Firebelly Toads Died

[freshwaterfishlover]

My 2 Firebelly toads died today. I am almost sure it was because they were not eating the food I have been giving them.

My Anoles are still alive and doing great. They love Mealworms.

I Have a question.

I may try 2 Firebelly Toads again. If I don't I am going to get more fish.

How does this sound for a 10G stocking?

4 Silver Tetras
1 Betta

[RobbieG]

male or female betta - I ask because sometimes tetras can be a little nippy

[ChromeLibrarian]

Ok, I need to ask some questions (I used to breed Fire-bellies).

How big was their vivarium?
Were they alone in their vivarium?
What water source did they have?
Was their water filtered?
If not, how often did you change water?
What were you feeding them?
What was vivarium temperature/humidity?
What kind of substrate were you using?
How many hides?
What kind of plants, if any?
What kind of vitamins/minerals were added to the food?

For future reference, I suggest never keeping fewer than 3 or 4 FBT, since they are social creatures. In which case, I also suggest never giving them less than a 20 gallon tank.

[freshwaterfishlover]

The tank was a 10g
2 Firebelly toads
2 inch of water or so
no Filter
only had Frogs around 3 weeks
Mealworms keep alive in a bowl when I feed them. They never ate them
Never checked Temp
NO Substrate. My Lizards have Reptile Bark
No hides except for the plastic bowl
No plants. Wanted plants but never got around to it. I still want plants for the Lizards
No powder. Only the Powder that came with the Mealworms.

If I get a Betta should it be male or female?

and 4 Silver Tetras

[salman]

I had a toad once. It jumped out of the aquarium when i was feeding my fish, and it took me a day to find it.
I found it in my shoe as i was trying to put it on. :( i was scared as hell!

[AquaQueen]

I have a male Betta in my Community tank with 5 neon tetra, 2 red & 2 phantom tetra and he is fine loves being in the big tank and has been there for well about 6 months now. It is really all on the fish some are a little more nippy then others. It is true they can be nippy my guys ate some fry one time when I had mollies and didn't know they had babies until I seen two left. IMO It is not to much for that tank tho.

[ChromeLibrarian]

Ok, if you should wish to try FBT again, here are saome changes I would try.

Feed small crickets instead of mealworms. FBT are sight hunters, and mealworms may not move enough to attract their attention. Crickets certainly will. Silk worms are the best food you can get, but they may or may not move enough, so crickets can make up the bulk of their food, assuming you use as high quality vitamin and mineral supplement (I use reptivite and reptimin). Whatever you use, make sure they get enough beta-carotene, or their bright colors fade. If you're lucky, you may be able to get your toads to eat guppies or small rosy reds. Some of mine would, some wouldn't.

General rule of thumb I've always used for FBT is 10 gallons for the first toad and 5 gallon per additional toad. This assumes a long tank, not a tall tank.

Ok, keeping FBT with other critters is a bad idea. FBT are toxic, their waste products more so. You may get lucky if you do a lot of substrate and water changing, but eventually, the wastes will kill anything else you keep with it.

Substrate - reptile bark is not suitable for FBT. It is nondigestable, does not pass through their system easily, if they eat it, and can cause impaction (dead toad). Same thing with gravel that fits into their mouth. Switch to Eco-Earth, or some such coconut bark product.

Water - is that two inches in a bowl? If so, it's not enough. FBT live in ponds and streams. They are good swimmers and will spend quite a bit of their time in the water if it is available. In any case, their waste products will quickly turn the water poisonous if it is not filtered. Even with a filter, I do 100% water changes once a month.

FBT are timid creatures. They need several hides on the land portion, and places to hole up in the water.

Here is my current paludarium, with my remaining toads (as I said, I got out of breeding).

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v307/huhwhat/FBTFEB07A.jpg



http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v307/huhwhat/FBTFEB07D.jpg


This is a 20L tank, divided down the middle with plexi. The water, about 4 inches deep, is filtered with a whisper10i filter and has plenty of rocks for them to hide behind. The land is a layer of large gravel, covered with plastic mesh, then topped with Eco-earth. The plants are all live. Temps stay around 70-75, and humidity is 65%+.

[freshwaterfishlover]

It was 2 inches of water for the whole tank. Filling the bottom.

[Rue]

Sorry about the toads...very disappointing...I'm totally paranoid about animals not eating and starving to death...

...I've heard that the SW snails I got sometimes do that too...so I'll have to be buying them algae wafers after they eat up what's in the tank...