Please HELP my African Clawed Frog!!!!!

[Dejavudoo]

Thanks for all your condolences. I'm devastated. Some people might say "Its just a frog", but I've cried like a big baby over my little Bibbit. I also feel really bad for Freckles since he lost the only friend he's ever known. As much as it hurts, I will have to get him a new friend; at least after making sure that Freckles is in good health.
He has some kind of sore near his eye. *sigh* So he is in an isolation tank now being treated with tetracycline. I just don't understand what's going on with my aquarium. I feel like such a horrible mommy.
I've tested my water, everything is fine except the water hardness is at about 150 GH. I have large gravel as substrate, two pieces of driftwood, and two plants ( a java fern and an anubias). What's also frustrating is that even the anubias is dying and its suppose to be a hardy plant! I have an underwater fluval that I turn off at night. What in the world could be going wrong?

[Jenste]

you are never supposed to turn your filters off for any extended period of time (pretty much only the few minutes you need for a water change to prevent the motor from burning out) - - without water and oxygen moving through the filter, the bacteria colony dies - - in short, you are keeping your tank forever in a semi-cycled state.

[Dejavudoo]

Yikes. I didn't know that.

I know you have a colony of froggies. What kind of filter do you use?

[Jenste]

in my 72 gallon I use a Fluval 405 external canister filter. And through out my other tanks I have used a Marineland Emperor 280 Hang on the back filter for my 30 gallon, a Cascade 300 internal canister and a Elite Stingray internal canister for my 10 gallons, and a Whisper hang on the back filter for my 10 gallons
- - all always left running....maybe turned off for a maximum or 20-30 min for a water change (more time needed for the 72 gallon obviously)

I have never used an undergravel filter because for a long time I only used sand substrates....the only tank that has a different substrate is my 72 gal and I use very small river rocks as a substrate

[Dejavudoo]

Does the Fluval 405 have an adjustable flow rate on it? I'm worried about disturbing the lateral line system.

[Jenste]

it does have flow regulator lever on the canister itself...I keep mine on full blast and aim it at a wall. depending on your tank size, fluval also comes out with a 305 and 205 for smaller tanks. mine is designed for a 100 gallon tank.

the lateral line issues are vastly over dramatized. I keep all of my frogs in tanks with active filtration systems with absolutely no ill effects.

all of these frogs are captive bred and used to such water flows. I find that ensuring the frog's health with a capable filtration system is more important than anything.

I find that the concerns about the lateral line fall up there along with the "1 inch per gallon" rule that you often hear about fish tanks.....good to get a concept of moderation in with beginners, but often farfetched.

[Dejavudoo]

Awesome. Thankyou. I have always had my frogs with a filter, but wasn't sure if it was the right thing to do. It never seemed to bother them and they would sometimes even sit next to it.

[Jenste]

yea i have never seem to notice them minding it...
even when I have newly morphed froglets they are kept in a filtered tank once they have completed morphing

[ramble]

I'm so sorry. I hope you can figure it out so your other frog pulls through.

I'm already attached to my guys and the thought of one of them getting sick scares the bejeebers out of me. Every time I google them, bloat pictures come up too.

[Dejavudoo]

Thanks Ramble. His eye is looking much better today. Hopefully once that clears up, that will be the end of this horrible mess and we can put this whole horrible mess behind us. With some better knowledge of course that will prevent any other such occurrences.

[soph819]

I am so sorry to hear that. My frog, Ivory is having the same issue.

[blueangel459]

I am sorry for your loss.

[Chunky Monkey]

I read somewhere you shouldn't have more than 6 or 12 inches of water in the tank.

[mpmistr]

I read somewhere you shouldn't have more than 6 or 12 inches of water in the tank.

Super old thread but Chunky Monkey, ACF should have as much water volume as you can allow in your aquarium due to their inclination to foul the water very quickly. Keeping the water too low means less water which means you'll need more frequent partial water changes which would be unnecessary.

Your water depth can be 12" or even higher depending in the size of your tank, just lower the water level enough for your frog to have space surface to breathe and perhaps even a bit lower to reduce the chance your ACF will escape, some thing that they happen to excel at unfortunately.

Small froglets may not like water over 12" in depth so feel free to lower it for small juveniles if needed, but adults are fine and are surprisingly powerful swimmers. I kept froglets in water about 14" and I never had a problem, in fact they could surface for air and hit the substrate so fast if you blinked you'd miss it, these guys can swim. I believe the water depth issue mistakenly attributed to ACF because they are often confused with ADF (African Dwarf Frogs, Hymenochirus) which are also aquatic frogs but much smaller, they are very weak swimmers and could easily drown in a deep water aquarium.

I would recommend a 3" to 4" reduction in water level and a tight fitting aquarium hood with no gaps, floating plants such as indian fern (water sprite) also reduce jumping behavior.