# African Dwarf Frog Aquarium Setup



## keroppi (Dec 31, 2012)

I have an African Dwarf Frog that has currently living 1.5 years. And 2 ADFs for 4 months. For those who have had ADFs live a long time (3-5 years) please advise me.

Background: I am transferring the large African Dwarf Frog from a small hexagon aquarium (less than 1 gallon). The hexagon tank currently has living gravel, decorative gravel, rock, and a plant. 

I have a 3 gallon Cube Tetra Water Wonders aquarium

My 3 gallon tank advises that I put 2-4 pounds of gravel (does not specify living gravel or decor gravel).

Questions:

When I purchase living gravel; how many pounds should be in the 3 gallon tank?

Do I need to rinse the living gravel?

How much water should I add into the cube 3 gallon tank? I have seen videos of ADFs living in large tanks, but I am worried that my frogs can't swim to the top for their breath of air. They are living in a very small aquarium; maybe 8-16 fl oz?

Anything else I should know? *w2


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## susankat (Nov 15, 2008)

Moved to freshwater section.


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## ScurvyGoat (Dec 1, 2011)

I have had African Dwarf Frogs for years. I've had them in many set ups and over the years fine tuned what I have. Currently my two frogs are the most active I've ever had and very plump and happy. My frogs are in a 5.5 gallon tank with a soft sand substrate, many many live plants, and several small caves and logs. I feed them phoenix worms, frozen/thawed blood worms/brine shrimp/tubifex worms, and on the very rare occassion dwarf frog pellets. 

I hiiiiighly suggest 5 gallons for 1-2 frogs and then roughly 1 frog for every other 2 gallons. They frogs can be social and feel more secure with others but do enjoy their own space. They also have absolutely no problem with reaching air in 10 gallon tanks. I wouldn't suggest keeping them in anything taller unless you keep the water lower. I use a small nano canister filter on my tank with a spray bar so I can adjust the flow and keep things gentle with them. 

You can use normal aquarium gravel but food tends to sink between where they can't reach and rots. That's why I prefer sand, they can forage and snap up any felt overs no problem. I have never used live gravel. 

Over the years I have tried many different companions with not so good results until now. Most fish are bigger than the frogs and scare them into hiding. This would include fancy guppies with their big tails. On a whim one day I added a small school of Endler's Livebearers to my tank to see how the frogs react. They became MORE active with the tiny fish! The fish are too large to eat and fast enough to get away. They've been in the tank 3 months now and I havn't had a single fin nip. The fish are gorgeous and add the spark of life that was missing when the two frogs were in zen mode. I believe the frogs feel much more comfortable seeing a smaller prey species relaxed around them. 

I also have a few small malaysian trumpet snails and a ramshorn snail in the tank for algae. I had a small problem before them which they cleared up in less than a week and haven't seen a spec of it since. 

A big difference I've noticed with my frogs when when I changed from pellets to almost exclusively live and thawed food. They are plumper and live longer and happier. They are no longer "decorations" but active members of the tank. 

Good luck with your lil ones!


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## ScurvyGoat (Dec 1, 2011)

I also noticed your gravel question. Personally I use between 1 and 2 lbs of substrate per gallon. I usually buy for 2 lbs and only open half the bags and see how it looks. In my 5.5 I only used 5lbs of sand and it was plenty deep enough. With a small tank you can get 1lb bags and add enough till you like the look and return unopened bags. I do this with all my tanks since I was adding too much substrate to my tanks and didn't like the look. You technically can use no substrate and they will be okay. It's all personal preferance. =3

Also I suggest getting at the very least a 5 gallon tank because these frogs need a heater. I used a small 1-5 gallon heater in several tanks and had one blow up in a hospital tank and it super heated the water. Somehow my stunted african Clawed Frog survived and dug a hole in his pebbles to find water (this happed over the span of 15 hours when I was away overnight). I have a new heater by Hydor that has a light and automatic thermostat as well as adjustable temp and is good for up to 7 gallons. It heats much better. I no longer trust any of the widely available 1 gallon heaters and am searching for new ones. These guys loooove to be around 78. I also keep a digital thermometer on the tank now which is easier for me to read. I get a lot of things on Amazon to save money and get harder to find items like my nano canister filter.


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## ScurvyGoat (Dec 1, 2011)

I can't stress more that space is very important for these frogs. More water means more stable water conditions and less stress from being cramped. They need leg room. Yes they can live in very, very small cups but they will not thrive and won't live as long as others. Those "kits" available at stores for them are cruel. They are perfectly capable of getting air from quite a few inches. They will also float around on top of the water for hours. The bigger the better. And you NEED a cover, these little brats have a bad habit of squirming free and dying out of water. Vibrations can stress them too so a very quiet filter works best as well. Low water movement, 78 degrees, space, a cover, lots of hiding places, and live/thawed foods will give you some of the happiest frogs. The more hiding places the more you see them because they are comfortable and know they have places to go if they feel threatened. Lol sorry for so many posts, I keep remembering things.


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## keroppi (Dec 31, 2012)

Thank you so much for the detail information! 

What kind of heater do you use? And what would be a reasonable price if I buy at petco or petsmart?


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## keroppi (Dec 31, 2012)

Has anyone used Living Gravel? How much should I add to a cube shaped 3 gallon aquarium?


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## ScurvyGoat (Dec 1, 2011)

Sorry for taking so long! I blanked about this. I don't suggest the heaters at either store. That's where I got the one that blew up. I hear horror stories about the others same as the one I got. The heater I got pretty darn cheap on Amazon is the Hydor Theo Heater for 2-7 gallons. It has a light to let you know when on, an internal thermostat, as well as a knob on top to adjust the temperature. 

One thing I forgot to mention is ADFs (and all frogs actually) can only fit prey in their mouth that is roughly the same size or smaller as the distance between their eyes. Because of that I special order Extra Small Phoenix Worms which have changed my frogs from skinny lil things from the store to big chubs in record time. =3 Keep food size in mind when you get different foods.


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