Froggylove78
- #1
Hello everyone and I will just apologize in advance for what will most assuredly turn into a novel here.
I had been toying with the idea of getting myself a little group of African dwarf frogs in a desktop tank for my office. I am ashamed to say I had one of those tiny cube set ups with two frogs and a snail in my late teens that I kept with amazement for nearly two years with almost neglectful care. I wanted to do it right as a now 40 year old and really enjoy them and ensure they were getting proper care and treatment.
Fast forward to December 22.
I’ll mention now I live in Ontario, Canada and the dominant pet store is PetSmart. I’m on the website and I see they actually have ADF’s in stock. So I call the store and the gal says they have 4.
I casually tell my husband of this exciting news and my thoughts about starting to research an attractive but beneficial tank. I reiterate: TANK. What he heard? GET FROGS NOW. Bless him. Anyhoo, he steps out to get something and low and behold, arrives home with a 10 gallon TopFin tank kit that has all the accessories and these poor little frogs.
I will now say - I have never had an aquarium. Ever. But I know there needs to be cycling!!! The gal at the store sold him preconditioned water, Prime and the kit saying the water is how they quick start their tanks. So here we go. We rinse the gravel, the plants, the log - everything in tap water. He’s been instructed to use the full jug and then fill it again with tap water, add the prime and turn everything on until we reach desired water temp. We get there fairly quickly (I’m frantically googling ADF temp and luckily see 78-82 F, which we achieve quickly because I keep the house that temp) we acclimate the frogs by floating the bag for 15 minutes, then release them. I see the filter is way too strong so I turn it down to the lowest level possible (again, thanks google) and just sit and watch, panicked. Their first night they were swimming all over. Exploring. Pretty darn cute actually and I think, maybe this won’t be so bad! My second error here is I have them some frozen bloodworms. They don’t seem too interested in eating so I fall asleep on the couch next to them and am awoken to what sounded like zippers being pulled up and down. It’s them! Google tells me this is them singing and I’m feeling heroic because that must mean happiness, right?
The next morning I discover one clinging to the side of the tank out of the water. He’s used the suction cup of the thermometer to perch himself up there and I know these little guys aren’t prone to out of water activity so again I google. I get mixed answers but I’m now starting to feel the panic about water quality. However he jumps back in when I tap the glass and doesn’t try it again. I go about my day and I’m watching tv when I hear a soft thud. My pug is going nuts so I turn and see a frog on the bloody floor!!! I quickly put him back in and discover he’s crawled the filter and gotten our through a hole around the canister. I’d read these stories before so I immediately got black electrical tape and taped it, poking a million holes for air (and ensuring no sticky surface on the underside).
It’s the same frog - the biggest of the 4. So I test the water with a 5 in 1 strip. Everything comes up in the ideal range according to the bottle. Now that I’ve done more research I realize I don’t have an ammonia reader so I order a kit on Amazon and an ammonia remover bag.
Third day the tank is really cloudy but I figure this is phase 2 of the cycle beginning. I try to feed again - I’ve now gotten pellets as I’m worried bloodworms aren’t the best. No interest. The frogs are decidedly…absent??? I see the tiniest one buried in a corner. The biggest one is floating at the top but the other two are nowhere to be seen. The day progresses and eventually all frogs are MIA. I panic and start tearing the tank apart. Upon lifting out the ceramic log, I discover they’ve all managed to swim up inside a hole in the thing and have been in there for most of the day. Needless to say, they were very slow going after being oxygen deprived for the better part of a day. Log comes out immediately.
Day 4 - biggest frog is dead. Floating on his back, no movement. His little tummy is full of food though, so while I’m sad he’s gone, I’m taking it as a sign they’re at least eating and that the tank escape was his demise. Shortly thereafter my Amazon package arrives and I install the ammonia remover bag after rinsing it. I vacuum the tank and do a little water change with more pre conditioned water. I test the water with my strip and I see my water is a little harder than the day before. An hour later, I find another frog on his back on the bottom of his tank. I scoop him out an out him in a little Tupperware with just enough water to cover him. He’s still alive but seems to have trouble swimming. I spent 8 hours lifting his little head out of the water every half hour, where he’d take a huge gulp of air and then stretch out his arms and legs. I had the highest hopes he would come around but I lost him the next morning.
In the meantime, I have panicked and decided to shut the tank down. The water is now yellowish in hue and I am just beside myself. So I UV steam this huge fishbowl I have, fill it with clear pebbles more conditioned water and I move the remaining frogs. They’ve been in there for 2 days now. My littlest guy seems to be doing really well. I scooped them out and fed them and he actually ate bloodworms from my tweezer. He darts around the bowl and floats. The other is just floating at the top. The entire time. Just up at the top. Won’t eat. Angrily flippers away from me when I disturb him but won’t go down.
I know I have made so many egregious mistakes here…I want to help them. Do I try the tank again? Is like to add live plants and give them a more natural environment. I’m diligently reading the cycling process so I’ve purchased TSS plus, hoping I can get the tank survivable for them quickly. Is there anything I can do to ensure they’re okay in the bowl in the meantime?
I feel just beyond guilty and sad.
thank you for reading and any advice you can offer
(Oh! I also added a mystery snail after the first frog died, thinking he’d help clean the tank and he died within 24 hours which is what prompted the ammonia bag purchase. )
I had been toying with the idea of getting myself a little group of African dwarf frogs in a desktop tank for my office. I am ashamed to say I had one of those tiny cube set ups with two frogs and a snail in my late teens that I kept with amazement for nearly two years with almost neglectful care. I wanted to do it right as a now 40 year old and really enjoy them and ensure they were getting proper care and treatment.
Fast forward to December 22.
I’ll mention now I live in Ontario, Canada and the dominant pet store is PetSmart. I’m on the website and I see they actually have ADF’s in stock. So I call the store and the gal says they have 4.
I casually tell my husband of this exciting news and my thoughts about starting to research an attractive but beneficial tank. I reiterate: TANK. What he heard? GET FROGS NOW. Bless him. Anyhoo, he steps out to get something and low and behold, arrives home with a 10 gallon TopFin tank kit that has all the accessories and these poor little frogs.
I will now say - I have never had an aquarium. Ever. But I know there needs to be cycling!!! The gal at the store sold him preconditioned water, Prime and the kit saying the water is how they quick start their tanks. So here we go. We rinse the gravel, the plants, the log - everything in tap water. He’s been instructed to use the full jug and then fill it again with tap water, add the prime and turn everything on until we reach desired water temp. We get there fairly quickly (I’m frantically googling ADF temp and luckily see 78-82 F, which we achieve quickly because I keep the house that temp) we acclimate the frogs by floating the bag for 15 minutes, then release them. I see the filter is way too strong so I turn it down to the lowest level possible (again, thanks google) and just sit and watch, panicked. Their first night they were swimming all over. Exploring. Pretty darn cute actually and I think, maybe this won’t be so bad! My second error here is I have them some frozen bloodworms. They don’t seem too interested in eating so I fall asleep on the couch next to them and am awoken to what sounded like zippers being pulled up and down. It’s them! Google tells me this is them singing and I’m feeling heroic because that must mean happiness, right?
The next morning I discover one clinging to the side of the tank out of the water. He’s used the suction cup of the thermometer to perch himself up there and I know these little guys aren’t prone to out of water activity so again I google. I get mixed answers but I’m now starting to feel the panic about water quality. However he jumps back in when I tap the glass and doesn’t try it again. I go about my day and I’m watching tv when I hear a soft thud. My pug is going nuts so I turn and see a frog on the bloody floor!!! I quickly put him back in and discover he’s crawled the filter and gotten our through a hole around the canister. I’d read these stories before so I immediately got black electrical tape and taped it, poking a million holes for air (and ensuring no sticky surface on the underside).
It’s the same frog - the biggest of the 4. So I test the water with a 5 in 1 strip. Everything comes up in the ideal range according to the bottle. Now that I’ve done more research I realize I don’t have an ammonia reader so I order a kit on Amazon and an ammonia remover bag.
Third day the tank is really cloudy but I figure this is phase 2 of the cycle beginning. I try to feed again - I’ve now gotten pellets as I’m worried bloodworms aren’t the best. No interest. The frogs are decidedly…absent??? I see the tiniest one buried in a corner. The biggest one is floating at the top but the other two are nowhere to be seen. The day progresses and eventually all frogs are MIA. I panic and start tearing the tank apart. Upon lifting out the ceramic log, I discover they’ve all managed to swim up inside a hole in the thing and have been in there for most of the day. Needless to say, they were very slow going after being oxygen deprived for the better part of a day. Log comes out immediately.
Day 4 - biggest frog is dead. Floating on his back, no movement. His little tummy is full of food though, so while I’m sad he’s gone, I’m taking it as a sign they’re at least eating and that the tank escape was his demise. Shortly thereafter my Amazon package arrives and I install the ammonia remover bag after rinsing it. I vacuum the tank and do a little water change with more pre conditioned water. I test the water with my strip and I see my water is a little harder than the day before. An hour later, I find another frog on his back on the bottom of his tank. I scoop him out an out him in a little Tupperware with just enough water to cover him. He’s still alive but seems to have trouble swimming. I spent 8 hours lifting his little head out of the water every half hour, where he’d take a huge gulp of air and then stretch out his arms and legs. I had the highest hopes he would come around but I lost him the next morning.
In the meantime, I have panicked and decided to shut the tank down. The water is now yellowish in hue and I am just beside myself. So I UV steam this huge fishbowl I have, fill it with clear pebbles more conditioned water and I move the remaining frogs. They’ve been in there for 2 days now. My littlest guy seems to be doing really well. I scooped them out and fed them and he actually ate bloodworms from my tweezer. He darts around the bowl and floats. The other is just floating at the top. The entire time. Just up at the top. Won’t eat. Angrily flippers away from me when I disturb him but won’t go down.
I know I have made so many egregious mistakes here…I want to help them. Do I try the tank again? Is like to add live plants and give them a more natural environment. I’m diligently reading the cycling process so I’ve purchased TSS plus, hoping I can get the tank survivable for them quickly. Is there anything I can do to ensure they’re okay in the bowl in the meantime?
I feel just beyond guilty and sad.
thank you for reading and any advice you can offer
(Oh! I also added a mystery snail after the first frog died, thinking he’d help clean the tank and he died within 24 hours which is what prompted the ammonia bag purchase. )
the sooner you start the better. As the bowl isn’t cycled either they are better off in the bigger space. Match the