Aquarium frogs: description and types, maintenance and care

A frog in an aquarium today may still surprise someone, but not for everyone such an underwater inhabitant is exclusive. Almost every pet store that has aquariums has one such tank, chock-full of frogs. Of course, not everyone will like this pet, but a certain fashion for domestic frogs has already formed. And if you look closely, they are not so slippery and disgusting, you can also love frogs and even become attached with all your soul to these amphibians.

Aquarium frogs are amphibians that can live at home in the same tank as fish. Moreover, they live in an aquarium a very interesting life, and at the same time delight their owners. Watching frogs in a small sea kingdom is no less interesting than watching fish. And in pet stores they sell not some nasty dirty green individuals, but quite cheerful (in terms of color) and even cute creatures. The mere description of frogs can delight the aquarist, and now he is already asleep and sees how soon a charming frog will settle in his aquarium.

Frogs are interesting in that they gracefully hover in the water column, swim like divers, exploring their possessions. Residents of a home reservoir do not impose special conditions for the maintenance, care and nutrition. Some of their species live in it for a long time, during this time even the most squeamish household members manage to fall in love with tailless amphibians, to become attached to them.

Sometimes the underwater inhabitants become home "oracles": they are trusted to predict the results of football matches and even the presidential elections. They come up with funny nicknames for frogs, for example: Semyon Semyonich, Zelenka, Kvadratik, Zhabkin, Gusha, Nikanor.

One of the most popular domestic species is the clawed frog, and it is albinos (light with a pink tint) that become inhabitants of aquariums in most cases. These are unpretentious amphibians, except that in food they may seem like gourmets. Their body rarely grows more than 8 cm in length.

For one individual, for its conditionally comfortable existence, 10 liters of water are needed. The water temperature should be around 18-22 ° C. To equip a house for such a resident, you need a filter: without it, you will not be able to cope with the amount of dirt produced by the frog. It is imperative to cover the aquarium with a lid or glass with a gap. If you leave the "door" to the tank open, then you will look for your Zelenka or Nikanor throughout the house.

From food, the white clawed frog prefers medium-sized bloodworms, daphnia, and small earthworms. The croak will not refuse a piece of lean meat. The main thing is not to overfeed the pets: these are voracious creatures, they do not follow diets, but obesity threatens them. An adult frog needs to be fed twice a week, while growing amphibians eat more often - 4-5 times a week. It is interesting that the aquarium inhabitants hold food with their paws, briskly sort through them, push a tidbit to their mouths.

Of the minuses of the clawed frog, attempts on small fish can be noted. Neons or guppies will definitely become the prey of an amphibian if you decide to make them neighbors. And clawed frogs are real dirty: they shit, and also dig up the ground in a pest. Plants are also ripped and broken.

There are several popular species among amphibians.

• Hymenochirus. Miniature frogs, on average, grow up to 4 cm. These are slender frogs than clawed ones: they have thin legs, not such a rounded body, and a pointed muzzle. They can live comfortably even in a 5-liter jar. Animals are thermophilic, do not tolerate frequent water changes.

They hardly get used to stationary food, because by nature they are predators. They are also lovers of digging up the ground and lifting all the litter to the surface of the water; these amphibians cannot be called cleanliness.

• Yellow (yellow-bellied) and red-bellied toads. What distinguishes these frogs is that they have a catchy color and are venomous. For a person, the poison released by them is not dangerous, but all the same, after communicating with them, you have to wash your hands. Easy to tame and even predict the weather. These frogs can be called dwarf frogs: their length does not exceed 70 mm.

Real amateur zoologists will want to have frogs at home in order to study them (and not just know the names), keep observation diaries, and take care of them.

Frogs can live with fish, but what this neighborhood will be like is a big question. Even if there are no casualties, the inhabitants can be uncomfortable with each other. Different conditions, requirements for water, temperature indicators, feed affect the quality of the neighborhood.

There is a family of aquarium fish that can live amicably with frogs. These are labyrinth fish: gourami, ctenopomes, lalius, macropods, as well as cockerels. Almost all of the above fish live in Asian rice fields. The fields are insufficiently enriched with oxygen, the water is polluted and stagnant. Therefore, labyrinthine fishes have become accustomed to breathing atmospheric air, "old water" is quite suitable for them.

But zoologists advise aquarists not to experiment with the neighborhood.... For example, they recommend keeping the clawed frog alone. The spur frog will swallow everyone it meets, remove the plants necessary for the fish, and move all the carefully installed decorations. The only positive aspect of the neighborhood is the beneficial effect of the mucus secreted by the skin of frogs on sick fish.

Hymenochiruses are more friendly, they can easily get along with calm, medium-sized and non-predatory fish.

To say that aquarium frogs are the cutest creatures is difficult. Fish are cleaner and less aggressive than amphibians. But lovers of wildlife, ready to organize mini-ecosystems at home, prefer to have frogs instead of silent fish (or together with them). Out of a great love for zoology, you can join the number of owners of such unusual pets and take care of them.

Interestingly, the clawed frog, ready to become your pet, is the first vertebrate that has been cloned. And another curious fact: about 100 years ago, the clawed frog was used as a pregnancy test. If you give her an injection of urine of a pregnant woman, she will start spawning under the influence of hCG.

Because of frogs are interesting zoological objects, many people treat amphibians not like living aquarium toys... They are serious about keeping amphibians, caring for them, observing. And they carefully study all the available information to allow the underwater inhabitant to live a completely comfortable and happy aquarium life.

If you are keeping a couple of large frogs, then the approximate volume of the aquarium should be about 100 liters. The tank needs good filtration and low aeration. The toad will live in the aquaterrarium - a special device. A couple of adult toads should expect a reservoir of at least 5 liters.

The Shportsevs will have enough 10-20 liters for two. There should certainly be enough shelters in the aquarium, because this species «secular» prefers seclusion to a way of life.

The basis for competent preparation is settling the liquid for 3 days, this reduces the amount of chlorine in it. Amphibians are unpretentious to the level of acidity and hardness of water. Experienced aquarists advise not to empty the tank when changing the water. The settled and drained water is suitable for filling the fish tank. The water temperature is quite high – from 22 to 28 ° C for different types of amphibians.

Large pebbles are required as a substrate for popular types of aquarium inhabitants. For the American pip, fine gravel is also suitable. Toads like sand and clean gravel, and clawed ones prefer pebbles.

Plants, if present in the aquarium, can only be hard-leaved. They can be planted strictly in pots, otherwise the frogs will quickly start digging. It is good if the plants form whole thickets in the water house, the frogs will love to hide behind them.

It should be noted that frogs, like all living things, are susceptible to disease. Some diagnoses of aquarium amphibians are quite common.

• Nematode infection... Amphibians become gray, rough, their skin peels off. They lose weight very quickly, and with a scraping done from the skin, it is possible to notice millimeter worms.
• Fungal ailments. More often, the fungus affects the injured areas of the skin, a plaque-like plaque is formed there that can move throughout the body.
• Red paw. This is the name of a bacterial infection in which red spots appear on the frog's paws and face.
• Dropsy. Another bacterial infection, in which the amphibian swells like a ball, swells, the body loses its usual contour.

They treat frogs with agents for tropical aquarium fish, choose them according to the causative agent of the disease. If there are several frogs in the container (or they live with fish), the sick pet will have to be isolated. Obese frogs and pets living in uncomfortable conditions are more susceptible to diseases.

Ornamental aquarium dwellers do not like "fast food" for amphibians: feed them live food. Shpurtsy are happy to eat small earthworms (but they can also eat mealworms), and they also feed on crickets, large bloodworms, tadpoles and fry with pleasure. With tweezers, they will enjoy grabbing pieces of meat, liver fragments or shrimp. It is categorically impossible to give pork pork, fatty beef, tubulers are also dangerous.

Hymenochiruses will prefer small bloodworms, daphnia, or fish. If you choose immovable and dry food for feeding, frogs will most likely ignore it. It is enough to feed an adult hymenochirus twice a week: do not be afraid, it will not die of hunger. True, because of such a rare schedule, many people completely forget to feed the pets. And this kind of forgetfulness is dangerous.

It is interesting to compare the behavior of representatives of 2 different popular species. Spurtsy have well-developed sense of smell and touch. These inhabitants of the underwater state are very sensitive to smells and light movements of the water. They can quickly find food and quickly deal with it.

But it is interesting that they are habituated: a certain signal or a well-chosen place can become for them a sign of an imminent meal. It is worth, for example, lightly tapping the aquarium with tweezers as they go to the sound. True, these amphibians will take a long time to get to food. And on the way, by the way, they may change their minds. A bit lazy, they are not even in a hurry to feast on.

The process of breeding frogs, which is carried out by specialists, looks interesting. More precisely, they create comfortable conditions for amphibians in captivity. Amphibians will not breed in the wrong conditions. During the period when mating occurs, you need to change the fluid 2-3 times a week. Make the water a little warmer than usual.

Distinct black stripes will appear on the paws of the male, he will make a sound that means "combat" readiness. The couple must be planted in a spawning box with the necessary substrate and clean water. And when the eggs are laid aside, the couple will go back to the aquarium. In a clutch of 50 to 200 eggs, tadpoles that emerge from the eggs are no more than 3 mm in size.

The frog offspring are fed with rotifers and ciliates. Frogs mature only by the end of the first year of life.

To determine their gender, you can use the following instructions.

• Even in the pet store, get accustomed to all the individuals. The body of the female usually expands noticeably towards the pelvis, and the body of the males evenly along the entire length. There will be no sharp differences in color.
• Take the amphibian in your hands, turn it on its back: if there is a tubercle similar to a tail between the legs, it is the ovipositor, it is present only in females. By it, you can distinguish the female from the male.
• You can also see the amphibian's throat. Males have resonators that resemble inflating sacs. In some species, they are located on the throat and are called throat resonators, in others - on the head, on the sides. Resonators help them make inviting sounds during the mating season.
• The legs of an amphibian can also be seen. Males will have growths on them that look like a black brush, they stretch right up to the muscle cavity. Or, paws may have nuptial calluses that look like hardened white skin.

But only an expert will be able to determine with a 100% guarantee whether it is a male or a female. In juveniles, it is extremely difficult to determine the sex.

The following video will tell you about the dwarf aquarium frog.