upset over care of DAF

[ginger]

I acquired 2 african dwarf frogs from a friend who received them as wedding table favors. They were the frog-O-sphere that Brookstone sells. Her kids didn't want them so she passed them to me because my son loves frogs. They come in 1 1/2 cup bowl with a plant and a snail. The snails were dead but the frogs and plants were healthy. Trying to give the frogs a better life, I researched how to meet their needs which led me to placing them in a 2 gallon tank with a fake soft plant and natural rocks. I purchased ammonia and ph kits. I also bought blood worms. About an hour after I first put them in the new tank I noticed their color went from green to grey. I attributed this to the color of the natural rocks. They were no longer the fake green but natural stone or they were a little stressed from the move. I was feeding them every other day. They still seemed very happy b/c they swam around a lot with the exception that their color was still gray. I changed the water about 20% every four days b/c the ammonia level would reach about .50. PH was always perfect. I left the water out for about an hour but I also used Aqueon water conditioner. This concerned me b/c it is meant for fish and it also helps restore the fishes natural slime coat. I couldn't find a water treatment that just removed chlorine. I had them about 2 weeks and I went away for the holidays and brought them in their tank to a friends house to feed over the long 4 day weekend. She also has the same frogs but left hers alone in the frog-O-sphere. We did test the Ammonia levels in her tank and it was fine. The water has never been changed in her tank b/c Brookstone only recommends changing it every 6 months. They live next store so the frogs were hand carried across the road. Upon my return from the holiday trip they hand carried the frogs back over to me. They were both alive. One had died in the next morning. I know they were fed the night before.
Were they stressed from the move. He was not bloated. I don't have a heater but keep my house at 68-70. I know they like it a little warmer but should do ok at this temp.

So here I am trying to do the best for my frogs and one has died. My friends' frogs are living in 1 1/2 cups of water, they are green, and do not have any Ammonia problems.
Did I do something wrong? I am starting to think I should have just left them in the tank they came with.

Any advice or suggestions would be appreciated.

[sarah]

Hi Ginger, I'm sorry to hear about your problems with your African Dwarf Frogs.

Unfortunately, we don't always know what has happened before we get our pets.

The frog that died could have been older, or sicker, or mistreated previously, and there's really no way of knowing what caused it to die while the other frogs lived.

Sometimes fish have trouble when there is a big difference in the water quality. Although it seems like clean water is always better, if there is a sudden change from dirty water to clean water the change in water can cause problems for the fish.

Also, most fishkeepers that I know don't recommend using products that help restore the fishes slime coats on fish because they don't believe it is healthy, so we've never used it.

We normally use prime in all of our fish tanks, and that seems to work well.

I know that frogs should do ok with different lower temps, but when I first started keeping frogs, and didn't know any better, I didn't use a heater.

All of the frogs died within a few months, even though I was using frog pellets, and changing water regularly.

Also, are you using frozen or freeze dried bloodworms?

Freeze dried foods aren't recommended because they can expand inside the body and cause an impaction.

If you do use them it's recommended that you soak them in water before you put them in your fish tank.

Good luck with your remaining frog.

It is very frustrating when you do everything right, and your pets still die, while people who do everything wrong don't have any visible problems.