What single fish can go with an Aquatic Dwarf Frog?

[cideon]

I saw some of these little guys at my LFS, and researched them as much as I could online, but I was hoping for a bit more advice. As I understand it, 1gal per frog is OK, they can be in groups or alone, and they can live safely (in a smaller tank) with no filter as long as water changes are weekly and more than 60%.

The setup I'm planning (which I might have to change), is a 2.5 gallon, with at least one ADF, and I was hoping for 1 fish to balance out the top of the tank. I read that you could have a betta with an ADF (as long as you make sure it's not one of those cranky bettas that pesters the little guy, and that the frog gets enough to eat). But I'm wondering, is there another fish I could try in a tank this size?

I was also considering the guppy... but I think I'd have to jump up to a 5gal for a trio (one male, two female) and the ADF, right? I was planning on having a 3gal-capable HOB filter and possibly a 10gal-capable sponger filter for the 2.5 however, so would there be enough room for this group with added weekly water changes? (doubt it, but I'm hoping!). Is it even reasonably stocked with the 5gal?

Would 3 ADFs be OK in the 2.5gal by themselves? Though I'm not sure if that would be visually interesting to bother buying and setting up, I might as well go for bigger and get more fish too *shrug*. Or am I being unduly concerned? Are they active if there are no fish to pester them all?

Thanks for any advice on the subject! :D

[Fisharefriends27]

I say a 2.5 is too small for any fish, besides something like a betta. But even the betta would need the tank to itself because there isn't enough room. I know they say 1 adf per gallon, but that's as bad as 1 inch of fish per gallon. There are things like white clouded minnows but Im not sure if they need to be kept in a group.

[KatzeSlaugen]

why no get a 20gal tank. theyre pretty cheap and will let you use the options you want.

i dont have much experience with ADF, but i doubt 2.5gal is enough for them to be happy. and seeing as theyre amphibians toxins will affect them quicker than fish, and 2.5gal a 2.5gal can concentrate quickly.

other than a lonely betta theres not much i can think of fish wise for a 2.5, and even though a betta can live in there, i advise against it. my betta has a whole 36gal bowfront to himself, and is way happier than his 10gal

[nmb7895]

Your options in a 2.5 gallon are pretty slim. Even 1 betta is going to feel crowded and probably not be happy. You could keep 2 or 3 cherry shrimp. They're fun to watch and have a tiny bioload. But they're only shrimp.

Some bettas eat their (the ADF's) food. In fact, other creatures eating ADFs food is one of the reason I don't have one in my community tank anymore. There's no way he would ever eat in my current aquarium. My betta is housed in a 25 gallon, and I couldn't imagine her in a tiny little bowl or something. She's just too smart and active, and I just don't think I'd be happy with her, and vice versa if she were alone in a little aquarium.


If you get a cheap (like 20 dollars for an entire kit) 10 gallon, you can get a nice, small community of fish.

I was looking on the Internet at Dwarf Puffers as a companion for mine. They seem like, in theory, they would be compatible, but I actually have no idea how to raise one, or if there would be any problems. You'd obviously need a larger aquarium than 2.5 gallons. Someone with more experience with them could probably come back and tell you if they work or not. Don't take my word for it, I'm merely going by Internet research.

An Otoclinus Catfish would also work. They prefer groups of 3 or more. I'm not sure how badly being alone stresses them though. They also won't even touch ADF food, and an ADF won't touch their food (Oto's are strict herbivores).
However, in a 10gal you could easily fit 3 otos and 1 ADF and have a really nice community going.


ADFs are fun little guys. I just wish they were easier to feed. If they were, there'd be little reason for anybody not to have at least one in their community tanks :D

[Sandz]

If you get a cheap (like 20 dollars for an entire kit) 10 gallon, you can get a nice, small community of fish.

I was looking on the Internet at Dwarf Puffers as a companion for mine. They seem like, in theory, they would be compatible, but I actually have no idea how to raise one, or if there would be any problems. You'd obviously need a larger aquarium than 2.5 gallons. Someone with more experience with them could probably come back and tell you if they work or not. Don't take my word for it, I'm merely going by Internet research.

An Otoclinus Catfish would also work. They prefer groups of 3 or more. I'm not sure how badly being alone stresses them though. They also won't even touch ADF food, and an ADF won't touch their food (Oto's are strict herbivores).
However, in a 10gal you could easily fit 3 otos and 1 ADF and have a really nice community going.


ADFs are fun little guys. I just wish they were easier to feed. If they were, there'd be little reason for anybody not to have at least one in their community tanks :D

Dwarf puffers are an option but require species only care. They would either murder or be murdered by the ADF.

Oto's are not an option either. You need an established tank long before adding catfish to it. Also getting an oto to eat algea wafers and such can be tricky as they prefer to forage for their food. This option also will not allow our OP a show piece fish that he is looking for.

[nmb7895]

Dwarf puffers are an option but require species only care. They would either murder or be murdered by the ADF.

Ah, I thought the Puffers were only fin nippers and wouldn't bother a frog.

Oh well. Puffers are cool, too bad they don't like to exist with other fish.

[andreahp]

I saw some of these little guys at my LFS, and researched them as much as I could online, but I was hoping for a bit more advice. As I understand it, 1gal per frog is OK, they can be in groups or alone, and they can live safely (in a smaller tank) with no filter as long as water changes are weekly and more than 60%.

The setup I'm planning (which I might have to change), is a 2.5 gallon, with at least one ADF, and I was hoping for 1 fish to balance out the top of the tank. I read that you could have a betta with an ADF (as long as you make sure it's not one of those cranky bettas that pesters the little guy, and that the frog gets enough to eat). But I'm wondering, is there another fish I could try in a tank this size?

I was also considering the guppy... but I think I'd have to jump up to a 5gal for a trio (one male, two female) and the ADF, right? I was planning on having a 3gal-capable HOB filter and possibly a 10gal-capable sponger filter for the 2.5 however, so would there be enough room for this group with added weekly water changes? (doubt it, but I'm hoping!). Is it even reasonably stocked with the 5gal?

Would 3 ADFs be OK in the 2.5gal by themselves? Though I'm not sure if that would be visually interesting to bother buying and setting up, I might as well go for bigger and get more fish too *shrug*. Or am I being unduly concerned? Are they active if there are no fish to pester them all?

Thanks for any advice on the subject! :D
I have a 10gal tank I will be using for quarantine purposes and compared to my main tank which is 46gal it's tiny. I wouldn't put an ADF in a 2.5gal - not much room to move around in there, let alone a fish too.

[cideon]

Similar vein, but what about 2-3 ADFs in a 5 gallon? Ratio-wise, it's not that much better than the 1 frog-to-2.5 gal, but the dimensions are longer so that I figure the little guys would have more room to move, ya know? Pretty much sure there are no fish to add for this size then, but that's OK. I'll just get some long swinging plants or something to balance out the top of the tank with them (hoping this would work out vs the previous idea I had).

The only reason a 10 gal isn't an option, despite how small it technically is, is the place I'm planning to add mini-tank isn't big enough for a 10, but I'm hoping would fit a 5 (gonna have to get a tape measure and go to the sotre to be sure though; maybe I'll be pleasantly surprised!). Thank you all very much for your advice, though I am a little bummed out about it. These guys are so cute though, I'll figure out a way to get some :]

[Spidyman]

In a 5 you would be cool to have like 2-3 adf and then you could even get like 2 ghost shrimp. I have my adf with them and they have yet to eat them. Adfs don't move much and hide a lot but if you get a good one they can be pretty active. And you could keep them I know someone that had an adf and a Betta in a 1 gal bowl.