Little aquatic frog.....

[~*LuvMyKribs*~]

I just bought a little frog for my 3 gallon betta tank. The tank has a hang-on back power filter made for an aquarium of up to 5 gallons. (It was bought at pet cetra). It doesn't have a heater, but the light i bought for it gives off some heat. My room is fairly warm too. I would say around 22C.

The guy at my lfs (which is very reliable) has said that frogs get along with bettas in most cases. He said some people say that the betta will try to eat the frog, but he's never had any experiences like that.

Well, i got the little guy (he's so tiny- less than an inch total length), and added him in the tank this afternoon. I have fairly large substrate i got from a river and lots of plants.

The betta has seen the frog and not taken any intrest in him. The betta actually swam over and rested on the frog, probebly didn't even know it was there.


My questions are,
1) what should I feed this little guy, and how
2) will he be ok with my betta
3) does he need any special requirments


Thanks, any input is greatly appreciated.
:)
-Diana

[joe schmoe]

Originally posted by ~*LuvMyKribs*~
My questions are,
1) what should I feed this little guy, and how
2) will he be ok with my betta
3) does he need any special requirments


Thanks, any input is greatly appreciated.
:)
-Diana Here's my input...when you have a resource like Aquaria Central, you should probably ask these questions before you buy. Just a thought.

[dethjam316]

yeah i think that combo works okay. the african frogs love blackworms, especially live, and i'm sure you can get them to eat frozen or freeze-dried food with training. with only the betta, i would think you'd be okay just putting some in there and letting them sink. alternatively, you could get a children's medicine dropper. i squoop up some blackworms and squirt them in for my tiretrack eel. works like a charm.

other than that, i'm sure some other people can add a lot to what i've said, since i haven't kept those frogs for years.

[Matak]

If your LFS doesn't carry HBH Frog & Tadpole bites then he should! The trick is not finding what to feed your frog, but how. I had mine for about four months. I wonder how they possibly survive in the wild, because even with the food in front of their noses, they can't find it :rolleyes:
My suggestion is to separate the betta and frog during feeding or distract the betta for about two hours until the frog realizes there is food for him.

I think he should do fine with your betta. My fish are pretty peacefull and no-one bothered him, but if a fish got curious in him, he would spread his arms and legs wide in front of the opposing fish to look larger than life to scare off the fish. It worked and was funny to watch.

I miss my froggy :(

[~*LuvMyKribs*~]

Thanks dethjam and matak, the guy at the pet store said i could feed them whatever i feed the betta (which consists of betta bites supplemented with frozen brine shrimp and blood worms). He said betta bites and frog bites are pretty much the same. I just wanted to check on here before i started him off on the wrong diet.


I'm sorry joe schmoe, if anything i have said offended you. And thank you for taking your time to help me. :rolleyes:

[maigen]

i haven't had any experience with bettas.......my dwarf frog LOVES frozen brine shrimp. i haven't had much luck with "frog & tadpole bits" however. they seem to disintegrate quicker than my frog can find them & just end up making my tank dirty.

[dethjam316]

Originally posted by ~*LuvMyKribs*~
Thanks dethjam and matak, the guy at the pet store said i could feed them whatever i feed the betta (which consists of betta bites supplemented with frozen brine shrimp and blood worms). He said betta bites and frog bites are pretty much the same. I just wanted to check on here before i started him off on the wrong diet.


I'm sorry joe schmoe, if anything i have said offended you. And thank you for taking your time to help me. :rolleyes: no need to even feign an apologize to posts like that...scolding without offering advice is pretty useless and rude!

matak--i felt that way about the firebellied newts i had in college. they were so dumb. i mean, they couldn't find food at all...at ALL. live, pellet, etc. i had to feed them literally with tweezers. with the frogs, i always found i could get them to eat wriggling worms right in front of them at least!

[Leopardess]

I've got two and I loev htem. I have them in with a betta (and a feisty one at that) and 6 pygmy cories with no problems. I've also had them in with ghost shrimp.

Feeding them is the biggest problem that is usually encountered. And more so when they are in with other fish. They really need to be target fed to ensure they are recieving proper nutrition.

IMO, frozen bloodworms (or live I suppose) are the best. I use a syringe and/or a turkey baster. You feed them right at their mouths. They get used to the idea really quickly. They also like chopped up frozen baby krill as well as sinking shrimp pellets. But mine really only seem to prefer the bloodworms. Whatever you do, do NOT feed them betta bites...they're too small and def. not a nutritious choice.

Do make sure, however, that you have an African Dwarf frog and NOT an african clawed frog. There are several threads about this if you look. Clawed frogs get 6" and will harm your fish.

Special requirements are a good hiding place, like a cave made out of rocks. They really need a dark palce they can escape to. They are also EXCELLENT jumpers and many many many people have lost them due to jumping out of the tank. I used tape on the back of the tank to cover any openings. They also *prefer* a very soft substrate that they can burrow in, but I assume you dont want to redo the whole tank, which is fine;)

Mine love to hide in plants too, particularly hair grass and riccia....You'll love your frog:)

http://www.fishpondinfo.com/frog4.htm#dwarf
heres how to tell the difference....
http://allaboutfrogs.org/info/species/clawedordwarf.html
http://www.petfish.net/afrogs.htm

[joe schmoe]

Originally posted by dethjam316
no need to even feign an apologize to posts like that...scolding without offering advice is pretty useless and rude!

I did offer advice, and she specifically stated that any input would be appreciated.

Now, do you contend that it's a bad idea to learn about your pet before buying it?? Somehow I don't see that being the case on this of all message boards. Would you have felt better if my post included some nice pictures of flowers and happy faces?? geez...lighten up. :rolleyes:

And no, Kribs, you didn't offend me in any way. I really meant the advice I gave. No need to apologize...fake or otherwise.

[Leopardess]

Let's listen to the soothing sound of our tanks trickling...ahh don't we feel better?:)

Yes, she should have researched before she got the frog. And there are tons of people on here (and other places) that often reply to posts in the newbie section with answers like "you should have researched it first" etc etc. But what's done is done. Might as well offer some help.

Either way, she got the info quickly after purchasing them and the frogs will have no harm done:)

[dethjam316]

Originally posted by joe schmoe


I did offer advice, and she specifically stated that any input would be appreciated.

Now, do you contend that it's a bad idea to learn about your pet before buying it?? Somehow I don't see that being the case on this of all message boards. Would you have felt better if my post included some nice pictures of flowers and happy faces?? geez...lighten up. :rolleyes: at the very least, you could have made your point, then offered some actual relevant advice instead of just being rude. but i guess you need to "lighten up." :D

anyways, good luck with the frog!

[ewok]

fight nice children......... :rolleyes:

personally i think *both* sides of this arguement have merit. :eek:

but in the meantime, the *most* important point of this post is liable to slip by........... what color is the frog? does it have webbed front feet? *one* of the commonly sold frogs is very compatable with your betta, one is not and is liable to kill it.


Originally posted by Leopardess
Do make sure, however, that you have an African Dwarf frog and NOT an african clawed frog. There are several threads about this if you look. Clawed frogs get 6" and will harm your fish.


something else that bears mention......... frogs are also air-breathers, which shouldn't be a problem in a betta tank, but it is still very important to know.

good luck

[~*LuvMyKribs*~]

Mmm so what is needed if it is an air-breather. Just that there be an opening in the lid to allow air to circulate over the water? (which there is).

I am actually considering changing the substrate to sand. I just don't like to vaccuum it. *shivers* I have heavy sand in my african cichlid tank and even though its fairly coarse, the sand still gets sucked up. Maybe I will do that today.

I've read on here that play sand is ok. Will frogs like that?

Yes my frog has little webbed feet. The lfs guy said they get to be slightly larger than a toonie (for all you americans, thats like about 1 1/2 to 2 inches ;) ). They don't get very big. He's very dark with what looks like little dark spots. Then is he the dwarf frog?

[Leopardess]

Did you check out the site I included? It tells very specifically (with pics) how to tell the difference. As you know, just cuz the guy SAYS they'll get two inches doesn't make it a dwarf frog;)
And, did you look at the picture I attached...That's one of my adfs...if it looks like that, then it is one...

No difference on it being an air breather. They're will be plenty of air above the water surface. And if you've got a betta ...and its living, I'll say you'll be fine.

Play sand is fine, yes. Rinse it VERY well though. The frog would ADORE that stuff. They are fond of burrowing through it and are good at keeping it clean and churned up. You know, they'd kill to have a little rock structure with java moss on it, btw:)

[~*LuvMyKribs*~]

I will do my best to make my little froggie the best home in the world! (of course) hehe.


I did look at the links and its still hard to tell, but i'm 99% sure its a dwarf frog. Mine is so small its hard to tell. They had albino clawed frogs at the pet store too. *gah* they looked really gross. They looked dead! hehe.

I just fed him red blood worms and he gobbled them up! Right now he's crawling along the gravel eating them out of the rocks with my betta. Yay! big happy family. :)

Anyways, thanks for all the help. !!!

:hi:

[bozco]

I've kept these frogs for over a year now. They only get to be 1 1/2 inch long so don't worry about him getting too big. They get along fine with bettas but barbs will fight with them. They will eat freeze dried blood worms, live blackworms, and even tropical fish flakes. They find their food by feel so once in awhile they might mistake a fin for food but they have no teeth so no damage will be done. They do jump so make sure your tank is covered. They are competely aquatic and will dry out and die if they jump out of the tank. As with all frogs you shouldn't handle him and be careful when netting him because his little froggy toes could get caught in the mesh and rip off. He'll still grow, but for now be careful about your filter, they like to have places to hide and will crawl up intake tubes and become trapped where they will drown.

Here is a wonderful website. It has nearly everything you need to get started with your little guy,


http://allaboutfrogs.org/info/mypets/dwarfs.html

Your frog should live to be about 5 years old

*oops, fixed my typos so this is now a readable post. Sorry about that folks. I'll only respond when I have time from now on

[Leopardess]

I believe the size issue was in regards to the possibility of it having been a clawed frog.

[aquariumfishguy]

They can live longer than 5 years, too...;) 8-9-10 years isn't unheard of.

[Leopardess]

I've read articles claiming much longer life spans. Some say 15 years is average (and their cousins supposedly can live even longer).

[bozco]

Some frogs can live to be 20+ years. The person who got me these dwarf frogs was told at the petshop they'd get to be about two.
Most of my reasearch was on the wild frogs and therefore their lifespans would be shorter than captive frogs because they'd get eaten. I hope mine live to be 15 though, I love them even if they did swallow my big female guppy whole.
The better you take care of them the longer they will live. These are patterns seen in all domesticated animals. As people learn more about their care they are living much longer than before.

[aquariumfishguy]

Not only that, but I've heard that every frog is different internally...if they are a good strain and are taken care of then yes, they should live a long time. However, I wouldn't consider 15 years to be average. That would be quite old for a dwarf frog in this day and age.

[fishdude]

um just woundering how do the frogs breath? do they have gills?

[Leopardess]

They breathe atmospheric air...kind of like when a betta takes a breath at the surface.

[Dahlia]

I also keep dwarf frogs with a betta. I feed them frozen blood worms, brine shrimp, and mysis shrimp as their primary diet. The frogs don't seem to notice pellet and flake food as much. I've noticed that when I first get a frog, it doesn't eat all that well. However, the longer I have it the more it recognizes food time. If you just feed with a bit of a pattern (I turn the light on and then drop the food in the same spot in the aquarium each time), then they will learn to recognize it and you don't have to carefully put the food in front of their face. When I walk up to the tank and turn on the light, the frogs all come to the spot where I drop in the food. Several of them are aggressive about swimming up to grab it, though some wait til it sinks and scavenge it off the bottom. Just watch to make sure they are eating when you first get them and help them find it if needed, eventually they will learn to find the food themselves.

Also, I find that an apple snail is a good companion to clean up the extra food the betta and frogs miss. Depending on how large your tank is.

[Leopardess]

Oh, you know..while I'm thinking about it. Some other info. Frogs shed. It looks disgusting (whats worse is that they eat it). Don't be alarmed. Its perfectly normal. Some shed every week, some seem to never shed. No one is completely sure why (though weather has something to do with it). I've seen some people say that something is wrong when you see a frog that looks like its shedding - but its not:)

[aquariumfishguy]

They shed continously but in terms of fully shedding, mine do this about once a month...maybe once every 25 days. Like someone else said, this is normal.

[~*LuvMyKribs*~]

Eww I'll watch for that. :sick: Hehe.

My frog went crazy over the blood worms and brine shrimp. I put some in for the betta and frog... the betta is a little slow at finding the food. So the frog went around and ate most of it. Let me tell you, his belly got quite big. I wont feed him today.

My tank is only 3 gallons. I wanted to get an apple snail or two, and if they had babies i would feed them to my angel and africans. But its not big enough. Are there any smaller snails i could get? Those ones that you get hitch hiking on plants are really small, but i don't know what they are. My loach eats them all in my other tank.

[Dahlia]

If you really keep up with your water changes, and your only current inhabitants are one betta and one frog, I think one apple snail would be okay. It's a little crowded, but since they all breathe air they will do okay if you keep up with frequent water changes. I wouldn't go with the little pond snails or even MTS (malaysian trumpet snails) in such a small tank because they may multiply beyond your bioload. You could consider a smaller snail such as an olive nerite, but they only eat algae and wouldn't clean up leftover food.

[Matak]

You say that your betta has a harder time finding food than your frog? I'd say your in good shape then ;)

The frog can go about three days comfortably between feedings, IMO.

[aquariumfishguy]

3 days is a good measure...ITA. I don't really go by any schedule when feeding my frogs. Some days I remember to feed them every day or so. Other weeks I skip days. When I go on vacation for a week here and there, the frogs (and fish) are O.K. so I would say feed what you feel comfortable feeding. You can kind of tell if they need more food by how their belly looks. After they eat, for example the frogs stomach look really bloated. Then in a day or so, it goes down and you can tell its time to feed them again. Good luck!

[bortsamson]

my frog is great, one of the most entertaining aquatic creatures in my tank. Specially when he starts "posing" as I'm sure you will notice from time to time
anyways, my frog has learned to forage for food better then most of my fish.
He usually munches on freeze dried tubifex worms. Its real funny, cause he comes up for air, then he must catch a scent or somethin, cause as starts swimming back down and then hovers for bit, then gradually floats to the surface and kinda drifts to the worms, then proceeds to rip apart the cube of worms and get fatter in the process, its always funny to watch, love that frog, hehe:D