ADF flips over

[glorums]

Hello everyone.  I have an ADF in a 10 gallon tank and he seems to flip over and not be able to flip back over.  Someone suggested that he be put in a larger tank, so I tried putting him in my 55 gallon but the same problem occured.  Since there were other fish in the big tank picking on him, I didn't keep him in there long.

I observed him in a quarantine bowl for a while and it appears that maybe he injured a limb since he doesnt swim up and when he moves he seems to twitch and then fall over on his back.  When I was holding him for a minute, he sat still and then would walk around.  Yesterday, he was right side up all day, today was about 1/2 the day.  I don't think he eats much, as he is skinny.  I have the aquatic frog food that I feed him.  I've had him about 3 months now and this has been going on for a couple of weeks now.

The guy at the LFS told me it was probably neurological and there was nothing I could do.

My water temp is 78%
ammonia is .5
pH is 6.0
nitrite 0
nitrate 10

He seems to shed his skin because I see little balls of skin in the tank and suck it out during water changes.

Any ideas, suggestions, comments would be greatly appreciated.

[Debra]

ADFs do flip over on their backs. That is considered normal behavior for them. I'm trying to get a mental picture of what you're describing but I'm having a hard time with it.

If he stands on the gravel and then slowly falls over on his back that is normal. Even if he lays in the gravel, upside down.

But if he looks as if he's having a seizure and then flopping over erratically then that isn't normal at all.

I'm not sure from your description exactly how he's ending up upside down.

That fact that your frog is shedding his skin is a good sign. Leave it in the tank and he will eat it.

A 10 gallon tank is perfect for an ADF. There's no need for you to put him in a 55 gallon tank.

I believe that if you leave him alone while he's on his back he does have the ability to get himself in an upright position again.

Ammonia in the water is BAD. What's causing this? Do a partial water change and get the Ammonia out of the water ASAP. Ammonia will kill him, and is possibly already making him sick.

The two things that you can do for him is to get the ammonia to 0 and to feed him a varied diet.

I'll post a link to the ADF profile in my next reply. There is a short list of other foods that you can feed him.

How long have you had him?

hth

[Debra]

African Dwarf Frog profile - ADF

http://badmanstropicalfish.com/profiles/profile99.html 
 

[glorums]

I've had my ADF for a few months, I'm estimating 3 or 4 months.  I noticed him on his back this morning. I will leave him in this position and check on him later to see if he's flipped back over on his own.

When I treat my tap water with prime, it still shows a .5 ammonia level.  What should I do to get the water to 0 before I add it to the tank?

Will the low pH help or hurt?

Thank you,
glorums

[Debra]

The pH is fine so don't try to change it.

He really needs to be in ammonia free water. Frogs absorb "stuff" through their skin. They can't tolerate ammonia. It could actually be the source of his problem.

Can you buy bottled water for him? Or perhaps get him a 5 gallon tank and keep enough bottled water to perform the water changes with. You can safely keep 2-3 ADFs in a 5 gallon aquarium if you would enjoy something like that. I'm not sure what you would like to do, but he needs to be in water that is free of ammonia.

hth