African Clawed Frog Planted...

[Michael M]

Originally Posted by DaBears

Wow. Tons of new info that I have never heard before. Appreciate it a lot and will definitely reconsider the tank. Some questions...
Do plants do ok without a heater too?
I think u mentioned these frogs being sensitive to ferts...I was not going to do much fertilizing, just some seachem fluorish as directed. Will this be ok?
Is seachem fluorite an ok substrate for ACF?
I would love to see some pics of your set-up!
Thx for all the info!

Hey there, sorry for the late reply.

Plants do fine without a heater, my tank stays around 70F, which is in the cooler sub tropical range. I don't think many plants need warm water specifically.

Frogs are very sensitive to the heavy metals in fertilizers. I've written SeaChem and they responded back that their FlourishTabs are OK for amphibians but I can only assume they are safe because they are placed deep in the substrate and aren't present in the water column, this is only useful for plants which are heavy root feeders, like crypts. I'd just avoid fertilizers all together, if you're doing a low tech tank you'll probably wind up with more algae and poisoned frogs before you see much benefit for your plants.

I personally wouldn't use fluorite because your frogs can become impacted from swallowing it, the risk may not be extreme but these frogs can live 15 years or more so the chances of it eventually swallowing some of it are likely.

I use sand, I think a good sand for ACF are CaribSea's Moonlight Sand or Sunset Gold.. these aren't AWESOME for planting but they've worked OK for me. The sand is very fine and if they swallow some, it won't impact them. You could possibly use a substrate that holds plants better then add a layer of sand on top, that would work fine I think but I just use sand and my plants haven't gone anywhere.

When I get home I will post some pictures of my set up. It's only 3 months old and it's really filled in quite nicely. My wisteria is out of control and need trimmed badly, my crypt is doing well, my water sprite and frog bit/dwarf water lettuce has grown in nicely and my Anubias is actually flowering. I use no fertilizers and just have three ACF in a 40B.

Oh one last thing, make sure your frog gets at least 10 gallons, really 20 gallon long is ideal. They are very active frogs, especially at feeding time! Also make sure you get a good lid without any gaps, these guys can and will escape given half a chance. I almost lost a frog because of this but luckily I found him within a few hours.

[Michael M]

Here's some snapshots of my 40B with Clawed Frogs.. I know it's not an aquascaping masterpiece by any stretch but the frogs really enjoy it!

This is a 40 gallon breeder tank (which is actually 45 gallons). As you can see these guys love to swim around, get the biggest aquarium you can, trust me.

These are only 2.5 to 3.5" frogs btw.. they're still juveniles.. about 5-7 months old.

[Michael M]

Just so you have an idea of how this tank has grown very rapidly.. this was the tank on 9/16/12:



I did change a LOT of stuff but really I didn't add much besides floating plants and I removed that huge piece of driftwood which wasn't really doing it for me.. I would have to say it grew in nicely!

Again, zero fertilizers, no CO2, and a 36" Finnex Ray2 for lighting. Again, no masterpiece but I am very happy with the results. : )

[MikeS]

Michael M, tanks looks great. I was only reading the thread due to curiosity. These guys are pretty cool.

DaBears, not knowing a single thing about these frogs, I googled their care. Every site I clicked on said MINIMUM 10 gallons a frog.

[Michael M]

Originally Posted by MikeS

Michael M, tanks looks great. I was only reading the thread due to curiosity. These guys are pretty cool.

DaBears, not knowing a single thing about these frogs, I googled their care. Every site I clicked on said MINIMUM 10 gallons a frog.

Thanks!

[teatimecrumpet]

You know this is my very first post on this forum...I joined to post something else but since my gf has an ACF I thought I'd just pop in.

Who the heck are these people saying it's ok to stick relatively large animals in tanks just double their size? And use defenses like these animals can't talk so they can't tell us they're unhappy or not...so they must be happy!

Look, we're all jerks for keeping any animal in an environment that isn't where they are naturally from even more so for aquatic and avian animals. But we should responsibly keep them or at least admit that we cannot keep them properly when the time comes.

Seriously, get a 10 gallon, the footprint is not much bigger and the cost is probably just around the same...so why not? You could probably go even cheaper and get one on clist used.

My gf had one, in one of those 5Gallon acrylic pet carrier for years. Her dad took over and never did a lick of research. It lived in that carrier for 8 years not a single plant, hide, filter, or anything with a water line that was only an inch above it's body flat (the old man thought the frog would drown with more water...yeah...I still have to add water when I go visit). But I bought a 10g and supplies for under $20 from petco. 8 years! Honestly, I think about euthanizing the thing all the time.

Can an ACF live in bad conditions? Sure. But don't just don't.

Sorry.

[DaBears]

Originally Posted by teatimecrumpet

You know this is my very first post on this forum...I joined to post something else but since my gf has an ACF I thought I'd just pop in.

Who the heck are these people saying it's ok to stick relatively large animals in tanks just double their size? And use defenses like these animals can't talk so they can't tell us they're unhappy or not...so they must be happy!

Look, we're all jerks for keeping any animal in an environment that isn't where they are naturally from even more so for aquatic and avian animals. But we should responsibly keep them or at least admit that we cannot keep them properly when the time comes.

Seriously, get a 10 gallon, the footprint is not much bigger and the cost is probably just around the same...so why not? You could probably go even cheaper and get one on clist used.

My gf had one, in one of those 5Gallon acrylic pet carrier for years. Her dad took over and never did a lick of research. It lived in that carrier for 8 years not a single plant, hide, filter, or anything with a water line that was only an inch above it's body flat (the old man thought the frog would drown with more water...yeah...I still have to add water when I go visit). But I bought a 10g and supplies for under $20 from petco. 8 years! Honestly, I think about euthanizing the thing all the time.

Can an ACF live in bad conditions? Sure. But don't just don't.

Sorry.

Thanks for the info. U got a ten gallon tank, light, and filter all for under $20??? Please tell me how!

[DaBears]

Originally Posted by Michael M

Here's some snapshots of my 40B with Clawed Frogs.. I know it's not an aquascaping masterpiece by any stretch but the frogs really enjoy it!

This is a 40 gallon breeder tank (which is actually 45 gallons). As you can see these guys love to swim around, get the biggest aquarium you can, trust me.

These are only 2.5 to 3.5" frogs btw.. they're still juveniles.. about 5-7 months old.

Wow. Beautiful tank. Definitely will be getting at least a 10 gallon. You're telling me that plants will do fine with sand, no co2, no ferts, low light, and a frog as only bioload? Can I use tap water if treated with seachem prime? Thanks for all the help!

[Michael M]

Originally Posted by DaBears

Wow. Beautiful tank. Definitely will be getting at least a 10 gallon. You're telling me that plants will do fine with sand, no co2, no ferts, low light, and a frog as only bioload? Can I use tap water if treated with seachem prime? Thanks for all the help!

Yes to all.

[Acro]

I agree with Michael M.

For plants, I would suggest Anubias, Java Fern and Java Moss for your Frog tank. You don't even have to plant any of them, just attach to a rock, wood or aquarium decor.
Good Luck!