Feeding African Dwarf Frogs

[Phaedra]

Okay, so making sure my little ADF is getting enough to eat is proving a more frustrating task than I ever imagined.
I started with frozen bloodworms. Thawed in a shotglass of tank water when I first got them, I would turn off the filter, then sink them as far as I could reach into the water and drop them over my ADF. Let me tell you, it was a crap shoot, and messy to boot!

So I did some more reading. Found that lots of people use the baster method. Bought myself a baster and started sucking up bloodworms, only to find that they would fall out in droves as soon as I tipped the baster into the water, sending bloodworms all over the tank.
And then I discovered that bloodworms have been reported as being bad for ADF's digestive track, so I went to my LFS and bought some HBH Frog & Tadpole bites. According to the canister, they were soft, sinking aquatic frog food. They would be great, if it wasn't for the fact that they're about as small as my betta bites, and are quickly lost in the substrate despite the fact that I switched to smaller gravel 2 weeks ago. I've tried the baster method with this as well, but they seem to sink too fast for him to see them and strike at them.

Finally today I decided I was going to find me some nice, larger pellets and settled on ReptoMin, a variety can with "mini-sticks, mini-krill and baby shrimp" which I had heard good things about. So tonight I plopped one of the mini sticks into the water and- they float!
Completely frustrated with not having actually seen my little ADF actively feed, I got me a pair of tweezers from the cabinet, stuck my arm into the tank (nearly up to my elbow, I might add) and proffered him one of the mini-sticks after it had softened by floating uselessly at the top of the water for a while. Finally- FINALLY, I watched him attack the little stick and gobble it down.

My question is this. I've spent more money on food for my ADF so far than I actually did today buying a QT tank. Can someone give me some advice on ensuring that he's getting enough to eat and that I'm feeding him the right amount and type of food? And if someone has some suggestions on the actual act of feeding him, I would be eternally grateful.

Thank you!

 

[tmack]

Hi. I had 2 I bought a while ago and I couldn't keep them alive long - couldn't get them to eat, and couldn't get the food to them. At least you found a way to get yours to eat something! You might get a better response if you post in the Invertebrates, amphibians.... section of the forum - it's near the bottom of the section listings on the main forum page, or hopefully this link will take you to that section:

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showforum=30

Good luck!

 

[K.J.]

I feed my ADF bloodworms and veggie flakes. The only way I manage to get him to eat is from my fingers or from the tweezers. Otherwise, he's doing good. Do you have any tropical flakes? Try feeding from your finger. Don't worry, they don't bite. (well, actually, they do, but it just tickles a bit)

 

[*Fishkies*]

I've feed tropical flake food, along with the HBH frog and tadpole bites, and have had one living for two years now.

 

[Pidgecbr600rr]

I had all the same problems, in all honesty i think i totally overfed my tank the whole time i had my frog, but i found it would also eat my pest snails if if i deshelled them a little, i believe it actually probably lived on the baby snails inside of the ornaments as mine lived a reasonable time (about 6 months) and if i could only manage to get it to take food twice a week i was lucky, also found it would eat peas too if broken up small enough

 

[Phaedra]

Thanks everyone for the responses. It's nice to know that I'm not alone!

Hi. I had 2 I bought a while ago and I couldn't keep them alive long - couldn't get them to eat, and couldn't get the food to them. At least you found a way to get yours to eat something! You might get a better response if you post in the Invertebrates, amphibians.... section of the forum - it's near the bottom of the section listings on the main forum page, or hopefully this link will take you to that section:

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showforum=30

Good luck!

Thank you! I always forget that there is a forum for invertebrates. I'm sorry to hear about your little ADF's. I did have one that passed, a little female who was not quite as... sturdy as my little male seems to be and she died after about a week.
The male is much more active though, so I have high hopes for him, as long as I can get his food to him.

I feed my ADF bloodworms and veggie flakes. The only way I manage to get him to eat is from my fingers or from the tweezers. Otherwise, he's doing good. Do you have any tropical flakes? Try feeding from your finger. Don't worry, they don't bite. (well, actually, they do, but it just tickles a bit)

Hi KJ! How's Larry doing? I didn't realize you had ADF's too. I do have tropical flakes. I'll give that a try tonight. I managed to get him to eat some bloodworms last night, he pigged out actually, and then hunted all over to get the leftovers. I was pleasantly surprised. I tried the mini sticks too, and although he attacks them, I don't think they're soft enough for him to really get a bite out of despite the fact that I soaked them for a while. My arm was soaking wet afterwards, but I was happy to see him eating.

I've feed tropical flake food, along with the HBH frog and tadpole bites, and have had one living for two years now.

Do you have any particular way you feed him? My problem with the HBH frog bites is that they sink so fast, Fhergy doesn't notice that they're there and then they get lost in the gravel. I can't get them in the tweezers either because they're so small.

I had all the same problems, in all honesty i think i totally overfed my tank the whole time i had my frog, but i found it would also eat my pest snails if if i deshelled them a little, i believe it actually probably lived on the baby snails inside of the ornaments as mine lived a reasonable time (about 6 months) and if i could only manage to get it to take food twice a week i was lucky, also found it would eat peas too if broken up small enough

Aww! A kindred spirit! Thanks for posting, it makes me feel better to know that I'm not the only one. I don't have any live plants in the tank, so no snail problems as of yet. And I highly doubt that Fhergy would eat Bento, my mystery snail. What method do you use to get the food to your ADF? Tweezers? Or do you just drop the food in there and let him scavenge?
Fhergy is a very active eater, I haven't actually had problems with him refusing food as long as I can get it down to him and he notices it. Whereas the female I bought along with him would let a bloodworm drape right over her face and not budge an inch.

 

[SnBMeg]

I've had my ADF for...uh...over a year. The oldest photo I've got of him is from Feb06, but I'd had him for a while before I took any.

I also feed the HBH Frog & Tadpole bites, but I've got a piece of slate in my tank that I drop them onto, so the froggie can get to them easily. Other than that he gets whatever else I'm feeding the other fish in the tank--mostly (thawed) frozen brine shrimp.

I've actually had great success with the brine shrimp. Since I've got eaters at all levels of the tank (bottom feeders currently include Emerald Catfish and 3 kinds of snails), I just drop them at the surface and let them drift down; anything that settles on the gravel gets eaten by somebody. The ADF knows when dinner time is, and he's always eagerly waiting for me to come by the tank, and one of the first to get to the falling shrimp. Even when he's not there, he smells the shrimp shortly after I put them in and goes on the prowl for them.

I've found that it helps a lot to always put the food in the same place every time, because then the ADF knows where to look when he's hungry.

 

[Phaedra]

All fabulous information! Thank you SnBMeg! I may steal your slate idea. I like that. I may even be able to add some to his little log decoration and see if that works. Do you find that the HBH bites move around in the tank's current? That was my main concern with putting some sort of a dish in there.

 

[iairj84]

When I had ADF's I always had the hardest time feeding them and could never keep them alive more than a couple months. Maybe it was something I was doing wrong but either way I like to keep my tanks as simple as possible.

 

[SnBMeg]

I'm really happy with how the slate is working out in my tank. It also serves as a dinner table for several of my other fish, so it's not only the ADF who's benefitting from it. (Plus, since I've got Micro Sword in there, eventually the slate will be the only clear, flat area of the tank.)

The HBH bites do move around a little with the current; not a whole lot, though, unless the current is fairly strong. Since I've got my filter exhaust pointing directly to the center of the tank, this was a bit of an issue for me, too. The more troublesome solution to this (i.e.: the one I use ) is to experiment until you figure out where to drop them so that the current will put them where you want them. It takes a bit of trial-and-error, but once you've got it it's really easy and hassle-free.

The other solution, which I used until I got the first working smoothly, is to get a piece of plastic tubing--I got some 1" diameter stuff from PetCo--and put it into the tank at feeding time, so that the bottom end is wherever you want the food to be. Then just drop the HBH bites (or whatever food you're feeding; this method also works quite well for frozen and gel foods, although you'll need to rinse the tube out afterwards) into the top of the tube and they'll sink right to where you want them.

Really, the key, I think, with feeding my ADF, as well as many of my other fish, has been to be consistent and condition them to expect the food at certain times and in particular, unchanging places. (I've got one of my bettas conditioned to associate a flashlight beam with feeding. XD) Once they've learned where/when to get the food, it becomes a lot easier, and even if the froggie doesn't see the food, he'll know where to get it.

 

[tropicalgirl2007]

Hi

I have two ADFs in my tank and I feed them frozen/defrosted blood worm (they will take other frozen food too). What I do is put two cubes of frozen blood worm in and let the fish have what they want and the bits they shake off the frogs pick up. HOWEVER I'm never sure if they get enough so once a week I defrost two cubes and put it straight to the bottom giving they a good chance to eat what they want. I have had mine for 4 months now with no problems.

 

[madmom]

I also have ADF's. What I do is defrost 2 cubes in a plastic cup then pour it into the tank so it spreads over the bottom. The frogs follow the cories around ( whole other story there) so as soon as the cories start feeding the frogs do too. I really like watching them attack the bloodworms. They also tend to go after any fry I'm not quick enough to catch.