# African Dwarf Frog Questions!



## TheSailorette (Feb 19, 2014)

Hello there. I have had little to no luck with these cute little guys. I have a 20 gallon with 5 Zebra Danios, 5 glowlight tetras, 3 black tetras, and 2 otto catfish! I also have a 10 gallon with a single male betta that sadly suffers from fin bitting! I wanted to get him friends to occupy him so he'll leave his fins alone and according to the research I've done African Dwarf Frogs can be great companions along with otto catfish and Ive even heard Neon Tetras (I don't agree with this because his fins got way worse with the neons he was with about a year ago). I'd like to get a frog because I know they are calm and shouldn't bother him. But like I said I've had no luck with them! So tell me what am I doing wrong. 

I bought one when I got my fish for my 20 gallon. He went in with them and did good for about a week then passed. Then I talked to the pet store I got him from and asked what I could be doing wrong and sadly my pet store in town are not people friendly and shrugged their shoulders and told me not to feed them blood worms! I think that is crazy. Apparently they only get flakes at the store. So I got another one and once again no luck. I've had NO problem with my fish. I've had the fish in the 20 gallon for about 2 months and I had a spell of really bad ammonia and I didn't lose any fish. And I've had my betta for 2 years now. SO I have to be doing something somewhat right. Maybe I'm missing the key to these frogs. I just don't want to get another one only to kill it. I want to know more facts to ensure his best chance of survival! So if you have any tips, facts, info please share. I'm all ears!

Thanks guys!!!


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## JDragon (Jan 28, 2014)

Are you making sure that they are fed? They have bad eyesight and their food is easily taken from them. Most hand feed them - with basters or tweezers. Also, are you using frozen or freeze-dried?


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## Wiggyl (Feb 13, 2014)

You should definitely read the first post of this thread: http://www.bettafish.com/showthread.php?t=84033
And I would subscribe to it, since a lot of people with experience of ADFs still follow and will post to it. 

I personally got an ADF a few weeks ago and one thing that is severely underplayed is the fact that sometimes ADFs think the swishing betta fins are food and will jump and it and tear the fins. I learned that the hard way and my CT is suffering from it ]= To be fair the the frog, my CTs fins are long stringy red things, like the frozen blood worms I feed him (more food stuff later). Plus the LFS sold me a skinny little frog that has hips >_< I kind of hate them.

Anyways... make sure you acquire a healthy frog. Mine is very skinny and I ended up having to make him a divided section in the tank, give him a bowl with which I always feed him, and I feed him 3-4 times a day! Plus even my mystery snail will beat him to food sometimes. 

Like JDragon suggested, a baster straight to his face or long tweezers are good. They will stick their faces up into the baster going after the food. With all of those other fish in there, the bowl idea might not be of much help. There are some videos of people who net their frogs to give them food (just youtube it). 

If you want another ADF, they prefer lower traffic (I guess they have overdeveloped lateral lines or what we would call ears-kinda), so put him in with your betta. That's also only one fish that might steal his food, versus a whole lot of them in the 20g. Just be sure to check that the ADF doesn't think betta fins are food and make sure there are lots of hiding spots so that the betta doesn't pester him to death.

If your ADF was in the 20g, it's possible he was super stressed and even pestered. Like I said, they prefer lower traffic.

I hope that helps! I know it's a lot and I am by no means an expert, this is mostly stuff I've learned from experience or on the ADF thread. They are adorable but they need different care than fish.

Edit - what I feed him: alternate between frozen blood worms, daphnia, and mysis shrimp (the last are a bit too big). There are also sinking aquatic frog/tadpole pellets that he likes, but not all frog owners like. If I every have leftover frozen stuff from cutting off too big a chuck, I just toss the rest in for the rest of my fish


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## southernsweety13 (Apr 21, 2014)

I fed my frog the same food as I feed my fish. I didn't have to use any special feeding routines, I just had to make sure the food would go to the bottom of the tank. He ate fine, he lived a long life. 
I hope this helped any. Good luck


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## TheSailorette (Feb 19, 2014)

JDragon said:


> Are you making sure that they are fed? They have bad eyesight and their food is easily taken from them. Most hand feed them - with basters or tweezers. Also, are you using frozen or freeze-dried?


I tried to ensure my frog got fed. I did know they have bad eye sight and I put my frog in a bowl to feed them. And most the time they would just lay there and not eat a bite!



Wiggyl said:


> You should definitely read the first post of this thread: http://www.bettafish.com/showthread.php?t=84033
> And I would subscribe to it, since a lot of people with experience of ADFs still follow and will post to it.
> 
> BIG THANKS!!!
> ...


I normally halved or tried to forth the cubes of frozen blood worms because there was always so much! I don't wanna over feed him because it makes for a bad tank as far as making ammonia and stuff or that's kinda how I understood it. But they'd rarely eat!  I figured they were picky like my betta. Or that they were so used to the flake food the pet store gave them that they didn't get the concept of the blood worms! idk I really wanna get another one but I just don't wanna kill it!!!


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## TheSailorette (Feb 19, 2014)

By the way this is my betta's tank! Anything need to be added or taken out for a frog to live in there?


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## Wiggyl (Feb 13, 2014)

That tank looks good! For the frogs, the most important things are hiding spots and easy access to the surface to breath, which it looks like you have. 

For bowl feeding, mine takes FOREVER to find it, sometimes I have to nudge him towards the bowl. If your betta has access to that, the easiest way to make sure the frog is eating is to sit and watch, or get some tweezers or a turkey baster to put stuff right in his face. You'll want to be careful because bloodworms are really well known for causing bloat in Bettas, especially in the amounts that will be left in a bowl for a frog. 

You just have to be patient with feeding. I think they eventually get used to the eating patterns and will get better at it, but they're pretty slow. If your frog isn't a good eater, I would recommend putting the divider back. If just the frog gets through, it's not a big deal if he can go back and forth. At least his food will still be there when he goes back. [=


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