African Dwarf Frog w/my 55

[Jgeezer1986]

Well for those of you who know something about the African Dwarf Frog, i have yet another question for ya.

I am sending my whole entire tank over to a 55gal from a 20gal. I see that the frog goes to the top every now and then for a breath of air.

My 20gal stands 16" tall. He runs to the top in this tank , but seems to have to swim for a while to get there. When i send him over to the 55 gal which stands 21" tall , will he have trouble getting to the top for air?

Should i add something to the tank for him? If so what?

Never had an African Dwarf frog before , this is all new to me.

Thanks

 

[RnLGG]

My younger brother has one of these in his 10g tank. I've never kept these myself yet, but I know your tank is too big for the frog, because he will have trouble getting to the top for air, and it would be hard for it to find food in the tank. The best thing to do is to keep these frogs in smaller tanks, like a 5g or 10g, it would make things much easier for them.

 

[Jgeezer1986]

As for the food, he eats with my two cories. I know he eats well , but im just worried about having to swim too far for air.. Im thinking about getting him an a fish bowl. From everything i have read on the internet , they do well in a fish bowl

 

[mgamer20o0]

they do best in shallow tanks. like you said they need air and deeper the tank the farther they have to go for it. why not just keep those in the 20 gallon and move the rest of the fish to the 55?

 

[Brian_Nano12g]

Gosh my GF and I wanted to get an African Dwarf Frog for our tank until we discovered that Salmonella Typhimurium outbreaks in humans were linked to those little guys. Too bad because they're really cool looking and make nice additions to community tanks. I'm sure not all of those critters are outbreak monkeys in their own right, but guess we just don't want to risk it (at least until there are reports they've been cleared). Anyway, here's the source: LINK

Just take the necessary precautions if you're concerned.

 

[Twoapennything]

As for the food, he eats with my two cories. I know he eats well , but im just worried about having to swim too far for air.. Im thinking about getting him an a fish bowl. From everything i have read on the internet , they do well in a fish bowl

We have four African frogs - two are in a 10 gal. tank and two are in a 40 gal. tank, but used to be in the 10 gal. tank. They do just fine! At first they had to learn how much water was above them, and how they had to get to the surface, but now they are just as happy as they were in the smaller tank. They are pretty mellow creatures and don't move around as much as the other fish, and they are shy and like to hide a lot. As long as you have some cover in the tank somewhere, that they can use for a hiding place, you ought to be fine. I enjoy having the frogs in my tanks, and they have been very hearty.

 

[Aquarium1]

Gosh my GF and I wanted to get an African Dwarf Frog for our tank until we discovered that Salmonella Typhimurium outbreaks in humans were linked to those little guys. Too bad because they're really cool looking and make nice additions to community tanks. I'm sure not all of those critters are outbreak monkeys in their own right, but guess we just don't want to risk it (at least until there are reports they've been cleared). Anyway, here's the source: LINK

Just take the necessary precautions if you're concerned.

Don't you have to be in contact with the animal to get Salmonella? ADFs are fully aquatic so there's not really a need to handle them. Btw, you can get salmonella from all reptiles and amphibians, that's why you have to wash your hands really good after handling them.

 

[willsta2000]

As for the Salmonella risk, a lot of things we encounter in our everyday lives are potential carriers for pathogens. As long as you are not planning on eating a dwarf frog raw, you shouldn't be at any real risk of innoculating yourself with a member of the genus Samonella. People who become infected with Salmonella spp. generally have consumed quantities of laced foods, and not simply come into contact with it, granted there are strains which are more virulent than others.

Thing is, if you are treating your aquarium like you should be anyway, reaching in only when you have to, and washing if you've come into contact with aquarium fish, plants, water, etc., then you should have nothing to worry about if you practice due diligence.

 

[PhoenixAZ]

I have five frogs, it's kind of a myth that you can't have them in water deeper than a foot or so. Mine is 18" deep and they are fine, including the babies.

A fish bowl would be far too small for a frog. They need room to swim and play and besides, you wouldn't be able to cycle a fish bowl, it's too small. He'll be fine in your larger tank.

 

[mfdrookie516]

you wouldn't be able to cycle a fish bowl, it's too small.

you can cycle a test tube if you want... size is no consideration. but a fishbowl would be awefully small for an active little critter

 

[willsta2000]

... Something I didn't address before, was too focused on Salmonella.
Frogs acquire a fair amount of oxygen right through their skin. Can they stay underwater indefinitely? -no, but depending on their activity level, they are able to stay under such a long time that the depth of any reasonable household tank is not going to kill them. If a tank is 8' deep, they may not desire to dive that deep in order to forage. I don't recall the depths in question, but is the difference between a 21" tank and a 30" deep tank going to make a difference? -I would think not.

 

[Brian_Nano12g]

As for the Salmonella risk, a lot of things we encounter in our everyday lives are potential carriers for pathogens. As long as you are not planning on eating a dwarf frog raw, you shouldn't be at any real risk of innoculating yourself with a member of the genus Samonella.

Yeah we're probably just over-cautious by choice. I believe that ~79% of those who got infected by the ADF's were under the age of 10 or something ( based on the "eating them" factor as you mentioned, hopefully none of the 85 people in the statistic did ). I also read that most came from those ADF's that were in the filthy Brookstone Frog-O-Spheres (source).. that is problematic in itself and is a recipe for disaster. I'm sure the kids didn't know better in handling these creatures safely. However, you can still get infections from Salmonella from the water that houses them and bio-waste that can result from cleaning your aquarium. I mean, I personally sanitize my hands and areas that got in contact with aquarium water regardless. But just for safe practice, (don't mean to sound like a parent nagging or something) if you have one of these ADF's in your setup you shouldn't clean your aquarium and/or dump water in the kitchen (unless you're ready to thoroughly clean the area-source).

I don't know, I guess just a personal choice, but my GF and I would rather not have a creature in the tank that harbors such pathogens as the genus Salmonella. I suppose our concerns are reinforced with signs stuck on the glass of aquariums that warn about these frogs at our LPS's in California (e.g. Petco, Petsmart, and pet section of Walmart) - not sure if this affects other states. Of course, I would know better to handle the ADF's with my hands (because they are completely aquatic), but what about the excrement and molted skin from those guys lurking around in the water? My personal opinion, if I wanted to keep reptiles and/or amphibians, I would have a dedicated setup for them and take on the responsibility in housing them along with their wonderful pathogens... no thank you ...Fish only...(for now) LOL

 

[Twoapennything]

Yeah we're probably just over-cautious by choice. I don't know, I guess just a personal choice, but my GF and I would rather not have a creature in the tank that harbors such pathogens as the genus Salmonella. Fish only...(for now) LOL

I don't think you're being overly cautious - everyone has different comfort levels and it doesn't mean one or the other is right or wrong I actually had no idea that ADFs could harbor Salmonella, so I learned something from this thread. I have always said I would never keep turtles as pets for exactly that reason: salmonella. And here I am with frogs, feeling perfectly fine about them being in my tanks. But, seriously, I don't think you need to be apologetic about your and your GF's comfort level. Having a pet - any kind of pet - that makes you uncomfortable is just not a good idea. BTDT, and it was not enjoyable at all.

 

[PhoenixAZ]

you can cycle a test tube if you want... size is no consideration. but a fishbowl would be awefully small for an active little critter

We'll have to agree to disagree on this one.

 

[willsta2000]

There is definitely a point of diminishing return for preventing incidental exposure to pathogens. I'd say it's a given that most all of us are cautious of our behavior around our tanks (washing whenever coming into contact with the environment). The reality is fish can also harbor Salmonella spp., especially coldwater fish like goldfish whose breeding ponds also harbor amphibians (common Salmonella carriers), among other harmful organisms.

My personal worry is handling snails, which harbor several nasties that make Salmonella seem like a walk in the park.
The scary thing is, in reality, you have much more to worry about with respect to contracting Salmonella in merely eating fresh produce- vegetables, fruits, or drinking juice that hasn't been pasteurized. Granted, I wouldn't know where to start as far as quantifying these risks, but I'd say the likelihood of coming into contact with Salmonella while taking some precaution with an aquarium comparable to getting hit by falling airplane debris, while coming into contact with it eating in public comparable to getting in a car accident on any given day... several degrees of magnitude difference.

If you've swam in freshwater, you have much very likely come into contact with Salmonella, you just have not swallowed enough to cause disease.

All we can do is take the necessary precautions and leave the rest in God's hands.

 

[sliderfish]

+1 on everything willsta said esp the fact that frogs can take oxygen in through their skin and a couple extra inches of water will not affect them.

 

[hbeth82]

If the ADF can breath through their skin, is the typical oxygenation level in the water enough or should you also have an airstone? I've thought about getting a few of these little guys for my 55 and had been more concerned about them jumping out than sufficient oxygen or water being too deep.

As for the salmonella, have to agree with many others on this thread - need to be careful after handling anything that (to a certain extent) lives in it's own waste, but doesn't mean they're horribly unsafe. This is often a concern on turtle threads too but most seem to agree that washing your hands after handling the animal or coming in contact with it's water and not mixing 'animal areas' with 'food areas' is sufficient. I've seen the notices about turtles in different stores, supposedly most of it seems to stem from instances of a child putting the animal in it's mouth, or children who got sick when a caregiver failed to wash their hands after handling the animal.

 

[sliderfish]

I'd think that if you had solid circulation from a good filter you wouldn't need anything extra. They do take in oxygen this way, but do breathe normally as well so if they need air they will move to get it but the flow will help.

+1 on washing your hands lol

 

[hbeth82]

Cool, getting more excited about getting a few of these now, thanks!!!
On the salmonella, hadn't been too concerned about my turtle, since I keep her tank pretty clean, then read about an incident of a family who lost a 6wk old infant. Obviously, the child hadn't handled the turtle and it was thought that someone in the family had played with / handled the turtle, then held the child without thinking about it. So, fully understand the concern and caution but I think as long as people are careful, should be fine.