African Dwarf Frog questions! Please help!

[Geoff]

My question is, will this set up work? Frogs, fish, snails and shrimp?

The answer to your question is: probably. The fact is that there can never be a blueprint that guarantees success and if you're mixing different animals in the same tank there is always the potential for unforseen problems and complications. For example, competition for food.

As for foods, what foods should I feed ADF? I have frozen foods(brine shrimp, bloodworms, clam). I have reptomin meant for aquatic turtles and frogs. Would this be good? its fortified in calcium and vitamins. Later on Iam thinking of buying frozen daphnia, frozen krill and frozen mysis shrimp.

Please help. Iam trying to get educated on em.

Frozen brine shrimp and bloodworms are fine in my experience and I've bred them when those two frozen foods have formed their staple diet. I cannot comment on the other frozen foods you've mentioned as I've never used them. Live foods like tubifex, Daphnia and white mosquito larvae are the ideal. Not only are they more nutritious but the frogs' hunting behaviour, which is sometimes cat-like, is very engaging to observe.

Hymenochirus frogs are very under-rated in my opinion and often regarded as smaller versions of Xenopus but their behaviour is much more complex and all the more interesting for that. Their behaviour is largely affected by the conditions under which they are kept and a dedicated tank is best to observe it fully.

[Deku]

The answer to your question is: probably. The fact is that there can never be a blueprint that guarantees success and if you're mixing different animals in the same tank there is always the potential for unforseen problems and complications. For example, competition for food.



Frozen brine shrimp and bloodworms are fine in my experience and I've bred them when those two frozen foods have formed their staple diet. I cannot comment on the other frozen foods you've mentioned as I've never used them. Live foods like tubifex, Daphnia and white mosquito larvae are the ideal. Not only are they more nutritious but the frogs' hunting behaviour, which is sometimes cat-like, is very engaging to observe.

Hymenochirus frogs are very under-rated in my opinion and often regarded as smaller versions of Xenopus but their behaviour is much more complex and all the more interesting for that. Their behaviour is largely affected by the conditions under which they are kept and a dedicated tank is best to observe it fully.

Hmm thanks. Ived been thinking about what id do with the tank. I like having single species tank, but I wanted a community tank of some sort. I was thinking of like a group of frogs, a group of cherry shrimps, one betta, and a group of black or white colored guppies(the betta will attack any bright colored fish, esp. reds, blues, and yellows---in my experience that is) and maybe one or two otto cats(for clean up). Ived seen people put in their dwarfs with bettas and they do superb because the bettas do not eat much thus do not pose any competition for the frogs. The shrimps are scavengers and are not soo fast that will pose a competition for foods. The otto cats mainly eat algea and left overs(they are nocturnal). I found some sites that said I should feed hbh pellets and I think it was zoo meds pellet??? Iam thinking of feeding pellets meant for newts. Or maybe ill go to xenopus express and buy their pellets but in baby pellets. :P I do plan on feeding frozen foods. but i dont want to feed it "Daily". I dont know if I can culture daphnea(water fleas), brine shrimp(sea monkeys---may not be a problem), blood worms(how the heck would I even do that???). I could also offer them live earth worms(chopped). Could I feed by tongs?

[Geoff]

There's little I can add to my last post. If you want a communtity tank with frogs in it and you feel reasonably confident that it'll work then try it but I've never kept the frogs with such diverse tank mates.

You say that the shrimps are scavengers and the cats eat left overs. The frogs are bottom feeders so the question that arises in my mind is how you can ensure everything gets enough to eat even if you try using tongs. Also, getting the portion of food right without running the risk of polluting the water could be a problem.

When I mentioned live food I wasn't thinking in terms of you culturing them but buying them from a tropical fish store. However, if you're interested in going down that route you probably know that this site's sister site has forums devoted to live food culture at: Advanced Newt & Salamander Topics - Food: Live, Frozen, Freeze-Dried, Pellets, etc at Caudata.org Newt and Salamander Portal

[Jenste]

with african DWARF frogs, I really prefer having them as the only bottom dweller - - giving how hard it is to feed them anyways - it gets exponentially harder in a community tank...and even harder in a community tank with other bottom dwellers.

I would keep the adf as your only bottom dweller and stock lightly with fish - -make a large shoal of one type of tetra for appearances

that is just my opinion - i feel this may be the best solution for all the tankmates involved

[Tony]

with african DWARF frogs, I really prefer having them as the only bottom dweller - - giving how hard it is to feed them anyways - it gets exponentially harder in a community tank...and even harder in a community tank with other bottom dwellers.

I completely agree with this. Although I no longer keep them I have in the past both in community and single species tanks. Feeding was always a problem in the community tank, even though none of the fish were bottom dwellers they had no trouble making a trip down to snatch up the frog food.

[passon13]

I have an adf, 1 angelfish, 3 platies, 1 Cory and a bock khuli loach and they do fine together. I feed my adf sinking shrimp pellets, though I have never seen him eat I'm assuming he eats them, as he's still Alive

[Jenste]

going by the method of - if its living it must be getting enough is not the right way of thinking. you want to make sure your frog is well cared for and not just "Getting by" on scraps it manages to find after the fish.

for it to thrive and not simply survive...it needs dedicated feeding by a dedicated owner