African dwarf frogs and betta's? - Paw Talk

clairebee1 · #1 09-14-2009, 12:50 PM

Hi, guys im wondering can you keep an african dwarf frog and a betta together in a 15gal tank? Ive got a spare one sitting around and i would love to own some.
If so what special requirements do they need?
Filter?
Heater?

Thanks

And btw, yes im still learning so please don't bash me

canadiancritter · #2 09-14-2009, 01:50 PM

Yes you can house a betta and ADF together. In a 15 gallon you could have a betta and a couple ADF. Just make sure that you get African DWARF fronts and not african CLAWED frogs.

clairebee1 · #3 09-14-2009, 02:07 PM

Thank you,
Do they need heating or a filter?
x
Also what food do the ADF eat?

canadiancritter · #4 09-14-2009, 02:12 PM

I am not sure if they need a neater or not, but I do know that you would need to use a very gentle filter if you were to use a filter since the frogs are sensitive to the current and what not.

You can feed them blood worms and other fresh and frozen fish foods. You are going to need to use a turkey baster or something to squirt the food in front of their faces.

Jess · #5 09-14-2009, 03:45 PM

Personally, I wouldnt use a filter. The current stresses out bettas and ADF, and both can easily get fins/limbs sucked into it. If you do use a filter get one with a weak current and wrap panty-hoes around the part that sucks up water so no one gets sucked up

They both eat bloodworms. Make sure you get FROZEN, not freezedried! The freezedried ones have no nutritional value, and are not good for froggies.
The tank water should be between 78-82*F, so if you water is colder than that you will want a heater.

**Sasami** · #6 09-14-2009, 06:11 PM

I'm going to go against the grain here and say NOT to keep African dwarf frogs with a betta. It's true that they have many of the same requirements and are generally peaceful but there are a lot of problems that can arise.

First off, African dwarf frogs are very slow (and sometimes picky) feeders. In most mixed set-ups, the betta ends up stealing all of the food--often without the frogs even noticing! I've had some frogs that I actually needed to dangle food in front of them with tweezers (frozen/live foods, by the way, these particular frogs wouldn't touch flakes or pellets) to get them to eat. They aren't anything like clawed frogs when it comes to eating!

The other problem is nipping. Bettas can be nippy fish and it's not unusual for them to bully African dwarf frogs, mostly because the frogs just sit there. It's true that there are peaceful bettas but you're really taking a chance when you mix one with frogs.

Nipping can go both ways, too. African dwarf frogs are known to sometimes act aggressively towards betta fish, even tearing fins off.

So while you can mix them I wouldn't recommend it. You might get lucky but you also could end up with dead animals. I would pick one species (or different mixes, like a betta with an apple snail) or divide the tank.

Oh, and yeah, you'd need a heater unless your house is consistently warm (think high 70s).