# Betta and African Dwarf Frog?????



## Lovemybetta11 (Mar 21, 2015)

Sorry, short on time? Male betta and adf in a 2.5 gallon tank? Thoughts?


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## Strawberry12 (Mar 6, 2015)

Way too small, i'd say a minimum of 5 gallons, preferably 10 for adding tankmates other than a shrimp or snail.


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## RussellTheShihTzu (Mar 19, 2013)

+1 Strawberry 12. ADF need the companionship of their own kind. Some keep two but three is preferable and more is better. Otherwise, they are not secure and will spend most of their time hiding instead of acting naturally.

I have six in a 10 gallon with a Betta and at least four are out and about 24/7. Right now all six are.


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## nympxzie (Oct 2, 2014)

Betta need at least 10g to have any tank mates. 
ADF's should not be kept with any fish. They usually die from malnutrition because they are slow and eat different food than fish. They can also hurt your fish or you r fish can hurt it.


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## SplashyBetta (Jul 28, 2014)

nympxzie said:


> Betta need at least 10g to have any tank mates.
> ADF's should not be kept with any fish. They usually die from malnutrition because they are slow and eat different food than fish. They can also hurt your fish or you r fish can hurt it.


ADF can be hand fed or fed in a special spot in the tank. ADF also will NOT hurt fish. They're near blind.


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## nympxzie (Oct 2, 2014)

SplashyBetta said:


> ADF can be hand fed or fed in a special spot in the tank. ADF also will NOT hurt fish. They're near blind.


African dwarf frogs have very poor eyesight. Most things are somewhat of a blur to them, and they often mistake something passing by their eyes for food. When a fish, snail or other frog flashes by your African dwarf frog, he might try to chomp down on them.  Though it is a case of mistaken identity, it's still an animal I would not recommend unless in a species only set up.


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## miscanon (Jul 6, 2013)

ADFs and betta fish are commonly kept together and most people have no problems keeping both, once they figure out the best way to feed the frogs without the betta interfering. (Feeding by hand or with tongs/tweezers or a dropper.) ADFs are practically harmless, and unless your fish is small enough to fit in their mouth, they'll leave it alone. If you're really worried about the frogs accidentally chomping on your betta's fins, get a female or a plakat.

That said, 2.5 gallons is too small for both. A five gallon with 2 frogs and a betta, provided you stay on top of water quality, should be fine, though. Make sure you quarantine new tank mates, especially frogs, as ADFs commonly carry a contagious fungus that will kill them. (I'm not sure if it can harm bettas, but quarantine is a good habit to have.)


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## RussellTheShihTzu (Mar 19, 2013)

nympxzie said:


> African dwarf frogs have very poor eyesight. Most things are somewhat of a blur to them, and they often mistake something passing by their eyes for food. When a fish, snail or other frog flashes by your African dwarf frog, he might try to chomp down on them.  Though it is a case of mistaken identity, it's still an animal I would not recommend unless in a species only set up.


It's apparent the person quoted from mom.me has never had experience with ADF and other fish. I have had to correct the myths and misinformation in that @$#$% article more times than I really ought. It's unfortunate that people such as that person can write anything on the Internet and base their "advice" on what they, in turn, have read and not what they actually know from experience. That article is also the bane of several frog forums where I lurk.

I've never had an ADF harm any of my OHM Betta or their fins; I have never had an ADF starve from malnutrition. As stated, I have six in a 10 gallon with a Betta (and CPD, Pygmy and Habrosus Cories). Everyone is healthy and well -fed. The ADF do not bother any of the fish nor do any of the fish bother them. I feed a large variety of pelleted, live and frozen foods.

All of that being said, as ADF need company of their own species they should never be in a tank smaller than a five-gallon with a Betta. The smallest tank in which I would have tankmates with a Betta, anyway, is a five. 

BTW, nympxzie, yours is one of the most underappreciated jobs in animal care, IMO. I know the kennel workers where we used to board our elderly German Shorthaired Pointer made his stay seem like home.


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## SplashyBetta (Jul 28, 2014)

nympxzie said:


> African dwarf frogs have very poor eyesight. Most things are somewhat of a blur to them, and they often mistake something passing by their eyes for food. When a fish, snail or other frog flashes by your African dwarf frog, he might try to chomp down on them.  Though it is a case of mistaken identity, it's still an animal I would not recommend unless in a species only set up.


My ADFs sometimes take 5 minutes to realize I'm holding a bloodworm in front of their face. They can't chomp something flashing by, I promise.


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## JenC (Aug 2, 2015)

I know I'm a little late to the party, but I thought I'd share my experience on the subject. I had Blue Fish for 3+ years (Male Half-moon) after about of year of keeping him in the 1.5 gal he had been gifted to my son in, I really began researching and realized I was not being a very kind fish owner. I upgraded to a 10 gallon for Blue, and began looking to add tank mates. The platies was a disaster! Talk about fin nipping! Poor Blue was overwhelmed and so docile they just harassed him constantly, and he looked like he had fin rot. (Platies are now doing fine in their own 20 gal with corys) Again well meaning family member gifted my son with one of those horrible African Dwarf Frog kits sold as toys online. Being a bit smarter to the smaller tank set up, I refused to put these 2 poor guys in the tiny half gallon they came in, but instead was luck enough that I still had a 5 gallon operating that I had used as a nursery tank for my constantly breeding platy fry. (The one time putting off something worked in my favor, LOL). After doing a lot of reading I decided to try introducing them to the 10 gal that Blue was sharing with one snail. It was wonderful right from the start! It went so well that I bought 4 more ADF's and used the 5 gal to quarantine them (only 3 made it to the Betta tank). Blue and all 5 ADF's lived quite comfortably for 1.5 years! I usually hand fed Blue in the top corner of the tank and dropped the frog food simultaneously in the opposite corner. I never had the 'anorexic frog' problem I've seen on some forums. Unfortunately we went on vacation and the person I asked to look after my two tanks proved to be unreliable and Blue died while we were gone over a 4-day weekend (I suspect old age he was 3.5ish), but 3 of the ADF's also died due to the extreme levels of ammonia from being in the tank with the poor dead Blue  Fortunately having learned how handy it is to have a constantly ready pre-cycled tank I had always kept the 5 gal operating incase I needed to separate or quarantine any of our swimming friends and was able to save our last two ADF's and clean the tank to start over. We are now up to the original two ADF's (Fat Lewis and Oscar) we have just introduced a new Double Tail male (Arthur? my son keeps changing his name, LOL) and I'm getting the small tank ready to quarantine some new ADF's probably 4-5 to add with our betta and current frogs. I have never seen any of them try to nip at the fins or even show aggression to the other species and Blue would often play with them. The new betta has only been in a week and doesn't play with them yet but will occasionally nudge them with his snout if they lay on the bottom too long as if he's just not sure what they are doing. I don't understand the people who advise against bettas and ADF's sharing a tank, however I do see a lot of inexperienced people confuse ADF's and the clawed frog, so maybe that's what is going on there? I absolutely recommend Betta/ ADF co-habitation, just be sure your doing your research and monitoring your tank for any issues as every betta and ADF all have their own personalities and temperaments. 

Sorry for the super long post, just wanted to share!


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