Trouble with ADF survival :(

[Corey]

So, I've had two African Dwarf Frogs awhile back and they recently passed away. They would float at the top, but it seemed as if they were unable to swim back down and eventually died. This happened after months in my 3 gallon eclipse filtered tank. So I [more] recently cleaned the tank completely, put my snail back in it (had been around and well since the first few ADFs), and added ghost shrimp.

So after a few days of them wandering around and looking healthy, I decided to try the ADFs again. When adding them, instantly they developed the same problems , but everyone else in the tank seems to be well and scurrying around like usual.

I dechlorinate my water, change the filter, do weekly 10-20% water changes, the water is around 76 or so degrees.

Any ideas what could be wrong? I want to have two dwarf frogs alive, well, and happy, but I'm not going to continue adding more until they are able to survive.

Thanks for any input
-Corey

 

[misterking]

My first question is, do you have a testing kit for ammonia, nitrate and nitrite, and also pH? If yes, please could you post your water parameters. Secondly, did you cycle the tank properly? My first guess would be ammonia poisoning.

 

[Corey]

The last test I did, all seemed well. I have to run to the store to get another kit because a family member misplaced mine while I was at college. I'll get back to you with some numbers.

edit: I had frogs that had a similar behavior before (like I said) and when testing the water. All was well :-/

 

[Newman]

How well? can you define well in terms of exact numbers for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate? and pH i guess too...
also what did you feed the frogs?

 

[Kanoria]

The Filter
It keeps the water clean but a filter is not needed. In small tanks (3 gallons and smaller) I would not use a filter. Most small tanks that size come with internal filters powered by an airstone. This is a bad idea for dwarf frogs since they are sensitive to water vibrations. I would discard the internal filter and just do weekly water changes. In tanks larger then 3 gallons i would use a Whisper powerfilter. It is the quietest of all hanging filters and has least amount of surface disturbance. There is no need to overfilter if you tank is just dedicated to dwarfs (or the occasional snail or algea eater).

Are they walmart frogs?
This particular seller is notorious for selling ill and malnourished aquatic life.

How are you feeding them?
The best way to feed African Dwarf Frogs is on a small terra cotta plate (you can tiny ones at any craft store for about 50 cents, they are meant to go under the small terra cotta pots) if you are using gravel in their tank. The food gets lost easily in the gravel and these frogs don't do much foraging for their food (if it isn't in front of their face, chances are they wont find it). I place their food in a small bowl of water, I then draw it up in a turkey baster and then squirt it out slowly onto the small plate in the tank. This way they are able to find the food much easier can fill themselves up.

* Live guppy fry : or any type of livebearer fry
* Frozen or Freeze Dried Brineshrimp
* Frozen or Freeze Dried Bloodworms or Glassworms
* HBH Frog and Tadpole Bites
* Reptomin
* Gammarus
* Frozen Beefheart
* Frozen or Freeze dried krill or baby shrmp
* Earthworms or nightcrawlers choped into small bite sized pieces

African Dwarf frogs thrive on a varied diet of live, frozen, freeze dried and pelleted food. Specially formulated pelleted food contains all the vitamins and minerals they need to grow healthy and happy, this should be fed as their staple diet.

Temperature
I keep my dwarf tank at 75 and they are happy and healthy. Don't put them in very high and deep tanks. They aren't the best swimmers and it would be stressful on them to be straining to reach air.


Your frogs may also had Bloat disease

Frogs with Dropsy:

Possibly caused by bacteria, but much more likely a metabolism disorder - resulting from poor climactic maintenance or improper diet. Dropsy appears as bloating and soft dermal abnormalities around the abdominal region. The treatments sound really risky, involving puncturing the wounds if they aren't near the eye region. Even the one book I was able to find that describes this illness strongly recommends seeing a specialist for treatment.

 

[OrangeCones]

The Filter
It keeps the water clean but a filter is not needed. In small tanks (3 gallons and smaller) I would not use a filter. Most small tanks that size come with internal filters powered by an airstone. This is a bad idea for dwarf frogs since they are sensitive to water vibrations. I would discard the internal filter and just do weekly water changes. In tanks larger then 3 gallons i would use a Whisper powerfilter. It is the quietest of all hanging filters and has least amount of surface disturbance. There is no need to overfilter if you tank is just dedicated to dwarfs (or the occasional snail or algea eater).

Are they walmart frogs?
This particular seller is notorious for selling ill and malnourished aquatic life.

How are you feeding them?
The best way to feed African Dwarf Frogs is on a small terra cotta plate (you can tiny ones at any craft store for about 50 cents, they are meant to go under the small terra cotta pots) if you are using gravel in their tank. The food gets lost easily in the gravel and these frogs don't do much foraging for their food (if it isn't in front of their face, chances are they wont find it). I place their food in a small bowl of water, I then draw it up in a turkey baster and then squirt it out slowly onto the small plate in the tank. This way they are able to find the food much easier can fill themselves up.

* Live guppy fry : or any type of livebearer fry
* Frozen or Freeze Dried Brineshrimp
* Frozen or Freeze Dried Bloodworms or Glassworms
* HBH Frog and Tadpole Bites
* Reptomin
* Gammarus
* Frozen Beefheart
* Frozen or Freeze dried krill or baby shrmp
* Earthworms or nightcrawlers choped into small bite sized pieces

African Dwarf frogs thrive on a varied diet of live, frozen, freeze dried and pelleted food. Specially formulated pelleted food contains all the vitamins and minerals they need to grow healthy and happy, this should be fed as their staple diet.

Temperature
I keep my dwarf tank at 75 and they are happy and healthy. Don't put them in very high and deep tanks. They aren't the best swimmers and it would be stressful on them to be straining to reach air.


Your frogs may also had Bloat disease

Frogs with Dropsy:

Possibly caused by bacteria, but much more likely a metabolism disorder - resulting from poor climactic maintenance or improper diet. Dropsy appears as bloating and soft dermal abnormalities around the abdominal region. The treatments sound really risky, involving puncturing the wounds if they aren't near the eye region. Even the one book I was able to find that describes this illness strongly recommends seeing a specialist for treatment.

Credits should be given to the original sources:
African Dwarf Frog Housing and Feeding
http://allaboutfrogs.org/info/doctor/bloat1.jpg
http://allaboutfrogs.org/info/doctor/bloat2.jpg

 

[Kanoria]

Credits should be given to the original sources:
Google

 

[OrangeCones]

Google didn't publish the information. Google is a search engine where you likely found the information. Instead of claiming to write it by signing your name to it, you should give the original publisher of the information credit.

 

[Kanoria]

Nope, but that would be how I found it.
It gets credit for being an awesome search engine.

 

[beckyd]

Gosh, Corey, that's a tough one. All this advice is good, but I'm not sure they explain the second pair getting ill so quickly, unless it was ammonia both times. Ghost shrimp and snails aren't going to show the same symptoms as fish. I think you need to consider that the two pairs died from different causes. I'm thinking a parasite or something for the first pair and either ammonia poisoning or ph shock for the second. Unless they were ill when you bought them. Try elsewhere.

I make it a habit of testing ph before I transition new animals to my water. ADFs are sensitive to ph changes. If you just floated the bag and moved them and the ph was quite different, this could have been the problem with the second pair. Also, if your ph isn't stable, could have happened to the first pair. Is your water soft? If so, it may be ph unstable and swinging around with water changes. ADFs won't survive that. I'm sorry, but I can't tell your level of expertise from your post, let us know if any of what I said doesn't make sense.

I've had one ADF for well over a year, but she's a challenge. (Started with 3. One was a runt that just never thrived. The other got a fungus.) I have to practically stuff food in her mouth. Not the brightest bulbs in the pack, but as long as you don't ph shock them and keep the tank cycled, oh and spoon feed them, you should be fine.

I'm personally not so sure about ghost shrimp in a 3g with them. ADFs are so funny. They lay around and then launch themselves at potential food (inaccurately, I might add), I wonder if the shrimp would bother them. Shrimp are just so busy all the time and 3g is not alot of room. I like the thought of the shrimp to clean up the uneaten food, just wonder about the frogs' peace and quiet. They freak out kind of easily.

Anyone else have an opinion on that?

FYI, my frog spent at least 6mos in an eclipse2 with the included filter. Did fine. Now, she's in a planted 10g with bettas and some cories. Those cories are the same busy little bees as shrimp, and I worried about that, but they seem to respect her space.

 

[Newman]

ive seen thriving dwarf frogs in a big 20 gal community tank with schools of tetra/rasbora. this is actually not the best home for them, but the frog actually lived there, so i dont think other inhabitants stress it that much. a few shrimp certainly shouldnt.
I agree that dwarf frogs need to be fed (preferably bloodworms) with some sort of utensil to bring the food naer its eye/mouth. dont expect the frog o just eat floating flakes/pellets.