Is there a Haze in your tank's water? Your Tank is Telling You Something

Here's a good topic to discuss, especially since it's been just over a week since Christmas, where many may have set up a brand new tank.

It's about time for newly established tanks to begin to show signs of the going on's within the water habitat. Water cloudiness is often the biggest indicator of how established your tank is.

The two main types of cloudiness in the water boils down to color... a pale milky color or a greenish tinge, both speak volumes as to the conditions in the habitat. For ADF's, one is of more significant concern than the other.
A whiteish colored haze in the water is indicative of excessive ammonia. While ADF's can tolerate ammonia far more than gilled fish, too much is too much and the tank's water needs a partial replacement to dilute the ammonia, but not a total replacement.

The reason for a partial replacement is to give the tanks bio-filter of anaerobic nitrifying bacteria some ammonia to digest. For the bacteria to filter properly it needs ammonia to kickstart it's growth. Over time, as the bacteria culture increases, it's capacity to digest ammonia will increase accordingly. The white haze will eventually go away as the bacteria culture increases, and with it, the need to do partial water changes as well. Once the culture reaches it's peak development, it will stabilize the level of ammonia that's present in the water. There is always some ammonia present, but it's continuously being digested by the bacteria.

The other haze... the greenish tinge..., indicates something altogether different. It indicates the tank has a very efficient bio-filter with plenty of active bacteria, all digesting the waste ammonia & producing nitrates. The greenish haze is microscopic algae cells, A fast-growing invasive plant, living off the nitrates being produced. A greenish tint is a indicator of good health, it's unsightly, but still it shows that the tanks bio-filter is doing it's job. And there's a simple way to get rid of the algae bloom. Simply darken the water in the tank.

Algae is a plant that lives on three things... nitrates, water & UV light. Take away one of those three, Algae cannot grow. Since the tank will have nitrates & water, the solution is to limit the amount of daylight or any light that has UV. Without Ultraviolet, the algae cannot grow. 

But to handle excessive Nitrates, there still needs to be some plant life in the tank. Otherwise the level of nitrites will be overwhelming and harmful. So plant some aquatic, shade tolerant plants to do the job. Once the tank has plants to consume the nitrates, the water will clear right up.

Combating "Conventional Wisdom" with Common Sense

EDITORS NOTE: With the start of the New Year, we thought to reprise an article we published previously. It's certainly good to do so, so that all the new African Dwarf Frog owners who just got their Christmas present, and are seeking out information may be able to find it. 
Anyone searching the internet about African Dwarf Frogs will soon find the following "Conventional Wisdom" in one form or another...

"...Typically, one frog for every 1 or 2 gallons of water is ideal...."

Ideal for WHO? The frog? Or the person selling Aquariums larger than 1-2 gallons?  Many websites seem to follow this common misconception without any real explanation, other than a misguided human emotion that these frogs wouldn't like  confined spaces.  

There's no scientific rationale behind requiring 1-2 gallons per frog.  It's a line of logic for setting up a standard aquarium, and taking in consideration of the needs of fish, who naturally need space to swim, and sufficient amounts of oxygenated water to breathe. Neither of which the species of African Dwarf Frog require. However, 1-2 gallons per frog would be good if you are setting up a unfiltered tank like a Goldfish Bowl... you'd then only have to change the water around every two weeks or so.

No oily skin...

In nature, African Dwarf Frogs only have need of water to keep their skin supple. ADF's do not produce a skin mucus which enables them to emerge out of water onto land like other amphibians, that's the only reason they are fully aquatic. Other than that, they could live in water which can merely keep their skin moist. Of course, they can be at home in larger water volumes, but as for a NEED to have such... emphatically NO!

A more critical water need for this species is WATER DEPTH. Most specifically, THE LESS THE BETTER...

ADF Ancestral Home

In nature... such as in the Rainforests of Cameroon in West Africa, the African Dwarf Frog evolved in shallow rainforest swamps, in a habitat of stagnant low-oxygenated water, in water depths of 8 inches of water or less. Unlike gilled animals such as fish, ADF's breathe air with lungs, and go to the surface to gulp air. As a bottom dwelling creature, the frog subsists quite well in shallow water depths which give them a quick trip to the surface to breathe. Put them in an environment where the water depth is deeper, the frog can survive, but the longer trip to the surface for air is more stressful, and in the wild, would present more exposure to the frog from predators. In a natural environment, you would not find these frog in deeper water than a foot. 
The idea that these frogs need a lot of space, is also a misconception. African Dwarf Frogs main roles in life is simply to eat, avoid getting eaten, and make more frogs. In nature, it's behavior is dictated by instinct & environment, which again, in nature would be in the muddy bottom of a rainforest swamp.

Here's lookin' at you... I think!

The frog is a natural wait & pounce creature in the method of acquiring it's meal. The African Dwarf Frog has very poor eyesight, a heightened sense of vibrations in the water, and a keen nose to smell out food. You may have seen these frogs in a familiar "Zen Pose" standing motionless. This is a evolved trait of still stalking, waiting for something, like a tasty water bug to wander by. It also is a defensive posture that helps make them invisible to larger predators. Unlike fish, ADF's don't school & swim seeking food, preferring instead for food to come to them. Kinda like a aquatic couch potato. They do not migrate, & they do not have a extensive range, except along the shallows of whatever shallow pool of water they'd inhabit.

Remember, when searching the web, seeking out information about African Dwarf Frogs (or ANY topic) there is tons of "Conventional Wisdom" out there... some accurate, some simply a regurgitation of other information posted elsewhere, without much foundation of fact. It sounds right, but really... is it really right? If you have questions, count on us to help give you answers. Our wisdom isn't always conventional, but at least count on it to be grounded in fact.

A World Unto Thier Own

We get questions from time to time, asking why we advise against keeping fish & frogs together in a standard Aquarium setting. While African Dwarf Frogs are a popular addition to freshwater aquariums, it's not always a good thing for either the fish, or the frogs.

Too often, the choices of what species are together in a tank, is determined by owners preferences, often whether a fish is pretty or cute or even how "happy" a critter seems when seen in a pet

Oooo! There's one that matches the wall paint!

shop tank.  Unfortunately, a tank owners personal preferences is the WORST yardstick to use. The compatibility of different species should ALWAYS be considered over anything else. Always consider the type of fish species indigenous to the natural habitat of the frog... In other words, if you have African Dwarf Frogs, ALWAYS choose the species of tropical fish that are also indigenous to West African rain forests over all others.  Why?
Because eons of evolution has naturally selected fish & frog species to tolerate diseases carried by each species, who have evolved together in the same regional environment. A frog evolved in West African Rain forests, may not have tolerances of disease vectors carried by tropical fish from South East Asia or elsewhere. 

Hey! This oriental food is pretty tasty!

Equally important, is natural behavioral traits of each species, imprinted by location and circumstance, which are now instinctive.  While species may have naturally tolerant behavior regardless of where it evolved, some may have behaviors that will clash or compete with a foreign species, all because of where each species evolved from, and the environment each evolved in.
 Regardless if animals are bred in captivity or in the wild, evolutionary behaviors & physical tolerances do not radically change. Disease susceptibilities within a species still reside, whether bred in the wild or in captivity,  & there are cases where the presence of a foreign species can actually create susceptibilities which would normally not be present.

Bloat, (Dropsy) is a good example.  There's still no conclusive reason why ADF's lymph nodes are triggered to overproduce lymph fluid. Some suspect a reaction to a common bacterium, often found within the skin layer of tubal worms, like blood worms. Yet exposure to this bacteria in nature seldom shows ill effects. Bloat is not a common disease in nature, not near as common as it is in aquariums. However, there's evidence that ADF's sharing an aquarium habitat with fish, have a higher susceptibility rate than do ADF's who do not. One conclusion would be that something common with some fish species may tie in with exposure to the bacterium, which normally would not pose a problem, since intermingling to such species would never happen in the wild.  Another conclusion may be environmental factors, common within a fish friendly habitat, such as higher dissolved oxygen content in the water, can cause abnormal susceptibilities in African Dwarf Frogs, or a more tolerable environment for the bacterium to thrive & concentrate.
Remember, frogs can coexist with fish in an environment tolerable for fish, yet in a natural environment of extreme acidic, nitrate high, & low oxygenated water, fish are not a common species to co-exist with these frogs. Most fish cannot tolerate water conditions these frogs would call home. It's entirely the reason that in a more pristine aquatic world of a freshwater aquarium, species of fish & frogs which naturally never be together do intermingle, and present possibilities that never would happen in the wild.
These are the reasons we run contrary to conventional wisdom, and advise keeping fish & frogs separate in a aquarium environment. Doing so allows maintaining a tank ecology most suited to the needs of a species, while keeping the likelihood of cross species contamination & behavior conflicts totally eliminated. 

A New Blog On The Block!

Welcome! We're the original manufacturer and distributor of Wild Creations EcoAquariums(TM), miniature ecosystem aquariums that require no filter, chemicals, and very little maintenance! Of course, many know our aquariums as the "Mini Frog Aquariums", which is alright by us, since we love our African dwarf frogs as much as all of our loyal customers do!

Count on The Frog Blog to bring you all kinds of news & information about us, our EcoAquariums, as well as things we find on the net that may be of interest to frog lovers everywhere!

Our frog manager is fond of saying, "everyone needs a frog in their life". We couldn’t agree more and we hope you take one home today. We hope you enjoy our blog!