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Re: Dwarf African Frogs



Roger Gordon at rgordon at tns_net wrote:

> My wife keeps two dwarf african frogs in her heavily planted 55 gallon tank.
> She bought them initially because she thought they would eat the baby platies
> that were everywhere.  She has had frogs now for 4 years.  The first two died
> after about 2 years.  The frogs don't eat the baby platies, they don't eat the
> ghost shrimp, they don't appear to eat anythng except the blood worms my wife
> feeds them.  At least this second pair is smart enough to open their mouths
> when the worms drop on their heads.  The first pair, which were named "Dumb"
> and "Dumber" had a hard time recognizing food.  I don't know how they would
> have survived in the wild.

In the wild, dwarf african frogs live in slow-moving or still bodies of
water, where they rely mostly on smell to hunt for worms and other
slow-moving critters on the bottom. The amount of water movement typically
found in planted tanks will inhibit their ability to pinpoint food, since
the food odor will disperse quicker. Also, unless the platies lay on the
bottom and don't move, the frogs won't be able to catch them. Ghost shrimp
are probably too fast for them as well.

Dan Dixon