African Dwarf Frogs

[Althamon]

My gf got me a couple of African dwarf frogs yesterday which are not the clawed variety as done the checks, due to not wanting to lose fish to them.
Has anyone had much experience with them in the past? And currently feeding them with catfish pellets (according to the lfs that's what they feed them) and in near future live food and they seem to enjoy the pellets if they can beat the fish to them.

On a fun note they enjoy adopting the sky diving position by spreading their rear legs across a couple of plants and looking to the surface.

 

[mattbleasby]

From the research i have done on these guys, as-long as it is an African Dwarf Frog. Then you will be fine feeding them with the pellet's & I have never heard of them attacking or causing issues in a tank, They seem pretty cool tank mates for someone who wants something different.

There fully amphibious which is a bonus so you dont need a shelf for them They just come too the surface to breath then go back down.

Got some pictures of them? Would love to see them in your Aquarium Good luck mate.

Edit: The only thing id make a point on is when you feed them live food or frozen make sure they get some as the top and middle dwellers can offen eat this up and the frogs are left without. So some people feed them with like tweezers or something to make sure they get some...

 

[Athena]

Hiya - yes I have had a few ADFs for the last few years. They are super little characters, much fun to watch.

I feed mine frozen foods (e.g. bloodworms, daphnia, baby brine shrimp etc), and the dried versions of those, plus various small pellets. They will even nibble at fish flakes if they can get them.

The only problem is that they are quite slow at finding the food, by which time it's usually snapped up by a greedy fish. So you do have to be patient and make sure that they are getting a fair portion every day.

My ADFs have learnt that if they sit up at the back of the filter, I can feed them directly with tweezers! Before that I used to put their food into a little cup of tank water, sloosh it around and pour it quickly into the tank above where they were sitting so that the food would sink down quicker and reach them.

Regards, Athena

 

[lilfishie]

something i have been considering myself, as said the only real problem people find is feeding them, if you can feed them they should be fine

 

[Althamon]

The method I am using at the moment is feeding flakes to the fish and dropping the pellets by my heater or as close to on top of them as possible but I may need to make a small cup to attach to the side so they can let them soften as they had a little trouble eating the pellet as the pellet even though is tiny won't fit in their mouths yet, plus they have to compete with my algae shrimp who grab a pellet and run. Will post a couple of pics up tomorrow.

I know shrimp won't be the best companion when they grow as they may try and eat them later but by then I should have a bigger tank and the shrimp will be too big to nibble on

 

[Jenste]

thought it seemed appropriate to jump in - -

ADF (african dwarf frogs, "Hymenochirus") are not catfish, or any type of fish, so should not be fed a food designed for fish.

if in the USA, HBH frog and tadpole bites. if in the UK, Zoomed frog bites. Either make a wonderful diet for them. Treat with frozen blood worm or brineshrimp (defrost prior to feeding), avoid anything and everything freeze dried and never feed fish food.

They are best kept in a species only tank, they find food by scent, not sight. Most of the time the food is found by the fish before the frogs and you end up losing the frogs due to starvation.

What size tank do you have? What are the dimensions?
ADF should not be kept in water any deeper than 14". These are little frogs who need to surface to breathe quite often - a long swim will end up tiring out the frog and it can die from stress.
What type of fish do you have?

 

[Althamon]

In my 40l I have 5 danios, 3 molly's, betta, 4 oto's, 6 japonica (algae) shrimp, 2 adf + 7 maybe 8 newly born Molly fry.

My tank is 11.5 inches deep but it's well planted and they have multiple areas nearer the surface, I also watch the frogs to ensure they get fed. The molly's and danios do go for their food but I am still trying to train the frogs to come to a certain part of the tank well enough planted to reduce the fish getting there so I don't have to worry about the competition. The shrimp aren't bothered by them and are too interested in their own food to go for the adf food.

 

[Jenste]

the fish stocking is ok in terms of they will not likely kill the frog, but 40 L (10 gallons) is not big enough for 3 mollies - unlike guppies and platies, Mollys grow quite large and need a minimum of 90-100 L ( about 25 gallons ) and some will argue that even this is not large enough. The only molly that stays smaller is the balloon molly. If you have the regular mollies which have a similar body shape to platies then you need to think about either rehoming them or upgrading your tank.

 

[Althamon]

I am planning an upgrade to a 120l tank in the near future but that will have to wait until certain circumstances resolve themselves

 

[Jenste]

I understand you are planning on upgrading, but in fairness to the fish, any knowledgeable and dedicated tank owner will always advise you to stock for the tank you can provide NOW, not the tank you HOPE you can provide in the future.

Live has a way of throwing us curveballs and the ones who will suffer are the fish - this is not fair when it is something that is easily preventable.

 

[mattbleasby]

These guys look really awesome, Tempting me now, Might have to add some to my tank when its cycled... Do they mix well with Cory's & Cherry shrimp? or is this a no no?

Thanks nice to see them in action aswell

 

[Althamon]

I wouldn't advise them with cherry shrimp as when they get bigger, shrimp can be on the menu if smaller than 2 inches from what I have read and hoping my japonicus will be fine as they should grow bigger than the frogs mouths. As long as the Corys don't compete for food they will be fine I believe (I have no experience with corys so not sure on temperament)

To be honest jenste I am pretty much new to the hobby so still learning and when I got them I was sure the tank was ok which is why I know I need to upgrade hence why it is planned.

 

[jonwhite2k]

Hi, would it be safe to have these frogs and zebra loaches together?

I've got x3 loaches, x15 neon tetras, and x6 harlequins. Unfortunately the loaches attacked my apple snails and we lost them due to this.

Cheers

 

[Jenste]

i wouldn't - esp if the loaches have already proved aggressive