L & H Fish &Frog Journal
African Dwarf Frogs -  Hymenochirus boettgeri
page 9

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1-6-04 How not to clean a tank.

I decided to clean Tank E; it was overdue. I pulled most of the water out into two separate tanks. I netted the feeder guppies and put them in one of the tanks. I netted one ADF and moved it to the other tank no problem. I netted the second ADF, then as I forgot to cover the net, it leapt out a foot at least and luckily landed in the reserve tank.  Then going back to the original tank I looked for the third ADF. I couldn't find her. Then I thought to look at the tank decorations in the sink which I had shook free of critters before removing originally or so I thought. No frog in sight. I assumed the worse and felt around in the garbage disposal, there she was. I tried and tried to remove her to no avail with various implements because I did not want to crush her with bare hands. I couldn't imagine how I do this safely. I surely didn't want her dry up and die there or starve to death. I poured some tank water on her to stay moist.  Thankfully I had cleaned the disposal and it wasn't full of food debris. I made a panicked call to H hoping for help and suggestions and maybe an early home from work since it's snowing like the dickens out here.  I again tried various implements because I didn't want to crush her and used the flashlight to see her better. I gave up and went back to cleaning the tank. I finished deep cleaning the gravel and returned everyone else to the tank and went back to the rescue.  I bent a fish net to fit in the disposal and used the flashlight to see. I had a bit of point like corner that I scooped her up with and then she seemed to almost leap into the net as if to say it's about time get me out of here. I put in her a reserve tank to check for injuries. She seems ok and I returned her to the regular tank. This should serve as a warning for others and a reminder for me to cover those jumping frogs when I remove them and be more bleeping careful next time. *sigh*

1-9-04 I have noticed since cleaning the tank the frogs really like the hills and valleys I created out of aquarium gravel. They spend a lot of time climbing in and out of them or piled on top of each other in a valley.  I never really thought about it before but it kinda makes sense that they might enjoy an uneven tank bottom more providing places to hide and encouraging them to dig around in the rocks. One of the boys was singing last night.

11-18-05 It's literally been forever seen I've written so let me say that I cried when Buffy our puffer fish died. And our female ADF finally died from bloat although I tried to nurse her back to health. It's been a long strange road... I retired the puffertank and just had to admit fault I couldn't make the time to clean the tank as often as needed for my puffer while going to school and I still feel terrible. We're down to two ADF's and I'd like to get two more at some point later maybe we'll have to see... They seem to always be fighting and sparing so I separated them today. I enjoyed watching Jack swim around and keep me company at work today. Read set up here.

In September I ordered 10+ cherry shrimp http://www.petshrimp.com/ from aquabid.com and love 'em. They're breeding like crazy and the babies are so cute! The frogs don't seem to be able to catch them. The shrimp clean up the frog food debris and shed skins, eat algae, and zoom around. The tanks look great and the shrimp are a nice addition to the tank especially the splash of red.

I've been reading about freshwater clams and think they may work great at filtering at the bottom of my tanks especially my outdoor garden. They do not have a parasitic stage that's other freshwater clams they are not tolerant of freezing so I may need a heater for the outside tank. I may order some from http://www.aquabid.com learn about the clams here http://www.pnl.gov/ecology/Rivers/Aquarium/Clam.html They're invasive so don't flush them or chuck them, please either give them away, sell them, or keep them [if you have to kill them but don't "release" them.] Read why http://sgnis.org/update/aclam.htm

More froggie stories to come....