Petstore Frogs All Dead Within A Week

I am having a crazy string of bad luck right now. First I had a disaster in my betta sorority. Now I'm having an issue with my African Dwarf Frogs. The issue is I don't have any African Dwarf Frogs anymore. Let me elaborate.

I previously, for the past 5 or 6 months, have had a single African Dwarf Frog. He's been happy and healthy and has grown considerably since I got him. A few weeks ago, he finally got his own 10 gallon tank. The tank was already well established and cycled, as I moved previous inhabitants out to move him in. Anyway, for the past couple of weeks, he's been living in this 10 gallon tank all by himself.

So this week, as I've been planning to do, I went out and got four more African Dwarf Frogs, and added them to the tank. That was on like Tuesday I think.

I first went to <chain pet store> by my house, and the guy in the fish department told me he just pulled at least 6 dead ADFs from the tank that day. So I left that store without buying anything and the next day went to the <chain pet store> by my work. That's where I got the four new frogs from.

The next day, I found a dead frog.

The day after that, I found another dead frog.

The day after that, I found another dead frog.

Fast forward to today.... I just found my LAST frog, dead. Yes, even my healthy frog I've had all this time is dead. ALL 5 of these frogs are dead.

I know I bought sick frogs. There's no question about it. I'm not a beginner, I didn't start with an uncycled aquarium, I didn't feed them incorrectly or maintain their tank inappropriately. They didn't look sick when I bought them, but the entire tank dying within days is a pretty clear indicator.

I reached out to <chain pet store> and we'll see what they do. I'm pretty upset that I now have ANOTHER tank to bleach.

 

:/ i'm really sorry to hear it. I gave up on adfs for the time being for the same reason. I had a frog for 5 years. got him a mate. had her for about 4 months before I overfed her and she got dropsy. once she died, I didn't want him to be lonely, so I went out and got a new female.

I knew she was ill when I bought her (she was floating in the pet store tank and wasn't super active) but she was the only female and I thought i'd give her a try. I stupidly put her in with my old frog without quarantining her first because I figured my old frog was indestructible and that's what I did with my other female. took her back the next day because she looked to be at death's door.

got another female about a week later from a different store. put her in quarantine and treated her. she was dead in 2 days.

my old frog died a week or two later. he got whatever that other one had I guess.

adfs from petstores are just. not good lol. honestly, the best the store can do is refund you and hopefully just stop carrying frogs. I know some of them have stopped carrying them because they just died. they aren't gonna sterilize the holding tank, and because they probably have a big sump that puts water in all the tanks, all the tanks are contaminated. plus the supplier is probably infected.

it was probably chytrid or some other bacterial or fungal infection. if you want to try again, you'll probably want to treat the frogs, but there's no guarantee they'll all make it.

 

The PetSmart here hasn't had any frogs for at least 6 weeks now and they always had them regularly before. Maybe there's some kind of epidemic going on.

 

Maybe there's some kind of epidemic going on.

Chytrid? It seems to affect terrestrial frogs as well.

 

It's concerning. I've noticed the die-off rate increasing. Even among shipped ADFs there's always a couple of small ones that won't eat. I wish the chain stores would offer more stock from local breeders.

 

Just as an aside though, I think 5 frogs are too many for a 10 gallon tank. Maybe I'm wrong but it seems like a lot.

 

Just as an aside though, I think 5 frogs are too many for a 10 gallon tank. Maybe I'm wrong but it seems like a lot.

Maybe? Every care guide I've ever read says 1 frog per gallon. I thought 5 in a 10 was under-stocking it?

Chytrid? It seems to affect terrestrial frogs as well.

A Chytrid epidemic? Ouch! I hope not. I hope it's just bad husbandry on <chain pet store>'s part or on their supplier's part. I didn't want to make the half hour trek to the LFS, so that's why I shopped at <chain pet store>. After a proper tank cleaning I might make the trek to the LFS and quiz the employees about their ADF death rate. Maybe I'll try again.

 

I have read at least 2 gallons per frog but I have also seen a site that said 2 frogs per gallon. It seems nobody knows .

 

I think 5 frogs in a 10 gallon would be okay, but probably no more than 6.

good luck with the lfs! I don't know if i'd even trust them lol. I tried quizzing some of my local lfs about their frogs via email but never got any answers. let us know what they say. I also looked into ordering frogs online but man, those shipping costs kill. plus you don't really know what you're getting in terms of looks, gender, and health.

 

I might switch things up and go for a single african clawed frog. We'll see...

My LFS is pretty good... I've never had issues with anything from them, and they're an exotics shop too, so they have several reptiles and amphibians. Who knows? I might even go nuts and get a terrestrial frog.

 

just remember you'll need a much bigger tank for an acf, especially if it's female. plus they love being in groups too. they're basically just giant adfs but more aggressive.

 

Meh, maybe I won't then.