# Will my african albino frog eat my fish?



## caseybrett

I have a fairly new tank, 3 balloon mollys, 5 cardinal tetras (1 died from swim-bladder infection) , 1 assassin snail (never been seen since I put him in there!) and plenty of snails that came along with my live plants. The assassin is supposed to keep their population down, but we'll see. Its a 48 liter, cube shaped tank. That's about 12 gallons I think.

Anyway, I recently bought what I thought was an African dwarf frog to go in the tank, but am now thinking he is actually a clawed frog! Unfortunately what I've read about these guys isn't good. Apparently they are predators and not recommended to have tank mates. Totally unlike dwarfs who are very peaceful and stay small. Clawed ones can get to be up to 5 inch's! He's just a baby now so all is well, but am worried about him eating my lovely fish in the future! I was hoping to get a Betta (male fighting fish) also for this tank.

Does anyone have any African frogs that are doing o.k with tank mates? They had tank mates in the shop. Any advice gratefully received.

Plus, can I be sure that he is a clawed frog, since he's albino? He has four fingers on each hand but not webbed, his feet are 5 toes and are webbed. His eyes are not black, they are kinda white also. Sounds like a clawed frog, but aren't they only supposed to have 3 fingers?


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## Limeylemon

caseybrett said:


> I have a fairly new tank, 3 balloon mollys, 5 cardinal tetras (1 died from swim-bladder infection) , 1 assassin snail (never been seen since I put him in there!) and plenty of snails that came along with my live plants. The assassin is supposed to keep their population down, but we'll see. Its a 48 liter, cube shaped tank. That's about 12 gallons I think.
> 
> Anyway, I recently bought what I thought was an African dwarf frog to go in the tank, but am now thinking he is actually a clawed frog! Unfortunately what I've read about these guys isn't good. Apparently they are predators and not recommended to have tank mates. Totally unlike dwarfs who are very peaceful and stay small. Clawed ones can get to be up to 5 inch's! He's just a baby now so all is well, but am worried about him eating my lovely fish in the future! I was hoping to get a Betta (male fighting fish) also for this tank.
> 
> Does anyone have any African frogs that are doing o.k with tank mates? They had tank mates in the shop. Any advice gratefully received.
> 
> Plus, can I be sure that he is a clawed frog, since he's albino? He has four fingers on each hand but not webbed, his feet are 5 toes and are webbed. His eyes are not black, they are kinda white also. Sounds like a clawed frog, but aren't they only supposed to have 3 fingers?


I have 2 clawed frogs, I would take them back to the shop for selling you the wrong things, you will not believe what you have taken on until they are full size! They will have tankmates in the shop as they are only babies, can't keep an adult with any other fish.
To identify them yes, 4 fingers on front unwebbed, 5 on the back and webbed, look at the toes, at the very end of the outside 3 on each foot will be black tips, they are the claws.
Males can get upto 5 inches, females about 8 inches, they will eat anything that will fit in there mouth including your tetras!!!
I had my 2 in my 125litre tank with my community for about a month, until my female started trying her luck with my other fish, I have them both on their own now.
They need a very large tank, about double what you have now for 2 alone! They are the messiest eaters I have ever seen and need their own special food not fish flakes, they will throw it everywhere when eating, and they poop like a great dane no joke. After a week in my tank (same size as yours) the waters turning black. They have 3x the strength filteration and 2x weekly water changes.
If you do choose to keep them make sure you have a tight fitting lid and tape up any holes, they are great escape artists, mine at least 3 times daily will jump at full speed out of the water, colide with the lid then come splashing back down again. Also they will need a varied diet, best is reptomin floating pellets for turtles as contains enough calcium for their bones to grow, I also use zoomed frog and tadpole food, and brine shrimp sinking pellets.

I promise I am not trying to put you off them, but i made the exact same mistake there and don't want someone else to!!! Hope I helped!


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## caseybrett

Wow! Thank you so much for posting! got to really think what to do bout this one!


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## Limeylemon

caseybrett said:


> Wow! Thank you so much for posting! got to really think what to do bout this one!


Definitely one to think about, they can live for 20 years! Enjoy your lovely frogs, even though mine are a pain in the butt they are lovely, and very funny to watch. Mine also chase the algae scraper


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## caseybrett

I spoke to the petshop this morning and theres possibillity of returning the frog, got to speak to the manager though. If I keep him, what size tank minimum do I need? If i keep just the one i have and if i got him a friend? He would prefer a friend right?


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## Limeylemon

caseybrett said:


> I spoke to the petshop this morning and theres possibillity of returning the frog, got to speak to the manager though. If I keep him, what size tank minimum do I need? If i keep just the one i have and if i got him a friend? He would prefer a friend right?


They can live quite fine on their own 
Here is the website I got all the information about them from, below I have kind of quoted alot of it, mine is just a quick run through, the site seems a lot more in depth. African Clawed Frog Housing and Feeding
If you do keep him it would be best getting him a 10 gallon for himself, 10 US gallons is about 39 litres If you get him a friend, you would be BEST with 78 litres. Good strong filteration and let it cycle for a good few weeks, no under gravel filter or anything run by an air stone as they are very sensitive and the vibrations will be like living with a pneumatic drill lol. Don't worry about oxygenating the water, they will float around the top and breath real air, but don't need a dry area out of the water.
If you use gravel be careful, make sure it is either too large for frog to swallow, or put a ceramic hamster bowl in there for sinking pellets to go in. Make sure he has hiding places also 
And just for good measure, here is my 7 month old female...


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## caseybrett

wow, she looks massive! I think my best bet based on this is to take him back to the shop now if i can and get another tank in the future. Then I can make sure everything is ready for him or her? I dont know how to sex them. They look really cool! So I could buy just buy a basic tank and filter seperately, do i need a heater?


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## Limeylemon

If you look on that website when they are a lot older there is easy ways to sex them.
No heater needed, they are coldwater, you can just put together a simple tank with filter, let it run for a few weeks first then it should be ok for the frog


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## caseybrett

The shop WAS willing to take him back as i havent had him long, but i found him dead this afternoon! This is so so bad. 2 dead tank mates in two days. Totally sucks.( I already lost 3 tetras who must have been sucked into the filter when i first got them, and another tetra to swim bladder infection.- last month) Only had the tank set up 3 months! Thats 5 fish and one frog, passed on in that short 3 months. I now know to keep my filters intake covered with a bit of a pair of tights (hosery) to prevent loosing tetras, and to always stick with the plan of what fish! Well thanks for the feedback anyways, but thats the end of that one.


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## Limeylemon

caseybrett said:


> The shop WAS willing to take him back as i havent had him long, but i found him dead this afternoon! This is so so bad. 2 dead tank mates in two days. Totally sucks.( I already lost 3 tetras who must have been sucked into the filter when i first got them, and another tetra to swim bladder infection.- last month) Only had the tank set up 3 months! Thats 5 fish and one frog, passed on in that short 3 months. I now know to keep my filters intake covered with a bit of a pair of tights (hosery) to prevent loosing tetras, and to always stick with the plan of what fish! Well thanks for the feedback anyways, but thats the end of that one.


Ohhh that is too bad! It is usual until the tank is fully matured to get a few deaths, illnesses and such. But do pop into the tropical fish diseases and treatments and get some advice from the knowledgeable members of the forums. Sorry for your losses, hopefully they can help more!


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