Caresheets (Amphibians)
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Bamboo
Well-Known Member
:dance: Yay! We have a winner! Here chelle...have some magic internet candy :cheeky:xxchelle said:
Bamboo
Well-Known Member
For lindsayfawn :wink:
This caresheet is also applicable to African Dwarf Frogs.
Size: ACFs will grow to be around 5-6â StV. ADFs will not exceed 2â StV. Females will be larger then males.
Housing: I recommend a base of 15 gallons with an extra 10 gallons for each additional frog. ACFs get quite large and ADFs are very active so they will make use of all the space given to them.
Landscaping Fully aquatic. Any substrate must be too large to fit into the frogâs mouth and smooth to prevent injuries. River rocks, tile and large, flat pieces of slate are all acceptable substrates. Vacuuming must be done regularly to prevent ammonia levels from getting to high. Bare bottom tanks are easier to maintain but donât always look as nice. The choice is up to you.
These frogs need a sense of security. Good plant cover and caves are excellent ways to keep them comfortable. Plant pots on their side make great caves. They will often destroy live plants because of their habit of moving them around the enclosure. I have heard that some keepers have had good luck with Anubias but I have never tried this myself. I believe it depends on the individual frogs lol. If using fake plants, donât use plastic aquarium plants. Thy are too rigid and often have sharp edges that could cut your frogs skin and webbing. Silk plants (readily available at Wal-Mart and craft stores) are great. They come in a huge variety of colours and styles.
How much water to change weekly depends on the size of your tanks to the number of frogs being kept. It also depends on whether you filter or not. There is a bit of a debate between ACF keepers about filtration. Obviously, filtering the water helps keep the water clean but some argue that the stress caused by the filter over-rides the benefits. The argument being that these frogs are very sensitive to vibrations (because in the wild they often live in water with very little movement. Sensing vibrations in the water is used both as a means of hunting prey and knowing when predators are near...sort of the underwater equivalent of hearing) so the constant "noise" of the filter would cause a sort of sensory overload.
The best solution is to use a canister filter, not a HOT filter. The canister filter keeps the water clean without touching the glass and causing vibrations, so it's the best of both worlds. Just make sure to angle the output hose so it's not causing too much surface agitation. Canister filters often provide better filtration anyway but, in my experience, they often don't have the best mechanical filtration (leftover food, poop, etc) So you should definitely keep a gravel vacuum handy for the water changes.
If you can't get your hands on a canister filter, no filter and diligent water changes/monitoring would probably be the way to go.
As a general rule, I would suggest:
Depending on how the water in your area is treated, you will almost certainly have to treat your water before you use it with your frogs (always assume that it isnât safe) Chlorine will mostly dissipate after 24 hours. Chloramines, however, will not. Hard water is also rough on the frogâs immune system.
The best thing would be to invest in a reverse osmosis filter. However, a conditioner that removes all the bad things is acceptable as well. You should get the water in you area tested to figure out what you specifically are dealing with.
Heating: An ideal temp would be between 72-78 degrees F. These frogs are very hardy and will do just fine without a heater as long as your room temp stays between 65-85 degrees F.
Lighting: A photo period is all thatâs necessary. If the tank gets natural daylight (not direct sun!) a light may not be required. However, a light would make viewing and general display much easier and nicer. A simple fluorescent light for up to 12 hours a day is all thatâs necessary.
Feeding:[spoiler:baen5y17]Feed daily and keep diet varied. Frog pellets can be fed but should not be a staple. Brine shrimp, bloodworms, daphnia, krill and shrimp are readily available at aquarium stores, either live or frozen. Avoid freeze dried. Earthworms, silkworms and crickets are also good prey items.[/spoiler:baen5y17]
These are fun frogs! They are quite active compared to other frogs and are sort of an interesting alternative to fish. Their look is quite comical and they are really hardy. They can be kept socially (as long as they are kept with similarly sized frogs) and itâs really interesting to see them interact with each other. They are easy to sex: females will be larger and the cloaca will be obvious between back legs (looks sort of like a tail stub) Males will have nuptial pads and are typically more likely to call, although females have also been known to call.
They are quite forgiving of keeper error. Their needs are fairly simple to fulfill and they are a good first amphibian.
(Images from Google)
And Some African Dwarf Frogs
This caresheet is also applicable to African Dwarf Frogs.
Size: ACFs will grow to be around 5-6â StV. ADFs will not exceed 2â StV. Females will be larger then males.
Housing: I recommend a base of 15 gallons with an extra 10 gallons for each additional frog. ACFs get quite large and ADFs are very active so they will make use of all the space given to them.
Landscaping Fully aquatic. Any substrate must be too large to fit into the frogâs mouth and smooth to prevent injuries. River rocks, tile and large, flat pieces of slate are all acceptable substrates. Vacuuming must be done regularly to prevent ammonia levels from getting to high. Bare bottom tanks are easier to maintain but donât always look as nice. The choice is up to you.
These frogs need a sense of security. Good plant cover and caves are excellent ways to keep them comfortable. Plant pots on their side make great caves. They will often destroy live plants because of their habit of moving them around the enclosure. I have heard that some keepers have had good luck with Anubias but I have never tried this myself. I believe it depends on the individual frogs lol. If using fake plants, donât use plastic aquarium plants. Thy are too rigid and often have sharp edges that could cut your frogs skin and webbing. Silk plants (readily available at Wal-Mart and craft stores) are great. They come in a huge variety of colours and styles.
How much water to change weekly depends on the size of your tanks to the number of frogs being kept. It also depends on whether you filter or not. There is a bit of a debate between ACF keepers about filtration. Obviously, filtering the water helps keep the water clean but some argue that the stress caused by the filter over-rides the benefits. The argument being that these frogs are very sensitive to vibrations (because in the wild they often live in water with very little movement. Sensing vibrations in the water is used both as a means of hunting prey and knowing when predators are near...sort of the underwater equivalent of hearing) so the constant "noise" of the filter would cause a sort of sensory overload.
The best solution is to use a canister filter, not a HOT filter. The canister filter keeps the water clean without touching the glass and causing vibrations, so it's the best of both worlds. Just make sure to angle the output hose so it's not causing too much surface agitation. Canister filters often provide better filtration anyway but, in my experience, they often don't have the best mechanical filtration (leftover food, poop, etc) So you should definitely keep a gravel vacuum handy for the water changes.
If you can't get your hands on a canister filter, no filter and diligent water changes/monitoring would probably be the way to go.
As a general rule, I would suggest:
- Non-filtered tanks have two 25% water changes a week (doing these changes after feeding would be a good idea)
Filtered Tanks have a 15-25% water change once a week.
Depending on how the water in your area is treated, you will almost certainly have to treat your water before you use it with your frogs (always assume that it isnât safe) Chlorine will mostly dissipate after 24 hours. Chloramines, however, will not. Hard water is also rough on the frogâs immune system.
The best thing would be to invest in a reverse osmosis filter. However, a conditioner that removes all the bad things is acceptable as well. You should get the water in you area tested to figure out what you specifically are dealing with.
Heating: An ideal temp would be between 72-78 degrees F. These frogs are very hardy and will do just fine without a heater as long as your room temp stays between 65-85 degrees F.
Lighting: A photo period is all thatâs necessary. If the tank gets natural daylight (not direct sun!) a light may not be required. However, a light would make viewing and general display much easier and nicer. A simple fluorescent light for up to 12 hours a day is all thatâs necessary.
Feeding:[spoiler:baen5y17]Feed daily and keep diet varied. Frog pellets can be fed but should not be a staple. Brine shrimp, bloodworms, daphnia, krill and shrimp are readily available at aquarium stores, either live or frozen. Avoid freeze dried. Earthworms, silkworms and crickets are also good prey items.[/spoiler:baen5y17]
These are fun frogs! They are quite active compared to other frogs and are sort of an interesting alternative to fish. Their look is quite comical and they are really hardy. They can be kept socially (as long as they are kept with similarly sized frogs) and itâs really interesting to see them interact with each other. They are easy to sex: females will be larger and the cloaca will be obvious between back legs (looks sort of like a tail stub) Males will have nuptial pads and are typically more likely to call, although females have also been known to call.
They are quite forgiving of keeper error. Their needs are fairly simple to fulfill and they are a good first amphibian.
(Images from Google)
And Some African Dwarf Frogs
Guest
Got any information on African Dwarf Frogs?
Guest
Nevermind haha I just read the above post :wallbang:
Guest
My AFD frogs. I have 2 very tiny atm, what size tank would be best for them?
Bamboo
Well-Known Member
They should be fine in their adult tank. They will grow quite quickly. :thumbup:Ratty Momma said:
Dazzle87
Well-Known Member
I had an albino african clawed frog as a kid. In case anyone's as dumb as my eight year old self, just because your fish is nearly the size of your frog does not mean it won't try to eat it :sad3:
Thanks for putting these caresheets up. I wasn't planning on doing it any time soon, but I want to get ADF's, set up a cute little aquarium, etc.
PS: I love all those photos, so cute! I've loved amphibians since I was a little kid...I realize how bad it was now, but I was always catching salamanders, different species of frogs, etc and would keep them for a little while until my mom made me put them back :emb:
Thanks for putting these caresheets up. I wasn't planning on doing it any time soon, but I want to get ADF's, set up a cute little aquarium, etc.
PS: I love all those photos, so cute! I've loved amphibians since I was a little kid...I realize how bad it was now, but I was always catching salamanders, different species of frogs, etc and would keep them for a little while until my mom made me put them back :emb:
ratamataz
Well-Known Member
Dazzle87 said:
Don't feel bad- I had put comets and tetras and catfish in the same tank... :emb: They went nuts eating each other. (Well, the catfish didn't eat anyone, but the comets and tetras did.) I caught one of the comets swimming around with it's mouth gaped open with half a catfish sticking out. And the tetras, little piranhas that they are, killed and ate everyone, even the comets three times their size. It was stupid, but I knew NOTHING about fish when I did that. Oy.
Dazzle87
Well-Known Member
Thanks, especially since I was a kid I was devastated. Yours made a little more sense though, a lot of fish can live together. I'm sorry you had to see that though.
ratamataz
Well-Known Member
That's OK, I was more surprised than anything. I didn't know those fish were such carnivores, LOL.
Bamboo
Well-Known Member
Yeah, most frogs are basically just mouths with legs. They're not afraid of eating anything, whether it's obviously too big for them or not. That's a really big problem with plecos -many people will put them in with things like ACFs and Oscar cichlids, thinking that because they get so big there won't be a problem. However, plecos are a catfish, so they have defensive spines that they can raise when stressed. Since both ACFs and Oscars are gluttons, they will still often try to eat the pleco. The spines will then just lodge the pleco in the the offending animal's throat. This usually results in the death of both animals.Dazzle87 said:
I remember when I was really little, we had a fish tank that we got from my grandfather. He just had a couple Angelfish in it, but my parents went to the fish store to get some stuff for it and saw Neon Tetras. They decided to get a few. The next day, the Neons were gone. Confused, my parents went back to the fish store and got a few more. Later that night, my dad was staying up late and happened to catch one of the Angelfish practically inhaling the neons. We still laugh at that story because my parents still don't know why they went back and got more lol. They have no idea what they were thinking...did the neons just run away? We should get more lol! (RIP little neons)
Hehe, I'm guilty of catching frogs, salamanders and snakes when I was little too
I still love field herping (come on, spring!) but I usually just stick to taking pictures now lol.Dazzle87
Well-Known Member
EEK that's terrible . Luckily my fish was not spiny, I forget what kind of fish it was though. I guess it makes me feel a bit better I'm not the only one to have done that.
LOL like they ran away :giggle:
Yeah me too, I have a small "fish" pond in my yard, and vernal ponds down my street, so I get to see tons of cool frogs, toads, salamanders, etc.
. Luckily my fish was not spiny, I forget what kind of fish it was though. I guess it makes me feel a bit better I'm not the only one to have done that.LOL like they ran away :giggle:
Yeah me too, I have a small "fish" pond in my yard, and vernal ponds down my street, so I get to see tons of cool frogs, toads, salamanders, etc.
