weelilmatt

Hello everyone! I'm Matthew. I'm new to these forums and I am searching for some help.

I am now a junior in a small highschool and as the last school year ended I was given the privilege to keep my class's leopard frog. So I currently have a leopard frog sitting in a cage with a good amount of water and some land. What I am hoping to do is introduce some fish. Whether this means having to get a bigger tank or whatever I would like to try to do it. Although I am having trouble finding information about frog and fish habitats... So if someone could inform me if this is possible or not that would be great.

Now that think about it, when the frogs were in my classroom (there were two frogs, i got one.) we had maybe 20 guppies in the tank so that is what has lead me to wanting to introduce fish.

Thanks in advance,
Matt

Lucy

Hi Matt, Welcome to Fish Lore

Pretty cool, you get to take care of the frog.
I don't know anything about leopard frogs, but if you answer the following questions, it would help those with the knowledge help you.

What size is the tank?
How much water is in it?
What are the water parameters (ammonia, nitrite and nitrates)?
Does is have a heater? Filter?

It might help if you could post a pic.

Good luck.

Red wag platy

Well first I'll have to ask you if you have looked up the proper care for your leopard frog. If you haven't, a good website that has information on them is www.Amphibiancare.com. If you really want some help I would suggest that you join a some type of frog forum. Though people here know info about fish, they may not know about how leopard frogs would interact with fish, which is why i suggest you go to some frog forum. Usually if you house fish with amphibians, they will eventually end up becoming food.

weelilmatt

Thanks for the help so far. I am actually about to drive the family to dinner but when I get back I can post that info and take a look at the site.

Thanks,
Matt

weelilmatt

What size is the tank? a very small... 2.5g tank, thats all i was given.. and it turns out the frog needs more than that.. so i may end up bringing him to the LPS
How much water is in it? its maybe.. 3/4 of the way full
What are the water parameters (ammonia, nitrite and nitrates)? no clue...
Does is have a heater? Filter? buying those tonight:]

So for now im guessing I need a decent tank up and running then I can figure out what I can do fish wise..

What can live in a 2.5g tank??

-Matt

Lucy

Not much can live in that small of a tank.
A betta can live in a minimum of 2.5g, minus the frog, of course.
Or some cool shrimp.

In addition to the heater and filter, you'll also need a test kit, the API master kit is highly recommended here. Avoid the strips, they're not accurate.

You'll also need to learn about the nitrogen cycle for adding anything to the tank.

Here's some reading you should do before you begin:

http://www.fishlore.com/fishforum/freshwater-beginners/
http://www.fishlore.com/NitrogenCycle.htm

I know it's a lot of reading, but you'll be happy you did.

Good luck.

weelilmatt

Thanks Lucy!
I already read those:] but thanks

I got the the pet store today.. and I saw all the pretty fish! lol
anyways, long story short.. i couldnt JUST buy a heater, filter and test kit..

I ended up buying a 5.5g tank with some new plants and the whole shabang! (sp?) anywhoo, the frog will stay by itself in its own cage and later on the fish will enjoy a lovely tank to themselves. Although I have a couple questions:]

-How many fish can I put in the tank?
I was thinking some Neon Tetras and maybe something else but I am unsure what I can fit in there safely

-Are "Feeder" guppies ok to put in during cycling?

Lucy

You really shouldn't cycle with fish, it exposes them to deadly ammonia and nitrites, you'd have to change at least 50% of your water daily, hard on you, harder on the fish.
If you read through the site, you'd see how many fish are lost during cycling.
But, of course, the choice is yours.

Unfortunately, with only 5.5g's your choices are very limited.

The loose rule of thumb for small fish is 1" of adult fish per gallon of water. This doesn't apply to larger fish or fish with bigger bio loads.
An example of how this rule wouldn't work, is you wouldn't put a fish that will grow 5" in a 5g tank.

Neons can get up to 1.5" and are very sensitive to water conditions.
In a 5.5, you could put no more than 3, but they're schooling fish and do better with at least 5 or 6, which would over stock your tank.
Although I have 2, and they're doing very well without a school.

Guppies can get up to 2", so you would be limited to 2 of the same sex so they don't reproduce.

A couple of African Dwarf Frogs or a betta would do well in a 5.5.

Sorry I couldn't give you better information. Perhaps someone else will come along and be able to advise you further on what might do well in your tank.

weelilmatt

Thanks for the info I definately appreciate it! I have read that rule somewhere on one of the threads and it sounds appropriate, thus I shall stick with it! For now this is just a test aquarium for me to get use to things and such, a smaller aquarium to let me learn and make mistakes I hope to later get a bigger tank:] later it shall serve as a hospital!

weelilmatt

Ok I think I MIGHT have a problem with my heater... I followed the instructions perfectly...
It has a pilot light so you know when it is heating. So it says to turn it on and when it gets to the temperature you want the tank to turn the knob counter-clockwise until the pilot light goes off.. so i did that..
but i come back two hours later and the tank is maybe.. 6 degrees warmer with the pilot light on (meaning that is heating..) I will try turn the heater off again for now and check it later..

UPDATE:I tried to turn the knob all the way to the left to turn it off.. but it just flickered for two seconds then its stayed on.. so I unplugged it for a little because the tank got up to 80 degrees and climbing..

UPDATE:The heater has been off for a while now, temperature still at 80 degrees.

weelilmatt

Oh also, while I am online i might as well ask another question..
when I had goldfish a LONG time ago.. I remember putting in some flakes for the fish to eat and sometimes they wouldn't eat it all and the flakes would just float around at the top.. what should i do?

jdhef

You should remove any food that isn't eaten within about 5 minutes.

I think you should put a male Betta in that 5.5 gallon tank (not that my opinion matters :-) . I just set up a 5 gallon tank for a really pretty CrownTail Male Betta!

BTW 80 degrees is perfect for a Betta!

Lucy

Along with jdhef's suggestion about removing uneaten food, you should give them less at the next feeding.
Their stomachs are only as big as their eye, so you shouldn't feed them anymore than they can consume in a few minutes.

About the heater, if it's hot in your house, the water will get warm without the heater.
There's several threads on the forum about this.

My husband likes the house cool whether it's winter or summer, so i haven't run into this problem.

weelilmatt

ok that probably is what is going on, thanks. I turned it off maybe 10 hours ago and the water is down to maybe 77 now I just need to find out how to get the heater to turn on if the temp goes too low...

Lucy

You should be able to set it at a certain degree, when the water temp lowers, it should kick on.

weelilmatt

Well you see.. That is the problem.. I had to unplug it because I couldn't turn it off. I just tried plugging it back in but I still can't get it to turn off. So if i want to heat the tank up I have to plug it in and unplug it when its done.

Lucy

What brand heater is it? Maybe it's faulty?

Edit: What wattage is it? It's in the 5g?
Other members have mentioned their tanks get too warm in the summer months and it's been suggested to fill water bottles with treated tap water, freeze them and float them to bring the temp down.
That way you would have to keep turning your heater on and off.

weelilmatt

Actually I think it MIGHT be working now.. It is turning on and off.. So I think it is set correctly. I will have to monitor it for a little while though.

QUESTION: If I got two Red Cherry Shrimp, what small fish could I put in the tank also?

EDIT:its a 25w I believe
___________________________________________

HI! this is matt's friend! i have a couple questions about some of my guppies. i got maybe 10 of them that i got from the fish store, they were like a dollar for ten little ones, so thats what i got.

-one of the fish just sits at the bottom and just stays in one spot, he tends to seem like he is trying to swim really fast, in one place.

-another one of the fish seems to be a little bigger than the others (the belly) is that one a female? (the belly is also black towards the back) i think the rest may all be males because they are smaller and more slender. also the supposed female seems to venture to the bottom and eat stuff off the ground while the other are up top eating bubbles, weird?

I'm sorry if this confuses you, and thanks for the help, I just want to make sure my fishies are fine
-Danny