The frogs included with most of our EcoAquariums are African dwarf frogs, or Hymenochirus Curtipes if you are so inclined to impress your dinner party guests.  The average size of the African dwarf frog is only about 2.5 inches, so they will not get any larger, outgrow their EcoAquarium, or invade your space on the couch.  After a while, the frogs will start to get a little “stout”, but like most of us, they will attempt to claim that it is an appealing sign of age. 

Besides cheeseburgers and onion rings, the diet for the frogs includes blood worms and brine shrimp.  In order to keep your EcoAquarium clean, however, it is best to feed them our own Wild Creations food pellets, which include all of the nutrients and protein the little frogs need.  Our pellets do not, however, include any parts of cheeseburgers or onion rings. (Note: your frogs do not really eat cheeseburgers and onion rings.  The writer of this information was just hungry at the time).

African dwarf frogs do not require much food to live comfortably.  Our recommended weekly feeding is four (4) pellets per frog.  Our experience has shown that feeding each frog two total pellets, twice per week, assures that there is plenty of food for even the non-aggressive frogs to eat.  You can feed them more often, and you may indeed even feed them more pellets, but the frogs may eat too much and get sick, and the more they are fed, the faster your EcoAquarium will become soiled.  The interesting thing about amphibians is that if you miss a feeding, then you need not worry too much, as they are able to survive up to a week or more without food.  Much like most diets, they may complain about the rationing, but they will thank you in the end for feeding them only what they need. 

Considering the African dwarf frog is indigenous to warm climates, they prefer water temperature to be between 70F-84F (21C-29C).  If you are keeping your frogs in a room where the room temperature gets colder (at work or school where the heat is turned off for example), then make sure that the frogs have the opportunity to get nice and warm during the day by keeping them near a heat source, then cover them with a warm blanket to keep the heat in at night.  It is fine if they are covered for a couple of days.  As well, you may consider keeping them in a cabinet or cupboard where heat is contained.  Frogs should never be kept in a window or in direct sunlight, as it is very harmful for them and will encourage algae growth in the aquarium.  During the summer, regular room temperature would be fine, and although the little guys would love nothing more to sit in a hot tub all day, temperatures above 84F (29C) is dangerous for them.  Plan accordingly.

Hymenochirus Curptipes are aquatic amphibians (trying to impress my dinner guests), so they need to remain in water at all times.  Of course, they breathe air like any other amphibian, which they receive through the breathing hole at the top of the aquarium, but they live quite comfortably in water at all times.  You will even see them from time to time doing nothing more than lounging at the top of the water, just relaxing and breathing.  Sometimes, if they had an inflatable pool raft, they would probably prop up on there.

For the most part, we try try to include two male frogs in each aquarium, so you won't need to worry about having baby frogs and starting 50+ college tuition funds.  There are a few telling physical characteristics of the African dwarf frogs to distinguish gender:

• Mature males have a white gland (post-axillary subdermal gland ... a great conversation piece) under their front arm pits, which resembles a small white pimple.  Females do not have this gland.
• Males have a narrow body, while the females have a pear-shaped body and typically are much larger than the male.

If you end up with a male and female in your aquarium, they may indeed go through the mating ritual (this is a family website, so I’ll dispose of the details).  Basically, the female will lay eggs in the water, and the male will fertilize them.  Unfortunately, eggs laid in this environment often do not survive to maturity, as water conditions often are not optimal to do so.  As well, the adult frogs will often mistake their eggs (and young) as food and … well, you can guess the rest of that unfortunate sentence, and again this is a family website. 

And, if you are able to find eggs in your EcoAquarium before they become food, and you wish to try to raise your eggs to maturity, here are some tips for you:

• Eggs and tadpoles should be kept in a separate aquarium from adults, and ideally a 5 gallon aquarium or larger is best.  Use only spring water in the aquarium, and for obvious reasons, water changes must be done very carefully.   Replace water occasionally as it evaporates and utilize your cooking (turkey) baster to remove debris and waste build up.
• Temperature for eggs and tadpoles should be kept higher than average room temperature, between 77-81F (25-28C) and the pH should be high as well, between 7.4 to 8.0. Any rapid changes to temperature or pH levels will kill the eggs and tadpoles, so it is essential to keep these stable.
• Frog eggs do not need nutrition until hatching.  Once hatched, the tadpoles are so small that they require a liquid diet such as "liquifry".  When the tadpoles are bigger they should have live cultured foods such as newly hatched baby brine shrimp larva.  Continue this feeding until they are about 3 months old, then you can begin training them on adult food.
  

It is not uncommon for the frogs to be a little nervous and anxious after being moved to their new home.  Who wouldn’t be, right?  They have, after all, traveled thousands of miles just to get to your home and are probably still wondering when they are going to settle.  Because of this, they will often pick at each other as they slowly become accustom to their new aquarium-mates and new surroundings.  This is especially true during feeding, when they realize that there is food in the aquarium.  Their behavior should subside after a few weeks, however, as they acclimate to their new home and their new feeding routine and schedule.

As well, it is not uncommon to have one frog that is larger and/or more aggressive than the other.  Again, during the first few weeks, they may appear to be fighting, but aside from putting one in “Time Out”, there is little you can do to contain this.  They should eventually get used to their environments and the fighting will stop. 

As a recommendation, if after about 6 weeks you continue to see the aggressive behavior of one, and you notice that the non-aggressive frogs is not getting fed, then you might consider taking the larger and more aggressive frog out, placing him in a separate bowl of spring water during feedings.  You may return him to the aquarium after a few hours, or until both have eaten.  Do this for a few weeks until you see the smaller, less aggressive frog start to become comfortable with his feeding schedule.  Note that often the issue is habit, as the frogs need to become accustom to their feeding routine.  This is why it is important not to over feed them, to stick to a two-day a week schedule, and to keep with the same food.

That is a great question, because let’s face it, who really ignores a good meal when it is offered up for free?  Well, in most cases, the frogs are not exactly ignoring the food as much as not realizing that it IS food.  While they become acclimated to their new home, they will be unfamiliar with their new feeding schedule as well as the people providing them with the food (i.e – You).  Once they have had an opportunity to see you feed them on a regular basis, they will eventually begin to anticipate feeding, recognize the food and eat like normal human beings … er, I mean frogs.

As well, for whatever reason, the frogs don’t simply eat the food they are given.  They “pick” at it, giving it the impression that they are attacking it.  In some sense, maybe they are “attacking” the food in an effort to impress you, their perceived new pet.  It is also common for them to eat a piece of food, then spit it right back out.  This is completely natural, and while it is impossible to be sure, our feeling is that they do this because they expect blueberry and crème flavored pellets, and we could only find the boring meal-worm flavored kind.    

The African dwarf frogs can most certainly survive in a larger aquarium.  You will notice, however, that in the smaller aquariums, they love to lie on the bottom, swim into the corners and hide behind objects.  If you move them to a larger aquarium, they are going to lie on the bottom, swim into the corners and hide behind objects.  In other words, you can move them into a larger environment, but they do not need it.  As well, if you should decide to move your frogs to a larger aquarium, then you will need to make sure that the aquarium is properly filtered.  You will need to apply and follow all of the general guidelines for a fresh-water aquarium in order to make sure your frogs stay healthy and live long.

African dwarf frogs can be mixed with other aquatic life, and they do best with large, community fresh water fish (and, of course, other African dwarf frogs).  With that said, it is best not to mix them with other fish in smaller aquariums, such as the EcoAquariums (or any aquarium less than 10 gallons).  The reasons is that fish dwell at the top of the aquarium, while the frogs dwell at the bottom, so during feeding, it would not be uncommon for the fish to get all of the food prior to it reaching the frogs.  You should also note that African dwarf frogs do not necessarily need to be with other animals and will indeed comfortably survive alone.

Lastly, it is important to remember that the Wild Creations EcoAquarium is specially designed for small aquatic creatures such as your frogs.  As a self-contained and self-filtering ecosystem, they have the all of the comforts of amenities they need to live a long and happy life.  Even if you ever do decide to move your frogs, we highly encourage you to keep your EcoAquarium active by adding another fresh water animal to the system.

The sounds you hear coming from your EcoAquarium is your frogs singing!!  Males are the only sex of the species who "sing", and it is completely natural and part of their mating ritual intended to attract a mate. The males will sing even if no females are present in the aquarium.  While Frank Sinatras they are not, the singing is a very unique and exciting thing to hear!