New Fin Babies

My 10-gallon tank is set up. I'm just allowing the heater to warm the water a bit. Its at 74 now and I want it to be at around 76 before I place the fish in the tank. I got two guppies and an african marine frog. Next month I'll get two mollies and an an algae eater. I'll be taking pics as soon as the guppies and frog are in the tank. I'll try to get good pics and then maybe you all can help me name them. Here's the thing with names. I don't like naming my fur or fin babies after people. Things and places are ok, just not people. My cats are Miki (meaning tree in Japanese) and Tyran (short for Tyrant) and my male beta is Jolly Rodger, Rodger for short.

Here are the pics of the newest additions. Sorry if they are not very good, but camera and glass do not mix well.

How about Squiggles for the guppy (squiggles on his tail) and Fireman for the other one with the red tail?

I got my cats a 10 gal (covered) fishtank so they'd have something to look at while I was at work. I put one colorful beta in there and now I have Cat TV! It has been the source of hours upon hours of amusement for Pye, who still enjoys batting the glass to get the fish to move. One of the best "toys" I ever purchased for my boys.

Your frog is not an "African Marine Frog", he/she is a African Dwarf Frog. They must be fed thawed (and ONLY thawed) bloodworms nightly and should be fasted one day a week. They need 2-2.5 gallons of water PER frog and do best with temperatures around 76-77*F. They are VERY sensitive to water conditions and most medications are toxic, as is salt.

I have a 20g species tank of them myself and they are about 3 years old now.

The fish forum I moderate on is one of the leading sites for help with African Dwarf Frogs (ADFs) and I highly suggest it - http://p076.ezboard.com/bflippersnfins They are a species that needs very specific care. They breath air, so it's vital they have space at the top of the tank and they are amazing escape artists and they die VERY quickly once out of water, so your tank needs to be totally free of ANY openings. They are 100% aquatic and they are not that smart so you need to plug any places in decorations with filter sponge so they cannot get stuck. They are also nocturnal.

Here are a couple photos of some of mine -



This is a male practising amplexus - he's not positioned quite right but he's trying -



Here they are hunting -



They cannot be kept with fish that are greedy eaters because they take a while to hunt for their dinner and they need to have gravel that is large enough that they cannot swallow it -

Oh and they are nearly blind - like Mr. Magoo - they can only see what is about 6 inches in front of them, if that.

I knew it was African something, but my mind went blank. I do not have aquarium salt in the tank, but the lady at the pet store said I'll need it when I add my other tropical fish. She also told me to feed them sinking pellets. The gravel is standard tank gravel, as you can see from the picture. His only tankmates are the two guppies, though I plan on getting an algae eater in about a month to two month's time and possibly two mollies. The lady at Petsmart said that mollies require salt so is this a major problem?

Molly can benefit from aquarium salt but it's not a must.

ADFs will either die with salt or cause major shedding problems - like a burn type symptom. They also cannot survive on fish food - there is a frog pellet you can buy (usually in the reptile section) but they cannot sustain themselves on just this - thawed bloodworms are a must. You are going to run into problems with feeding because of the fish - Guppies, Mollies, etc., are kind of little piggies and they can easily feed off of the bottom of a tank - the ADFs take quite a while to hunt and eat, so unless you keep them in their own species tank, you'll have to hand feed them using a pipette or tweezers - it's very easy for them to starve to death when kept in a community tank.

I'm sorry to say this but you should never base your choices or purchases on what an employee in a store says regarding fish ... regarding most animals but especially fish. If you find a fish specific store, you have a better chance of getting acurate advise but even then until you KNOW what they are saying is correct (by going home and researching or asking an experienced fish keeper or THAT type of fish), I wouldn't trust what any employee said. I see it all the time on the fish forum - people come home with fish and a tank and the fish die because the information they've been given is SO wrong. For example a common occurance - they sell you incompatible fish or fish that need a tank multiple times larger then what they have. Its really sad.

I would happily help you figure out your tank situation or please come join the forum I listed above ... we're a very friendly group of people and I promise no one will get mad if you have made mistakes.

I have joined the site as Jolly Rodger, the name of my beta. I have put the temp of my tank to around 78. I have the pellets and frozen worms and brine shimp. The lady at the store said Mollies NEED the salt, but I'm probably just going to get something else anyway. Something smaller.

That's great!

Unfortunatly one of my guppies died today. He was the one first pictured above. I found him against the filter tube. I'm not sure what I've done wrong, but now I am worried for my frog and other guppy.

Did you post on FnF?

Do you have water testing kits? If so, test your water, if not, can you take a sample of your water to you local fish/pet store? They usually will test for free, just make sure you get the exact numbers - write them down - don't let them just say, "its okay" or "its safe", we need numbers for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and pH.