't know anything about cycling a tank. I have Gray tree frogs and they don't need any water except their soaking bowl. I'm sure they would be fine in something smaller for a few days until you can get the 20 gallon up and running. I did just read that 10 gallons for each frog is optimal, so I think it would be wise to make the 20 gallon their home. As far as the lid for the tank, when I needed one for my tadpoles, I found it at Petsmart for about 17 dollars. I'm glad your not going to starve them, a little extra work never hurt anyone, right? Oh, and if your worried about the pH, I think you can buy test strips or a kit for pretty cheap to check the water.

[bbobunny]

african clawed frogs or african dwarf frogs... both live in the water, neither need deep water. they both need something other than pellets for better health. The best is to feed the frozen blood worms to the smaller frogs. defrosted by sitting in a shallow dish not in microwave. they can also eat small earth worms as they get a little bigger, at first you may need to break the worms in half for the adf's as acf's get bigger they can eat whole earth worms and even later eat whole night crawlers. just gauge it slowly. they need to eat every day until they are full grown and even then at least every other day. you can still substitute the dry sinking or floating pellets as well. you should certainly research before feeding feeder fish as there are some types that are very bad for adf and acf's. goldfish are no no's as well as rosies. they do need a filter in the aquarium but not an undergravel filter. one that sits over the back like a normal fish aquarium is fine but you do not need major water flow. frogs do prefer calmer water. they do not need a heater unless the water temp drops below 72 . do not use gravel it is better to use large smooth river rock or nothing at all. the small gravel will be eaten by the frogs and cause them problems. you can use sand but it is easily stirred up and makes the aquarium very cloudy. you do not want to put scratchy rough figurines in there for them to tear their delicate skin on. always use the chlorine remover with each water change. i only add water as it evaporates and i completely clean and change the water every several months. the less disturbance the better. they can use a regular aquarium light but not on all the time, just day and off at night. your aquarium will be less nasty if it is away from windows and the light is not on all the time. and they will eat other little fish and snails etc.. that are put in the tank...
good luck with your froggies. i hope all goes well.

[tgampper]

Hi and welcome to Frog Forum!

Here is a website that will help you in properly keeping your dwarf clawed frogs:
Dwarf Frog Central

[Dejavudoo]

I have an in-tank underwater filter in my 40 gallon long. The brand is Fluval. I use to have a filter that sat outside the tank but since you have to leave room at the top for them to breath, it created too much water movement and noise. Also, with the in-tank filter you don't have to worry about cutting a hole out of the tank cover, creating a possible escape route for your frogs.

[ramble]

I didn't end up getting a filter because of the lid issue. The 10 gallon I have has major gaps and I ended up buying the 20 gallon screen type lid. Hopefully water changes and plants to provide aeration will be enough. I have filters (plural) for the turtle and she still needs water changes so we'll just do them at the same time.

The gravel I have in there is large, more like marble-sized or larger pebbles. I didn't have a ton so I used larger rocks to prop up the plants. I just read that's a no-no so I will pull the large rocks out before the frogs go in.

It has some live plants and I treated it with Aquasafe and SafeStart. I'm not sure how long to let it sit. I guess I will test it in the morning but I'm not sure if I should let it cycle longer - these poor frogs are in such a tiny container right now.

I also got them a snail (it's already in their tiny "tank") since the manual said it's good for them, but the site Terry recommended said snails carry parasites. Arg! So much conflicting info. If I put the snail with my turtle, she will eat it but I don't want the frogs to get sick either.

I will keep feeding the frog pellets until I can get the frozen food. I only have dried bloodworms right now and it sounds like those aren't a good choice. Are Zoo Med "Can O whatever" foods good? I did see those at the store and I read this afternoon that they like the shrimp one, but I wasn't sure if that was safe or not. The pet store only rarely carries live food, I already asked.

Thanks for all the help so far as I mutter curses at my mom for getting me into this unprepared.

[Dejavudoo]

I would try to get a filter. These guys create quite a bit of waste. If you get the underwater type, the lid won't be a problem. I bought mine at Petsmart but I can't remember how much it was.

I feed my frogs the Can O' Worms all the time. Along with the freeze dried tubifex worm blocks, frozen bloodworms, and I just recently fed them a live earthworm. You can also occasionally feed them frozen beef heart. Don't feed too much because its too fatty and can cause heart disease just like in humans. But they love it and its a great treat to them.

Best of luck to your froggies!!!

[ramble]

I must have done something right! One of them is calling right now. Totally freaking out my cat, which is hilarious.

I tested this morning and the nitrates were up, nitrites were zero and everything else looked good. I got a heater at Walmart because the night time temp dropped too much. My turtle's tank stays warmer with the basking lamp I suppose. Let the heater run and switched them over slowly this evening. They immediately swam and explored. I was worried they'd hide but any time my 5yo gets near the tank, they come running like puppy dogs! It is SO cute!

I thought for sure we had two females because I didn't see the under arm bump, but maybe one is a male. I read up real quick and it sounds like the females usually only answer? This is like a two second crickety sort of sound. Either way, I assume they are happy for now, woot!

I am going to get to the pet store as soon as I can to check out the undergravel filters (never used one before!) and to get some food variety and a light.

Thank you all for your help!

[Dejavudoo]

Oh, another thing to look for in a filter is if it has an adjustable flow rate. I checked mine today and apparently it doesn't. You can change where the flow comes from, but now how fast it is. *sigh* So many things to look out for, eh? But these guys are worth it. They really are adorable. Mine use to call a lot too. I'm not sure why they have quit calling as much.