African Dwarf Frogs- New 20 gallon Aquarium  2/29/08
Thank you ever so much for your reply.
<No problem.>
Although I am sad at the loss of my Guppies I must admit that froggy seems much happier in his 'own' environment. Last night he came out and played all night-first time I have seen that.
<Very good.>
I would like to say that I consider myself a responsible pet owner and do not usually allow my children to sway my decisions based on what they want. If that were the case I would have a house full of what I call rodents (shudder). And since I am the primary care giver to any pets brought into this house, I do make the ultimate decision of what comes in-which I consider my 2100SF house a nice refuge for 1 dog and 1 cat, and now some aquariums. I will admit that my purchase of the little hex tank kit was an unwise purchase bought for my husbands' birthday on the misconception it would be easy to clean and less time consuming than a bigger one. For any new hobbyists reading-that is not the case!
<Indeed.>
All that being said, I am now captivated by my little froggy and I must admit a little intrigued at the idea of all the different balances it requires to keep fish. I do plan to set up and manually cycle my 20 gallon tank before adding any fish to it. I was aware of the inter-breeding capabilities of Endler's and Guppies, I had actually planned (or hoped) to acquire males only. I have done some reading since then and see while that may be easy to do with the Guppies it may not be so easy with the Endler's.
<Not a big fan of tanks with just one sex of fish. Must be very frustrating for the fish! I prefer environments where the fish can behave normally and actually enjoy themselves, interacting with one another.>
Although I thought they usually ate there young unless removed form the tank?
<Depends. It's not a good idea to *assume* baby fish will survive in a community because most will not, but some might, especially if the tank is big and has lots of plants and other hiding places.>
I have decided against the Tetra's. The chemical make up of my water is hard. With only aqua safe treatment my tank water has a GH of around 150, a KH of between 120 and 180 and pH between 7.2 and 7.8.
<Sounds good for livebearers, Rainbowfish barbs, etc. Not so much for tetras and Rasboras, though with care you could certainly keep some of those, too.>
This has remained constant through water changes over the last 5 weeks so I think that is pretty much what it is. The nitrite and nitrate have obviously changed. at first they were both low then the nitrite went up substantially (this is when I lost my first Guppy) then came back down. Once again they did go back up some but came back down after a water change. Now after losing my other Guppy and doing a water change they are low with nitrite showing up at nearly 0 and nitrate at 20 or under.
<"Nearly" zero nitrite is like "nearly pregnant"; it's a quantum thing, and you either have zero nitrite (in which case the tank is healthy) or you don't (in which case fish are at risk). So wait for the zero nitrite before adding anything else.>
the temperature in my tank stays between 79F-78F without a heater. I believe I need a lower watt bulb because every time I turn on the lamp froggy heads for cover after a while and the temp will start to rise.
<Possibly, though lower watt bulbs mean plants grow less well/not at all, and when plants aren't growing, algae becomes a problem.>
I have the tank in my dining room that has a big patio door that we open the curtains to in the day and close at night so even with out the lamp there is definite transition from night to day and vice versa-without any direct sunlight. We have a sun room adjacent to the dining room which lets in lots of light but keeps direct light out of the house itself. I saw Froggy with a slightly bulgy belly for the first time last night and I will continue to feed him daily for a week or two to recover from the last month or two. I did add too much last night I know, but it took me several attempts to get the blood worms to the spot where he was so he would eat them and know they were in there. I am sure he would have eventually found them but it made me feel better to see him eat. I have frozen blood worms that are in little cubes. So as not to waste them how much should I break off for him for a feeding? And how many times a day should he be fed? once?
<One meal per day should be adequate, and in terms of numbers of worms, you're going to have to watch this yourself, but I'd guess less than ten. Better to feed multiple small meals than one big meal.>
Thanks again for your help, I really appreciate it. I have 3 kids and it is hard to get the time to do as much research as I want to do-in the time I want to. By the way Neale, your comment about being watched by giant human keepers amused me. I have a 2 and 3 year old right now and although they are not giant, I can't remember the last time I had ANY privacy so I can definitely relate!
<Indeed. One of the surprises for many people in fishkeeping is this: the more hiding places your provide, the more the fish come out and play. Forcing them into the limelight only scares them, and they end up cowering in the corners.>
About my 20 gallon tank, which I read you all (sorry I am from the south so it sounds right to me) approve for a beginner, What would be a good mix for it?
<Many many choices for a 20 gallon, but among the absolute best starter fish would be Bronze Corydoras (pretty, schooling catfish), X-ray tetras (Pristella maxillaris, also schooling fish and very hardy), zebra or pearl Danios (again, schooling fish, very hard surface-living fish) and Lace Gouramis (Trichogaster leeri, peaceful centrepiece fish that do well in pairs). A lot of "cheap" fish widely sold to beginners are fin-nippers, disease-prone, short-lived or otherwise not a good bet; do spend time reading up on fish *before* buying. Aquarium shops can be good sources of information, but they often aren't, and then you end up being stuck with something that causes problems one way or another. If in doubt, e-mail WWM, and ask!>
As I said I would prefer smaller brighter active fish over bigger ones, as I could get more of them in the tank.
<You will actually find you need a mix of everything. Danios are great for their activity level and nice colours, and they also help everything settle in. But they aren't very smart. Gouramis are bigger and slow moving, but they have personality, and will come to the front of the tank and beg for food. Catfish scoot about the bottom looking cute. You want to pick fish for the top, middle, and bottom of the tank too, so the tank is busy but not cluttered.>
I do want a little bit of variety, though. Any suggestions on a good book I could get online to read to get me started?
<Many good books out there. Almost anything on tropical fish from your local bookstore or library should help. Look up the topic of "Community Fish". I started with a book called "Fishkeeper's Guide to Community Fishes" by Dick Mills but there are multiple more modern books out there. Also many articles here on tetras, barbs, etc.
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/fwlivestkindex.htm
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/fwlvstkind2.htmm
>
At this time I am strictly interested in fresh, harder water aquariums since I think it best with the make up of my tap water. I don't think I am ready to have to mess with so many different factors-or possibly water treatment products.
<I agree. Livebearers (but not Mollies) would be ideal, as would Rainbowfish and hardy barbs. Some tetras, notably X-ray tetras, are also hard water tolerant. Once acclimated, even things like Neons will do well in hard water, though they perhaps do better kept otherwise. Do see here:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/fwhardness.htm
>
Thanks again so much this site is so full of information I could read all day, if I was allowed too!
Debbie
<Good luck! Neale.>

African Dwarf Frogs- New 20 gallon Aquarium? 2/29/08
Dear WWM (Neale),
Wow thanks so much for the in depth reply and all the great links and info. You have given me just what I need to get started in the right direction. I just realized last night at LFS about the different areas fish swim in. That makes a big difference and a lot of since. Thanks for the advice. I do know my LFS has a GH of 300! so whatever I choose will be acclimatized to hard water.
<Yes, this is likely so, but some fish simply never do well in hard water and are best avoided. The quality of farmed Neons for example is pretty low anyway, and I have rarely heard of people keeping them alive in hard water for more than a year or two. In soft water, they can last as long as 4 years. So while there is some "wiggle room", do tend towards livebearers, Rainbowfish, hardy barbs etc when you're working with hard water. Your fishkeeping will be substantially easier.>
If anything will have to be acclimated to the softness of my water! I have plenty of time to research and decide. I will set and cycle using starters and cycle products and wait 4-6 weeks until I am sure my tank is ready. At that time I will ask about introduction order and time if I can't find it in my own research. Thanks so much again for the great directional start.
<Happy to help.>
An update on my little frogs: at LFS I purchased a long 5 gallon kit with a whisper filter. I also purchased 4 more frogs. I came home and transferred them to a holding tank (just a little carrier) and I Switched the entire system! Probably not recommended but it worked fabulously! My froggies are playing and eating and floating just as happy as can be. I am very content with it now. I will keep the other one as a hospital only tank now (after I cycle it too). You are very right about having plenty of hidey holes making them more willing to be seen. They haven't acted one bit skittish since being introduced to the new tank.
<See? No-one believes this until they try it. Forcing fish into the open is like trying to force children to eat their vegetables: ultimately counterproductive. You have to be cunning!>
This one has a florescent bulb so it doesn't seem to heat up the tank. Again I am very pleased and thanks so much for the Info and advice. One question. What are these moon lights i read about? Or night lighting?
<Moon-lights are things that light up tanks dimly, so that nocturnal fish will swim about. They look really nice. If you aren't growing plants, then you can easily use them instead of regular lights, and most fish would prefer them anyway. Your little Frogs would naturally inhabit almost pitch-black pools in forests that would receive very little sunlight. But most folks use them alongside the regular lights, switching off the regular lights for a couple hours in the evening to create a "dusk" lighting level that encourages nocturnal fish to swim about in view.>
Have a good day!
Debbie
<Likewise, and good luck, Neale.>