Hi all,
I've recently adopted an aftrican clawed frog, and since I have no experience with frogs I thought I could ask you for some advice.
So he (I figured it is a HE based on other postings) lives in 10gallon aquarium, with a whisper filter - he was kept like that before and seems to be quite used to it - often he just floats under the waterfall and does not seem to be bothered by it at all.. What I've noticed is that even I use a filter, the water got a bit cloudy after few days.. Is it ok?How often should I change the water?
Now the thing is that I'm pretty sure he used to be fed mostly gold fish food before.. He does not look skinny, which is a good thing, but after browsing some websides I realized that this is not a food for him..
So I went ahead and bought for now some superworms, tetra reptomin floating sticks and a feeding guppy to see what he will eat.
What I've noticed so far is that he really likes reptomin. I could see that as soon as I droped one stick into the water, he imidiatelly sensed it and went crazy to find and eat it.
For the worm - he ignored it for quite a while, and actually ate it only after he fell into it while swimming.
But for the guppy - first he got very excited and tried to catch it. I'm not sure but it looks like he has no experience at all in catching anything which is running away, so it took him a long time to finally grab it. He ate it, but after short time he spit it out, and didn't touch it again... Does it mean he does not like it and I should stop trying giving him live fish??
Thanks!

Reptiles and Amphibians » Frogs » African Clawed Frog Main Page

African Clawed Frog Care Sheet and Information - WNYHS

African Clawed Frog

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MARSHA
A man without a woman is a bachelor, A woman without a man is a genius!.

We have enough youth, how about a fountain of smart!

10 gallon is OK. Check your PH levels to make sure they are pretty much a 7. Add PH up or PH down if not. Be sure to use something to dechlorinate the water before you add it. I find that if I do not use enough dechlorinater it will be cloudy.

Personally,I think whisper filters suck. When it dies in a year (don't worry, it will) get an Aqua Clear Filter by Hagen. They do 4 times a better job.

As for food, don't give up on what you feed him. Try another guppy in another week and see what happens. He may never eat it, but he might.

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My name is Liz
Do what's best for the animal, not what's best for you.

Hello,

I am not into the whole frog scene, but I may be able to help with the water issue.

There are several reason why a tank can become cloudy. If you just set this tank up, and everything was "clean" before you tossed it together, you may not have enough "good bacteria" in the water yet to completely break down the frogs waste. Typically a tank will take anywhere from 6-8 weeks to cycle.

Another reason for cloudy water could be minerals in the water you are using. This is not uncommon if you are using normal tap water without a water conditioner. A bottle of water conditioner is pretty cheap and can be found anywhere fish are being sold.

Overfeeding is another reason for cloudy water and seems to be one of the most common reasons. When your frog is fed, you want to only feed what he is eating in a 2-5 minute span. (Just like with fish.) If you are allowing the food to fall to the bottom of the tank, and it is resting in the gravel, it has just become food for any bacteria in the water. The more it accumulates, the more bacteria there is feeding and the water will remain cloudy.

Items added to a tank that have not been adequately or sufficiently rinsed off will also cause cloudy water.

Inadequate water changes or frequency in water changes can cause cloudy water as well. Pending how long this tank has been setup, you will want to do a 20% water change roughly once a week. This will help prevent the tank from being a closed system as you will be introducing new water once a week.

High ammonia and PH levels can also cause cloudy water. You will need to test your water to see where you stand with the levels.

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.:: Rich ::.

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oh, i forgot to post, a 25% water change is a good idea once a month.

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My name is Liz
Do what's best for the animal, not what's best for you.

Hi again,
Thanks a lot for all your suggestions and info! As for the water, I've already got some water test thing and I'll check it out as soon as I'll get home. But yeah, I did set up the aquarium clean - the gravel I got with it (and with the frog hehe) - was pretty small and I've read that the frog can swallow it by accident, so I got a a new one. There was basically nothing else there, so I got him small terracota pot and also a piece of driftwood (sold as malaysian driftwood) so he can have some placed to hide. I've been soaking the driftwood for a few days in water before putting into aquarium, but it still changes the color of water a little bit (I think it is fine, right?)
I'll make sure to make partial water changes once in a while, and I hope after some time it will be ok.
Thanks again.

I'm very curious to see if he'll eat a guppy next time or not...

If you just set the tank up within the past couple of days the cloudiness is a bacterial bloom and will dissapate.
If the wood feels sort of slimy, don't put it in the tank. It has not been cured and will leach organic material into the water.
A lot of wood that is sold as decorative material was not intended to be submerged in water.

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Merlin,
What's Life Without A Little Magic!

A great product ive found to be very useful also is "Tetra Aquasafe"...you just dump the measured amount into the tank every water change. It zaps all those harmful metals, and chlorine. You can find it at PetCo.

I would also invest in looking for another clawed frog to accompany the one you got now. All the research ive found says that theyre very communitive, and find comfort with others of their own species around. Just a suggestion, just make sure if you do decide to get another, that he/she is relitivley the same size...they literally eat anything that fits in their mouths...even their own friends...

i use the aqua safe for my frogs. It works great. I make it a gallon at a time.

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My name is Liz
Do what's best for the animal, not what's best for you.