Please HELP my African Clawed Frog!!!!!

[Dejavudoo]

Thanks for all the help. I think his spasms have been less frequent today and a little less severe. I hope that this trend continues and that Bibbit and Freckles can soon be reunited.

As for the bloodworms, I'm not sure why they became such a popular food for these frogs. Petsmart even use to carry something called ReptoTreat that had a picture of the ACFs right on the package, so I naturally assumed that's what I should feed them. Many sites also recommend bloodworms. I definitely won't be feeding them to my froggies anymore. I just hope that after so many years of not feeding them the ReptoMin, they'll still recognize it as food and eat it.
I read in another post that it was ok to supplement with Tubifex worms. But when I read the nutritional analysis of them, they were 9% fat!!! People say not to feed them mealworms or beef heart because they're high in fat but the tubifex worms were higher than either of these. Although the tubifex worms do have more protein content. I don't want to just feed the guys sticks everyday. What IS safe other than the sticks to feed?

[Dejavudoo]

Unfortunately, Bibbit has passed away. :'(

Thankyou for all your help anyway though.

[tgampper]

Sorry to hear about Bibbit.

[Jace]

Very sorry to hear about Bibbit.

[Ken Worthington]

I'm sorry for your loss...

[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.

[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.

[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.