Added frogs; fish dieing ??

[Forest]

A friend just asked about a problem she's having with her aquarium and my guess it's due to the addition of some new frogs, but I thought I'd run it by you all since I have no experience myself with these frogs.

She has a 30 gallon fw tank (3 years old) with community fish (tetras, guppies)and recently added 4 african dwarf frogs. Over the last couple days, she has started losing fish. She cannot see any visible problems, they have just started dropping. She has tested everything and they come out okay.

I told her to do some water changes and my guess is it's the frogs since she has done nothing else out of the ordinary. What do you all think? If you agree it may be the frogs, what could be causing the death of the fish? What do you think she should do?

Thanks for your help!!!

[Wippit Guud]

Is this a 'fish dying' dropping, or a 'fish disappearing' dropping?

[Forest]

They are dieing. She finds them dead in her aquarium, again, with no outward signs of infection/disease/bodily harm.

[Tim Bo]

When you say 'she has tested everything' does this also include ammonia and nitrites? Four new frogs might cause an ammonia spike depending on how much they are fed at first...though guppies are relatively resilient to ammonia spikes...just throwing some ideas...

[Leopardess]

I highly doubt its the frogs directly. Perhaps some sort of disease they brought with them, or stress from the added bioload. If they are true African Dwarf frogs, and not African Clawed frogs...they are just about completely harmless. ADF's do not bother the fish and are actually very peaceful. As a matter of fact, the trouble with having ADF's is that they are very hard to keep fed. I'd suggest to her to read up on how to feed them properly. I've kept adult ADF's in with pygmy cories (and am doing so now), ghost shrimp, you name it.

I'd look somewhere else for the cause.

Also, since she just started adding fish and frogs...is the tank cycled? If it isn't, that is almost certainly your problem right there. In which case, some reading up is in order.

hope that helped:)

[Forest]

Thanks for the comments. I don't believe it's the frogs directly, either. I think they may have brought something into the aquarium. I have searched for info about them but don't come across any disease info (only info about harmful diseases to the frogs).
She has had the tank running for 3 years. She has not recently added anything new (besides the frogs) or done anything out of the ordinary.
Her aquarium tests included GH, pH, ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate. I'm not sure what her numbers are but she has been doing this a while and knows what she's doing.
If you think of any other ideas, that would be great. Do you agree with what I told her about doing water changes for now? Do you think she should try anything else?

Thanks again!

[Leopardess]

You know, after thinking about it for a bit...

I doubt it was anything introduced from the frogs. From what I've read/heard/experienced, frogs are almost always disease free and don't really communicate anything to the fish. So I'm doubting it is that now.

Also, it would help to get her specific water paramters.

And, how has she been feeding the frogs? If she's been dropping in a little too much (or the wrong food...which they won't eat) she could have a big buildup of food in the tank. Add to that the increased bioload of the frogs and you've got the potential for a problem.

its hard to tell about the water changes without knowing what the cause of the problem is, but, as always, water changes are rarely a bad thing. Just don't go overboard on them. You need that bacteria right now.

[Forest]

I'll check with her about the food. That sounds like a possibility.

Thanks again!

[adblair]

hmmm.... I don't know what the difference is in these frogs and the white albino ones they sell at WALMART, but I tried to do albino cories and 2 of the little albino frogs in a 29g about 10 years ago, and my cories started disappearing. I couldn't figure it out since the frogs and fish were about the same size - no way were those cute little frogs to blame! Then I saw a fish tail hanging out of a frogs mouth one day. I gave the whole aquarium away after that. No more frogs for me - even if they are adorable.
Sorry.... I guess I'm off topic. Just putting my 2cents in where no one asked for it. :rolleyes:

[~*LuvMyKribs*~]

adblair, that was a clawed frog. dwarf frogs are different and would never do that. :D

[adblair]

ooooohhhh...... I almost wish you hadn't told me that..... now I want a tank of frogs :D

[Must4ng s4lly]

I have had one ADF for at least a year in a tank full of fish and he is just fine & leaves all the other fishies alone. Get another froggie or two but just be sure it's the African dwarf Frog. I just got lucky & got the right kind.....