Adf Shedding Or Fungus?

[phillih2]

One of My ADF appears to be shedding. But it is not coming off in one piece it is coming off all over his body. He is very frantic right now and is zipping around the tank going to the surface often I do not have a shedding stone in the tank nor any plants only gravel and a small plastic cup acting as a cave (I have yet to go to LFS for decor) any ideas Shedding or Fungus? Mind you I only started seeing this today, and my little sister pointed it out she has better eyes so it may have been there before but I doubt my other frog is not exhibiting this behavior and does not appear to have the same problem the frog has... Yes this is my first week with the frogs so I am not sure...

 

[phillih2]

-bump-

 

[Colin_T]

fungus is white and fluffy and should only affect damaged areas on the animal.

Shedding skin looks like a cream or white film on the body. It often washes off into the water and you can see pieces floating around the tank.

The frogs will shed at different times due to different ages and growth rates.
Make sure the water quality is good and get a shedding stone (smooth river rock) asap. It should be fine in a day or so.

 

[phillih2]

Yippe I got paid and went to the LFS right away. I over spent a little too much so i probably won't get that ham radio headset I've had my eye on XD.

I picked up:
5 underwater plants (plastic) One of these i converted to a floating plant
A gravel cleaner
Cycle (the product of course cost me around 20 bucks >.<)
Tadpole and frog bites
Ammonia and PH test kits
Cave (for them to hide in =])
Some filter sponges (backups)

All in all a good trip.

One question though I tested my water came up with 1 ppm Ammonia and around 7.6 PH I did a 20% water change and it seems to have not changed anything ammonia is stable at 1 ppm. Any suggestions?
Thanks, Phil.

 

[Colin_T]

The 1ppm is because the tank wasn't cycled before you added the frogs. It is perfectly normal.
Ammonia is produced by anything breaking down in the water, be it fish food, waste, rotting plant, etc. In a couple of weeks the filter will have developed some good bacteria that will eat the ammonia and convert it to nitrite. A couple of weeks later more bacteria will develop and convert the nitrite into nitrate. Then the tank will be cycled.
During this time you need to keep the feeding down and do regular partial water changes. Unfortunately 20% water changes don't do much for lowering levels of chemical in the water. The quickest way to drop the ammonia is to do big water changes. Try doing a 50% water change each day. Make sure any new water is free of chlorine and has a similar temp & PH to the tank.

 

[phillih2]

Okay, thanks for the help Colin you were mucho helpful! Do you think that 1ppm is a dangerous level for Le frogs? because my tap water, itested it this morning, is at between .25 and .50 ppm of ammonia... Are those legal levels?

Thanks, Phil

 

[Colin_T]

any ammonia is bad for frogs and fish, however 1ppm sn't as bad as2 or 3 ppm. It also depends on the PH of the water. Ammonia is toxic in alkaline water (PH above 7.0) but not a big problem in acid water (PH below 7.0). If your pH is around 7.0 or lower, then 1ppm is not going to be an issue.
Just try not to let it get above 1ppm. Regular water changes will keep it low until the filters kick in and start breaking it down.

If your tap water has ammonia in then it could be your water supply has chloramine instead of chlorine. If this is the case you will need to use a water conditioner designed for chloramine. These conditioners break the chlorine/ ammonia bond releasing the chlorine into the air and binding the ammonia so it isn't harmful to the fish/ frogs. Then the filters can convert it to nitrite and nitrate.
Contact your local water Corporation/ Department and ask if you have chloramine in the water. If you don't then the test kit might be dodgy or might just read no ammonia as a low reading (perhaps 0.5). You can take a sample of your tap water to the LFS and have them test it for ammonia. You can take youe test kit as well and compare the results.