# African Dwarf Frog and Fish Fry



## mclaren880 (Mar 28, 2012)

Hi Everyone, i'm relatively new to the aquarium world, and in about 2 weeks we are going to go from a 10 gallon (which we got about 2 months ago) to a 55 or 75 gallon tank.

We got an African Dwarf Frog about a month or so ago, without really realizing what is involved with feeding them when other fish are present in the tank. We also have several Platy's (all males at the moment), and i've heard that if you add some females (i hear you need to keep the ratio at around 2 females per male) they will start to reproduce rather quickly. What i'm wondering, is if there would be any way to to let the frog rely solely on the fish fry. We could get more frogs if need be, or we could just get a different kind of fish that would breed, so we don't have to have 8-12 birthing platys at once.

What are people's thoughts on this? Does anyone have another way to feed a frog like this that doesn't involved getting the food directly in front of the little guys face?

We're also looking to develop a community tank, and are wondering what other creatures can go in there, other than a frog like we already have. We like the whole "ecosystem" idea of several different kinds of animals all living together.

Thanks in advance!


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## navigator black (Jan 3, 2012)

Platy fry are very tiny, and aren't much a meal. Plus, they all come in one 'drop', every few weeks. It would be an irregular supply of food - feast or famine. 
You'd have to look far to find an easier fish to breed than a platy (short finned guppies...) but quick reproduction means small fry.


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## mclaren880 (Mar 28, 2012)

Thanks for the reply! We'd have to have at least 8 female platys, so i imagine there would eventually get to a somewhat constant supply of the fry. Does that change anything?

Is this a realistic goal at all? or is it going to be really hard to have always have enough (even with 8 females)? Or on the other end of the spectrum, am i going to run the risk of being completely overrun with fry?

Thanks again, i appreciate the help.


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## frogwings (Aug 26, 2011)

I have 2 dwarf african frogs in my 10 gallon tank. I think they are happier if there is more than one per tank. 

I feed mine tadpole/frog pellets from Petsmart or Petco. I have a small plate on the bottom of the tank (flat, about 3" in diameter - a clear glass candle holder from Michaels) and I put the pellets on the plate. They find the pellets just fine there and I feed them about every 3-4 days. They can also supplement with the fry. I found that mine feed pretty much on the bottom of the tank rather than in the middle or surface. I love the little critters! Do you have plants for them to hide in or other small hiding places?


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## navigator black (Jan 3, 2012)

There's no guarantee the platys won't all drop the same week, and then leave you fryless for the next 5 weeks. Frogwings seems to have a better solution - good posting there.


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## luananeko (Aug 27, 2010)

I have two frogs myself that I'll be moving into a 75 gallon tank along with the rest of their 30 gallon community tankmates. I haven't tried them with fry yet, but from my experience they do not seem like they'd be very reliable at catching any live bearer fry... As cute as they are, they are VERY blind and slow, even when I wave food in front of their faces or practically drop it right on them with a turkey baster. They might get lucky once in a while, but I would not rely on the fry as their sole food source. You're more likely going to get overrun with fry.

The pellets frogwings mentioned sound like the easiest way to feed them. I have a variety of critters in my tank so I go the route of feeding frozen foods that are squirted into the tank via a turkey baster. I do one squirt in the main area where my guppies and schooling fish swim to distract them, then I try to find the frogs to let them grab a mouthful each from the baster. If I can't find them, I leave a squirt in a clay feeding plate so they can go scavenge when they're hungry. The rest of the food goes back into the main area. I alternate between spirulina brine shrimp and a freshwater multi-pack to make sure they get a wide variety. Hope this helps!


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## snail (Aug 6, 2010)

A turkey baster is a great tool.


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## mclaren880 (Mar 28, 2012)

Thanks everyone, i appreciate all the help!

I was afraid that your replys on the fry would be like this... Finding the right balance of enough food for the frog, and too many fish would be really difficult. I was just hoping i was wrong.

When you say you put them on a glass dish on the bottom, the other fish don't go for them? Even with the turkey baster (the current method i'm using) it's still difficult for the frog to get anything more than a bite or 2. The fish have seem to have figured out what the turkey baster means, and act quickly. Do the fish not go for the pellets?


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## mclaren880 (Mar 28, 2012)

Luananeko: When you say: 

_The pellets frogwings mentioned sound like the easiest way to feed them. I have a variety of critters in my tank so I go the route of feeding frozen foods that are squirted into the tank via a turkey baster. I do one squirt in the main area where my guppies and schooling fish swim to distract them, then I try to find the frogs to let them grab a mouthful each from the baster. If I can't find them, I leave a squirt in a clay feeding plate so they can go scavenge when they're hungry. _

How do you keep the other fish from eating it out of the clay feeding plate?


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## luananeko (Aug 27, 2010)

mclaren880 said:


> Luananeko: When you say:
> 
> _The pellets frogwings mentioned sound like the easiest way to feed them. I have a variety of critters in my tank so I go the route of feeding frozen foods that are squirted into the tank via a turkey baster. I do one squirt in the main area where my guppies and schooling fish swim to distract them, then I try to find the frogs to let them grab a mouthful each from the baster. If I can't find them, I leave a squirt in a clay feeding plate so they can go scavenge when they're hungry. _
> 
> How do you keep the other fish from eating it out of the clay feeding plate?


The other fish do sometimes steal food from the plate, but for the most part they're too distracted by the food that I put in the rest of the tank first. The trick is to always give the other fish first dibs and squirt the food out almost on top of them so they're so busy chasing after the food in their face that they don't follow the baster when you go to find the frogs. Also the clay plate is under a large driftwood arch so it's not within line of sight of the area the other fish are usually swimming in, so its a bit of "out of sight, out of mind".

My betta is the only one that consistently figured out that there was food down in the plate, and I don't mind him stealing some since he's getting on in age and suffers from tumors so he has trouble swimming. Even after he steals food there's almost always food leftover for the frogs as long as they don't wait several hours. If they miss food more than one day in a row they know to be front and center to beg for food the next dinner time so I can find them for direct feeding 

Edit: Another thing to keep in mind is that your frogs don't really need more than a couple mouthfuls of food every day. If they get more than that they tend to get too fat, which shortens their lifespan.


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## mclaren880 (Mar 28, 2012)

So they just learn to head to the tray for food? Did you just put food there consistently and eventually they learned? I'm afraid he's going to starve during this learning period, lol.


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## luananeko (Aug 27, 2010)

mclaren880 said:


> So they just learn to head to the tray for food? Did you just put food there consistently and eventually they learned? I'm afraid he's going to starve during this learning period, lol.


Hunger is a very strong motivator, I've never had a frog starve while learning  As I mentioned though, I try to find the frog first to feed them directly from the baster. Being able to wave the baster in front of their face for a minute until they realize "Oh hey, FOOD!" and take a bite is always the best way to ensure they get fed. It can be annoying sometimes, but it's also cute to watch. Its only when I can't find them that I go back to the plate.


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## mclaren880 (Mar 28, 2012)

Thanks a lot, i have some things to try out!

I appreciate all the help!


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