I'm new to keeping anything aquatic, so I've been making plenty of mistakes. Miraculously my frogs haven't died yet, but I want to keep it that way, so I've come to ask questions concerning maintenance.
Tank: Minibow 5
Size: 5 gallons
Filter: "Quiet Flow Filter and Cartridge"
Live Contents: 2 African Dwarf Frogs, 1 mossball, 1 bamboo, 2 freshwater plants (one dead)
Water Levels: Unknown (How do I test?)
So first thing I goofed on is the mistake some make when they see something new and shiny they just have to have: I bought my pets without doing all the research first. I tried to do some fast researching in the store and decided it was a task I wanted to take on. I bought my two African Dwarf Frogs from a toy store, picking them after following Internet advise on what a healthy frog looks like.
I took them home and later went and bought the Minibow 5 for them to live in. I don't plan on buying any more frogs or fish, since I know 5 gallons isn't very big. I bought rocks, some plants, and some hiding places for them, and then filled it with water. I didn't know what cycling was at the time, and when I read about it, I was afraid I'd killed my frogs, as I had ignorantly put them in after I'd filled the tank with water I bought at the grocery store. I had already poured out the water of their last box, but after reading about cycling, and finding there was still a little bit of water left, I carefully poured the rocks in so their ammonia water would mix with the water in the tank. I think I'd also dropped some pellets in for decomposition, though the frogs probably ate them. Worried, I had my bf take a sample of the water to PetSmart, and the guy there said that for cycling, my water was fine. Keep in mind this wasn't weeks, this had just been days. I know, plenty of mistakes made.
Well, there's a small filter in the tank, I think it might be called a whisper filter, not sure, but about a month or so in it began to make really weird noises and I had to turn it off. I don't know if it needs a change of cartridge or if the filter has busted (any ideas?). Also, the tank is starting to get grimy; is there something I add to the tank, or do I just clean it out? And how do I go about doing the latter?
Any advice would be appreciated! I can only imagine the reason they're still alive is I've heard they're pretty easy to take care of, and probably pretty resilient, but I don't want to test the boundaries.
Tank: Minibow 5
Size: 5 gallons
Filter: "Quiet Flow Filter and Cartridge"
Live Contents: 2 African Dwarf Frogs, 1 mossball, 1 bamboo, 2 freshwater plants (one dead)
Water Levels: Unknown (How do I test?)
So first thing I goofed on is the mistake some make when they see something new and shiny they just have to have: I bought my pets without doing all the research first. I tried to do some fast researching in the store and decided it was a task I wanted to take on. I bought my two African Dwarf Frogs from a toy store, picking them after following Internet advise on what a healthy frog looks like.
I took them home and later went and bought the Minibow 5 for them to live in. I don't plan on buying any more frogs or fish, since I know 5 gallons isn't very big. I bought rocks, some plants, and some hiding places for them, and then filled it with water. I didn't know what cycling was at the time, and when I read about it, I was afraid I'd killed my frogs, as I had ignorantly put them in after I'd filled the tank with water I bought at the grocery store. I had already poured out the water of their last box, but after reading about cycling, and finding there was still a little bit of water left, I carefully poured the rocks in so their ammonia water would mix with the water in the tank. I think I'd also dropped some pellets in for decomposition, though the frogs probably ate them. Worried, I had my bf take a sample of the water to PetSmart, and the guy there said that for cycling, my water was fine. Keep in mind this wasn't weeks, this had just been days. I know, plenty of mistakes made.
Well, there's a small filter in the tank, I think it might be called a whisper filter, not sure, but about a month or so in it began to make really weird noises and I had to turn it off. I don't know if it needs a change of cartridge or if the filter has busted (any ideas?). Also, the tank is starting to get grimy; is there something I add to the tank, or do I just clean it out? And how do I go about doing the latter?
Any advice would be appreciated! I can only imagine the reason they're still alive is I've heard they're pretty easy to take care of, and probably pretty resilient, but I don't want to test the boundaries.
