Betta or African Dwarf Frog tank? (poll)

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Betta or ADF?

  • Betta, definitely!

    Votes: 7 58.3%

  • ADFs, of course!

    Votes: 5 41.7%
  • Total voters
    12
librarygirl

librarygirl

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Hi!

My birthday is coming up next month and I'm torn between adding a second smaller tank but I can't decide between a Betta tank or an ADF tank.

I have a spare 5.5 gal tank that I have in case I need to QT; I may use it or I may get a new tank for this setup. I don't want anything too large so roughly 6 gals would be the ideal size for my purposes (I could go as large as 10 if needed but I'd rather stay smaller).

Since I've seen and read about ADFs I've wanted them. My concern though would be they wouldn't be active and I'd be staring at an empty tank. At least I could have more than one though, as opposed to a single Betta. I like the idea too of having a second non-fish tank.

Honestly I've never liked Bettas much, but I found one I fell in love with at an LFS a few months back; we sort of bonded when I looked at him and I had named him Phoenix. When I went back a few days later to get him he was gone. :( Since then I've looked at Bettas but I haven't found one I've fallen for again; not to say it won't happen, but it hasn't so far. I do like the Crowntails the best, so if i were to get a Betta it would be a male Crowntail. Ever since I saw the one I fell in love with but lost, the idea of having a Betta has been itching the back of my brain.

So helop me decide: ADF or Betta? And why? Thanks. :)
 
Last edited:
librarygirl said:
Hi!

My birthday is coming up next month and I'm torn between adding a second smaller tank but I can't decide between a Betta tank or an ADF tank.

I have a spare 5.5 gal tank that I have in case I need to QT; I may use it or I may get a new tank for this setup. I don't want anything too large so roughly 6 gals would be the ideal size for my purposes (I could go as large as 10 if needed but I'd rather stay smaller).

Since I've seen and read about ADFs I've wanted them. My concern though would be they wouldn't be active and I'd be staring at an empty tank. At least I could have more than one though, as opposed to a single Betta. I like the idea too of having a second non-fish tank.

Honestly I've never liked Bettas much, but I found one I fell in love with at an LFS a few months back; we sort of bonded when I looked at him and I had named him Phoenix. When I went back a few days later to get him he was gone. :( Since then I've looked at Bettas but I haven't found one I've fallen for again; not to say it won't happen, but it hasn't so far. I do like the Crowntails the best, so if i were to get a Betta it would be a male Crowntail. Ever since I saw the one I fell in love with but lost, the idea of having a Betta has been itching the back of my brain.

So helop me decide: ADF or Betta? And why? Thanks. :)
Click to expand...

I've had both on several occasions. They are both fun. ADFs are not completely inactive. However, you only feed them weekly. A Betta you could feed (sparingly) daily. Both have a lot of character. Sounds like you have you mind set on a Betta already. Go for that then.

Matter of fact, with 6 gallons you may be able to have both. I've had both at the same time in a 10 gallon with other community fish. However, you may want to wait and see what folks may reply to that suggestion. There may be some reason not to have them coexist, but it worked out fine for me.
 
Labenator65000 said:
I've had both on several occasions. They are both fun. ADFs are not completely inactive. However, you only feed them weekly. A Betta you could feed (sparingly) daily. Both have a lot of character. Sounds like you have you mind set on a Betta already. Go for that then.

Matter of fact, with 6 gallons you may be able to have both. I've had both at the same time in a 10 gallon with other community fish. However, you may want to wait and see what folks may reply to that suggestion. There may be some reason not to have them coexist, but it worked out fine for me.
Click to expand...

African Dwarf frogs should be fed daily or every other day in the least. Feed them like you would your fish.
 
I had the same experience with bettas... I never liked them until that One... Now I'm hooked. Lol. But since I don't know much about ADF I did a search and found this link which says they are ok with bettas.
http://frogworld.net/african-dwarf-frog


I got all excited about them and was considering getting one until I got to the end where they say they can live up to 18 years. Um, no...
 
I vote betta:). There are so many out there and I've had some really fun ones! Plus IME I've always been able to but tank mates with them, so more fish;). I love them! I'm actually trying to train mine and they come in SO many colors. 100% betta all the way.
 
Betta!! They are colorful and easy to take care of plus fun fish I'm going to get one! African dwarf frogs are cool to.
 
Thanks guys, but the vote is tied 3 to 3. LOL

I'm still undecided. Today I'm leaning toward frogs but my mind could change by the end of next month LOL

I've read that both could be possible in a slightly larger tank but I don't know if I'd want to risk it. It's an interesting possibility but if it didn't work out I'd need to separate them and since I wouldn't want to return the fish or frogs I'd end up with a third tank. :S
 
Id say your main problem here is getting the adf's their food. Their finiky eaters. My bettas are all aggressive eaters, snaking on anything from the top to the bottom of my tank, and other fish would do this also. You just gota make sure the frogs can get to the food and have time to eat it before someone else eats it for them lol.
My vote, bettas, but i have 4 so my vote is biased lol.
 
I 've had both and would love to see you try them at co-existing. Partial to adf's for what it's worth because there're more options for a community tank if you end up wanting to change things up. They do need to eat about every other day. What's cool is both betas and adf's like bloodworms. To ensure the frog is getting its fair share, I've had luck training them to hop in a net and settle into a vessel hooked over the side of the tank, like a 4-cup plastic measuring cup (itself filled with tank water and on the inside of the tank). Either way, good luck. Let us know what you decide!
 
I work with a fellow who has some frogs in his tank. He talks about them being boring because they seem to spend so much time just hanging in the water in something of a spread eagle. Several times, he's though they were dead.

But having participated in both this aquarium forum as well as a forum devoted to bettas, I can say that I've never heard anyone ever describe a betta as boring (unless the whole idea of fish keeping was boring to them... but we know better).
 
Well.....I got a Betta! :)

My birthday was the 23rd, so yesterday I went to a few stores. The first I went to didn't have any Bettas I connected with and I really wanted a Crowntail male and they didn't have many. I almost bought a tank anyway but I held off. The second store I went to had a good number of Crowntail males. I picked up every cup they had; about halfway through I saw one that I sort of liked, and put the cup aside. After looking through the rest of them I picked this cup back up.

The fish looked at me. I looked at him. I swear when I thought of putting it back he looked straight at me and started shimmying his fins, then he blew me a bubble. He had me right then. :)

So then I went to the tank area. They had a few 5 gals but none of them were very attractive for the price. Then I saw a 5 gal Fluval Chi on sale for about the same price as the less fancy tanks so I bought it. Also got some Betta pellets and a couple of Betta beds and a Moss ball. I had gravel at home leftover from my other tank (which has sand in it now) and I had a spare heater. I had an extra sponge filter I had bought to help cycle the tank months ago but I kept it in case I ever needed some extra media so it came in handy. I cut it up and fit what I could in the Fluval's filter.

I checked the cup the betta was in and surprisingly it was 0 ammonia and 0 nitrite. He watched me as I set up his new home. The Chi doesn't have a lid which worries me so I just ordered a Fluval Chi lid online (why it doesn't come with the lid is beyond me).

I rinsed everything, set it all up, let the water come up to temp (I have it on 80 now but I'm reading conflicting reports on what temperature they like so I'm wondering if 80 is too high) and drip acclimated my new buddy for an hour.

He seems small so I guess he's young so it'll be fun to watch him grow. I bought him some Omega One Betta pellets. He's purplish with some blue streaks in his tail. His body colors are a bit splotchy but hopefully he'll color up as he matures and relaxes. I fed him two Betta pellets this morning.

He's cute guy, I love him already. Still undecided on a name: Pisces? Phoenix? Suggesions welcome. :)

Here are some pics.
 

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Ha pretty Betta!!! I got African dwarf frog and they are blind!!! Good choose!
 
Fishie said:
Ha pretty Betta!!! I got African dwarf frog and they are blind!!! Good choose!
Click to expand...

LOL Yes I've heard that about frogs. In the future I may either upgrade tanks and try this one with some ADFs or get a separate ADF tank; still haven't given up on wanting those either. :D
 
librarygirl said:
LOL Yes I've heard that about frogs. In the future I may either upgrade tanks and try this one with some ADFs or get a separate ADF tank; still haven't given up on wanting those either. :D
Click to expand...

Don't get me wrong i like them but they just won't eat! I have to hand fed them because he won't eat but that's my favorite part!
 
I believe he, is actually a she. Females have shorter lengthed fins, the males have the longer flowing fins. If it is a female crowntail, its a nice one, i hardly see females for sale, but all crowntails look amazing i think :)
 
hippy guy said:
I believe he, is actually a she. Females have shorter lengthed fins, the males have the longer flowing fins. If it is a female crowntail, its a nice one, i hardly see females for sale, but all crowntails look amazing i think :)
Click to expand...

Ack, I think you're right! I had wanted a male as they tend to have longer fins and blow bubble nests. I thought I could tell the difference but apparently not. :facepalm: She must have gotten mixed in with the male cups and I was too stupid to tell the difference (or mesmerized by her charm :D). Oh well, it was fate I guess. :)
 
You have more options for tank mates now, however. You could even have other female crowntails. Neons are good, shrimps can sometimes work too
 
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