6 gallon ADF tank

[Seisage]

Old tank, new journal thread. This is the same 6gal tank that used to hold my neon, Jelly.
I have it slated for a couple ADFs, which I'll hopefully be getting tomorrow.

When I adopted the tank, the gravel had an extremely thick layer of mulm and detritus underneath. I had tried to remove it, but it became clear to me that the process would have just been too messy to do with a fish in the tank. Since Jelly has moved to the 25gal, I had the chance to clean everything up and repurpose the tank. There's so much debate about whether certain fish are appropriate for a 5gal, with the exception of bettas. As much as I love bettas, I wanted something a little more unique, so ADFs it was!

Here's the tank shortly after "rescaping". Really, I just replaced the substrate and removed the cave hide (which would be unsafe for the frogs). Substrate is pool filter sand. I forgot how stark white this stuff is when it's new and shiny. I'm actually looking forward to it getting a little grungy—I think the bright white doesn't look all that great under this lighting. I think if I decide I hate it, I'll switch to bare bottom or small-medium river stones. We'll see. I also want some wood and river stones to glue the plants to, since they don't look the greatest just hovering, but I need to actually get the wood and rocks first. I might also pick up some stem plants to fill in the background. In the meantime, I think this will be alright for the frogs and I'll work on finding them some appropriate hides.

It's still a bit cloudy from the sand, but hoping it'll clear up overnight.

 

[Lcc86]

I've kept ADF's for years, had one live to 8 but haven't had the same luck with my newer batch unfortunately. The only thing I would say is 5 gallons is quite small, and they prefer being kept in larger groups. They're very trainable when it comes to feeding but lots of patience is needed!

 

[Jamie D.]

Congrats on the new frogs, coming soon! I have a similar 6 gallon tank for my ADFs and they do quite well in it. I have five...yes, I know most people would say that's overstocked, but they seem to have plenty of space and they get along very well...20 percent water changes weekly, a tiny ZooMed canister filter and lots of live plants keep the water clean (I have a plethora of ramshorn snails and a nerite in there as well for cleanup). I find that the more overgrown my tank is, the happier the frogs are. Plenty of different levels in the tank for them to rest on between the top and bottom too...I often see them resting in the plants mid-tank. The males sing late at night, which is fun as they're right on my desk where I'm working.

Your sand is quite bright, but I'm sure it'll be more tan soon. I have black sand for mine, which shows off the platinum frogs nicely, but it's much harder to see the normal colored frogs, so it would be nice to have tan, I think.

I hand-feed mine with long tongs, because one of mine is a bit of a runt with a shoulder problem (he came that way) who doesn't hunt well on his own, and I like to make sure he gets a decent amount along with the rest.

Have fun picking out your frogs! I'll look forward to seeing how your tank scaping progresses.

 

[Seisage]

I've kept ADF's for years, had one live to 8 but haven't had the same luck with my newer batch unfortunately. The only thing I would say is 5 gallons is quite small, and they prefer being kept in larger groups. They're very trainable when it comes to feeding but lots of patience is needed!

They're definitely rather small at the moment, so I think the 5gal will be alright for them, at least for a while. I may consider upgrading to a 10gal at some point though!

 

[Seisage]

Frogs are acclimated and in the tank! They really are jumpy little buggers. I also got some bacopa for the tank, but I think I'll need to get plant weights... Also got a few small river stones, so I'll glue some of the rhizome plants to those tomorrow.

No pictures for now since it's long past lights off for the tank and I want the froggies to have the dark to settle in nicely. They both seem to be doing okay, although I think they may need overnight to really calm down. They've been doing a fair bit of glass surfing. I think what I really need to do is get something to cover the two side walls of the tank. I'm going to the store tomorrow for other frog supplies anyway, so I'll look for some black sheets of posterboard or something to tape to the sides and hopefully make them feel more secure.

I'll also pick up some mini terracotta pots, as well as a terracotta saucer for feeding. I hear they really love half-buried terracotta pots.

 

[Lcc86]

They do love a terracotta pot! I haven't heard of ADF's glass surfing before, although their "swimming" is sometimes quite erratic. I tend to feed with a pipette as I've found they just don't find it otherwise, they're not very motivated to search for food on their own lol.

 

[Seisage]

They do love a terracotta pot! I haven't heard of ADF's glass surfing before, although their "swimming" is sometimes quite erratic. I tend to feed with a pipette as I've found they just don't find it otherwise, they're not very motivated to search for food on their own lol.

Yeah, it's somewhat erratic swimming, but directed at the walls of the tank, so the only way I can really describe it is glass surfing. Only one of them seems to be doing it consistently.

I also finally found the actual model of the tank I have and it's technically a 6-gallon tank! That does make sense, since it takes me 5.5 gallons to fill it close to the top. I have referred to it as a 5.5gal in the past, but started just saying "5gal" for succinctness. So, not much larger than originally stated, but a little better.

I'll definitely keep the pipette in mind. I'll see how the saucer goes first, I think, but I'm no stranger to target feeding so it won't be an issue if I have to do that.

Oh, and do they trill? I know they call at night, but it's usually more of a buzzing sound, isn't it? I've started hearing a faint trilling (no buzz) from across the room that I've never heard before and I genuinely can't tell if it's the frogs lol.
Edit: no, it must be something weird in the room, or else I'm hallucinating, because their calls are only by the males and only for mating. My frogs are still juveniles, so not sexually mature, and I can't sex them yet so I don't even know if I have a male. Plus, I'd be astonished if they felt comfortable enough to call after all the travel and adjustments they've been through today.

 

[Lcc86]

They do "sing", but you're right it's a mating thing so it may be too soon!

 

[gwand]

About every month my male ADF mounts the female and they swim around the tank joined together. It’s an interesting behavior given that ADFs do not copulate. But this behavior induces the female to lay her eggs.

 

[Seisage]

Photo time! They've settled down a bit, thankfully, so they're a little less spastic and spending more time chilling.

Just hanging out, and then...

Nyoom!

The two together

"MY thermometer. No touch "

I'll have to come up with names for these guys. They're so charismatic

 

[gwand]

Photo time! They've settled down a bit, thankfully, so they're a little less spastic and spending more time chilling.

View attachment 338584
Just hanging out, and then...

Nyoom!
View attachment 338585

View attachment 338586
The two together

View attachment 338587
"MY thermometer. No touch "

I'll have to come up with names for these guys. They're so charismatic

Very cool little guys. I hope you enjoy them as much as we enjoy our ADFs.

 

[Jamie D.]

Photo time! They've settled down a bit, thankfully, so they're a little less spastic...

So cute! Congratulations! And yes, terracotta pots are great. I break mine in half so I don't have to bury them...then they just sit on the surface like a little cave.

The calls are more like buzzing, but I was pretty stoked to hear at least two different types of calls from my tank earlier this week. I actually had to stop what I was doing and pay attention, because I'd never heard the second type of "buzz pattern" before. You'll enjoy it when they get older, for sure.

 

[MuddyWaters]

Photo time! They've settled down a bit, thankfully, so they're a little less spastic and spending more time chilling.

View attachment 338584
Just hanging out, and then...

Nyoom!
View attachment 338585

View attachment 338586
The two together

View attachment 338587
"MY thermometer. No touch "

I'll have to come up with names for these guys. They're so charismatic

so cute! That 2nd picture is perfect- "movin' out!!"

 

[Seisage]

So cute! Congratulations! And yes, terracotta pots are great. I break mine in half so I don't have to bury them...then they just sit on the surface like a little cave.

The calls are more like buzzing, but I was pretty stoked to hear at least two different types of calls from my tank earlier this week. I actually had to stop what I was doing and pay attention, because I'd never heard the second type of "buzz pattern" before. You'll enjoy it when they get older, for sure.

I'm definitely excited to watch them grow! As I said earlier, they're too young to sex, but hopefully I got lucky and got at least one male. I wouldn't be sad if both of them turned out female, but it would definitely be cool to hear the calls.

I did put in a couple mini terracotta pots yesterday. I can't tell how much they're being used yet, but I know at least one has spent a bit of time checking them out.

By the way, what temperatures do you keep your frogs at, @Lcc86 and @Jamie D. ? When I was doing research, I got wildly different temperature ranges. Some sources said they preferred cooler water (65-72F/18-22C), while some say they need warmer (75-82F/24-28C). It seems like there isn't a commonly agreed-upon temp range for them, which is strange considering how popular they are. I did have the tank unheated initially, with temps at ~73F during the day and ~71F at night, but I was worried that was a little too cold. I had a small secondhand pre-set heater that I decided to put in the tank. There isn't anything on it to indicate what it's set to, but temp testing throughout the day shows it must be set at 80F. Would this be too hot for them? Would it be better to have them in the low 70s?

 

[Lcc86]

I'm definitely excited to watch them grow! As I said earlier, they're too young to sex, but hopefully I got lucky and got at least one male. I wouldn't be sad if both of them turned out female, but it would definitely be cool to hear the calls.

I did put in a couple mini terracotta pots yesterday. I can't tell how much they're being used yet, but I know at least one has spent a bit of time checking them out.

By the way, what temperatures do you keep your frogs at, @Lcc86 and @Jamie D. ? When I was doing research, I got wildly different temperature ranges. Some sources said they preferred cooler water (65-72F/18-22C), while some say they need warmer (75-82F/24-28C). It seems like there isn't a commonly agreed-upon temp range for them, which is strange considering how popular they are. I did have the tank unheated initially, with temps at ~73F during the day and ~71F at night, but I was worried that was a little too cold. I had a small secondhand pre-set heater that I decided to put in the tank. There isn't anything on it to indicate what it's set to, but temp testing throughout the day shows it must be set at 80F. Would this be too hot for them? Would it be better to have them in the low 70s?

So just looking at my thermometer now mine are at about 25.5. I was so ignorant about 10 years ago when I first got mine and had no heater whatsoever, I lived in a very warm flat so I think the ambient temperature covered for my early mistakes. It's my understanding they can tolerate quite a ride range of temperatures but I do keep mine heated (they also share their tank with some fish these days so unheated isn't an option).

I think I only have boys left now, I'd like to get some more at some point but feeling a little disheartened at losing a few in recent months so won't be rushing.

@Seisage If you can get some floating plants in your tank they will start hanging out at the top in amongst them, which is always fun to watch.