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Hello all... I'm new here so I hope I'm posting this in the right place.

My husband & I just bought my son a 7-gallon tank and a few fish for his 8th birthday, which is tomorrow. We've had the tank over a week, and just added the fish yesterday: twelve little tetras, one algae eater and one small African dwarf frog.

Everything is going well, except we haven't seen the frog for over 24 hours now. There is a pirate ship in the tank with a little hole in it, we figured he was in there at first but then started to worry when he wasn't coming out.

I called Petsmart and they told us the frogs like to hide, and they are also nocturnal. They said Kermit (as my son has named him) is most likely hiding inside the ship, and comes out at night.

Is this information right?? They had the frogs mixed in with over fish out in the open at the store, but the girl said if they put rocks in the tank the frogs hide under the rocks. So we're wondering if we should get a rock-type formation that will allow Kermit to hide, but not so well that my son can't see him at all.

Doesn't he have to come out to breathe?? We figure he eats at night.

Also, if he is inside the ship, how do we coax him out so we know he's okay?? I'm tempted to raise the ship and check on him if I don't see him in a few days. We just tried turning off the light in the tank to see if he comes out.

Any information will be helpful... thanks.

Our tank: 45 gallons
7x Cardinal Tetras 7x Black Neon Tetras
7x Glowlight Tetras 2x Ottos 2x Ghost Shrimp 3x Spotted Corys 3x Panda Corys

It doesn't sound good. Your frog would come out to breathe about every hour or two to breathe. I have a feeling that he is no longer ok.

-Vincent

Thanks... I hate to say it, but I don't have a good feeling about him. My son's birthday is tomorrow, and he will be heartbroken if Kermit has died.

My husband is wondering if he actually jumped out of the tank somehow. We have a hood with cutouts for the filter and the heater... could he possibly jump thru either of these??

I also had to open the tank to fix the heater, as the cord had gotten pulled and I had to readjust everything. We're hoping he didn't jump out then. Although I don't see him anywhere, and he didn't appear to be a hopping frog to me.

The only way we will know is when we raise the ship.

Our tank: 45 gallons
7x Cardinal Tetras 7x Black Neon Tetras
7x Glowlight Tetras 2x Ottos 2x Ghost Shrimp 3x Spotted Corys 3x Panda Corys

You really need to see where he is since a dead frog is pretty smelly and will polute the tank, raising the ammonia levels. Your frog should be much more active than that, if he is still alive.

Yes, I started thinking about that today. Tonight we'll try raising the ship and removing Kermit while my son is asleep, then putting the ship back.

Tomorrow night my son will be out of the house for a few hours, we're going to go to the pet store and get another frog - we have a two week guarantee so they will just replace him for us. We'll also buy a rock formation so the frog can't totally hide, and my son won't know that it's a new frog in the tank.

We just don't want him to be upset about the frog dying.

Our tank: 45 gallons
7x Cardinal Tetras 7x Black Neon Tetras
7x Glowlight Tetras 2x Ottos 2x Ghost Shrimp 3x Spotted Corys 3x Panda Corys

I also doubt this plan will work quite as well as you hope. Have a read through this article. When starting a new tank you need to add only a few hardy fish to begin with. The ammonia needs to build slowly in order to start the cycling process. Too much ammonia and everyone gets stressed. Many life forms will simply hide when stressed.

A good list of fish to start with can be found here. Hopefully you can get the tank in order. I'd highly suggest taking fish back to pet$m@rt if needed. I know it's possible as I've had to do it before when "rescuing" a tank.

Do whatever it takes to find that frog. As Two Tanks mentioned if he has passed on you'll have really bad problems if he's left

^_^

Good news!! He's alive!! Kermit's aliiiiive!!!!

We raised the ship, and there he was underneath it. He didn't move much, and I was really worried. I put my hand in and touched him, he scooted away. He seems fine, he's swimming about. Somehow whenever we went into my son's room to check on Kermit we missed him going up for air or feeding.

I never thought I'd be so happy about seeing a frog!!!

Tomorrow I'm going to buy some type of rock formation that Kermit will be able to hide behind, but where we will also be able to see him and know he's okay.

Ohhh... I'm so relieved. Thank you, everyone, for all your help.

Our tank: 45 gallons
7x Cardinal Tetras 7x Black Neon Tetras
7x Glowlight Tetras 2x Ottos 2x Ghost Shrimp 3x Spotted Corys 3x Panda Corys

As for the cycling, I had read a few articles about that here since posting. Unfortunately the pet store didn't tell us we needed to do that, but they will test the water for us if we bring in a sample.

So far the fish seem okay, we will definitely be keeping an eye on them.

Our tank: 45 gallons
7x Cardinal Tetras 7x Black Neon Tetras
7x Glowlight Tetras 2x Ottos 2x Ghost Shrimp 3x Spotted Corys 3x Panda Corys

Glad you found him alive and well!

Let us know how your test results turn out, feel free to start another thread, and no worries about pestering us, this is what we're here for

Well that and avoiding having to do any real work .

^_^

I am very happy to hear that Kermit is alive and well! Having your water tested is a good idea. Seven gallons is not a lot of space and it looks like you are overstocked. If it is a chinese algae eater, take it back - they get quite large and become agressive with age.
For a tank that size, I would suggest three cherry barbs (one male and two female - non-schooling fish) or a betta (male or female, but not both), to go with the frog. Bablefish gave you a good website for first time fish.

So far everyone seems to be okay, the fish are tiny and seem to have plenty of space. The petstore told us Herbie (the algae eater) would be fine, he shouldn't harass the other fish. I have read on this forum about the Chinese algae eaters becoming territorial, we'll wait it out for now.

Kermit is doing great, he's been much more active... today he was swimming and floating a lot. We're so happy to see him out and about!!

Here's a pic I took of him today...

http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k16/PanClan06/IMG_0977.jpg

And here's a pic of Herbie, the algae eater...

http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k16/PanClan06/IMG_0979.jpg

Our tank: 45 gallons
7x Cardinal Tetras 7x Black Neon Tetras
7x Glowlight Tetras 2x Ottos 2x Ghost Shrimp 3x Spotted Corys 3x Panda Corys

Thats a great pic of kermet nice shot .


I did not have good luck with my golden algae eater. I took him back to petsmart. I had done research on them before getting one and knew not to get a CAE, silly me didnt realize a GAE was the same thing, just different color . He did fine for the first month but before long I'd find him attached to the fish remora style sucking off the slime

He went back lickity split! Just keep an eye on your guys, specially kermit.

^_^

Thanks, Babel... we have definitely been keeping an eye on all the tank residents, and will continue to do so. Any problems, and we will deal with them accordingly!!

My son is already attached so you can guess I don't want to take any drastic measures just yet. As long as the fish all seem to get along and everyone looks healthy, no need to change anything.

We were thinking of getting another frog, but now I'm wondering if that would be a good idea. Is Kermit better off with a friend, or alone?? Also, would it be adding one-too-many fish to the tank?? The tank seems just fine the way it is, to be honest.


Our tank: 45 gallons
7x Cardinal Tetras 7x Black Neon Tetras
7x Glowlight Tetras 2x Ottos 2x Ghost Shrimp 3x Spotted Corys 3x Panda Corys

Bad news... Kermit died yesterday... He didn't move much from his spot on the bottom of the tank, at first we thought he was just hanging out. At night I shined a flashlight in the tank to see if he was still in the same spot, and I noticed a fish picking at him.

So my husband scooped him out and he was definitely a goner. We made absolutely sure he was dead before we flushed him.

This morning we had the terrible task of informing my son, who took the news better than we had anticipated. He's apparently upset, but keeping his chin up.

Tonight we'll take some of the water to Petsmart and have it tested, we're not sure what happened but before we get a replacement frog we want to make sure nothing is wrong with the water.



Our tank: 45 gallons
7x Cardinal Tetras 7x Black Neon Tetras
7x Glowlight Tetras 2x Ottos 2x Ghost Shrimp 3x Spotted Corys 3x Panda Corys

Sorry he passed!

Definatly get the water tested. I'd actually prefer if you were to get a test kit yourself. While it is a bit pricy it's well worth it. Your son will learn how to test the water properly himself (come on it's fun watching the colors change ). You'll always be able to do tests (even at 3am). And you'll know for sure what the numbers are. Big als has a master test kit for a really good price. They're usually great with their shipping (I once had an order actually take the full week to get here though ) You can get the masters at a LFS too, but they're a bit more expensive

I've never had my water tested at pet$mart, honestly I dont really trust them. When you do get it done though, ask to watch, and also look at the cards yourself get the exact numbers and write them down. You want to keep track of these things. You'll most likely have an ammonia reading. The employee at that point will likely push ammolock or something similar on you. It's your choice to purchase that. Ammolock or Cycle may come in handy if they reccomend them. Be sure to follow the directions though. Using them improperly has a tendency to screw with test results and make the cycling process seem to drag on forever

Let us know what your results are

^_^

I'm sorry kermit died.

post us on what the water parameters are so we know why he died.....maybe

-Vincent

Well, I just came back from having the water tested, I watched the guy do it and he said it was fine. However, he also said 12 tetras in a 7-gallon won't last long unless the water is changed regularly, and most likely the ammonia level was too high for poor Kermit.

TwoTanks, I must say you were right about the overstocking... The guy apologized for the misinformation.

He said they will definitely take the fish back in exchange for frogs, he suggested changing the water before adding frogs. He said for now we should leave Herbie (the algae eater) in there for a bit and see how he does in the water, if all goes well we could add one frog at a time.

He also said eventually we should separate Herbie as he gets bigger, not because he'll hurt the frogs but he'll raise the ammonia levels higher. He said the pet store would gladly take the bigger algae eater in exchange for a smaller one, I guess we'll see when the time comes.

The guy suggested 4-5 frogs in a 7-gallon, and if we were to keep the fish instead of getting frogs we would get a refund for Kermit.

My son has a week to make his decision... I have a feeling he will go with the frogs, he loves them so.

Our tank: 45 gallons
7x Cardinal Tetras 7x Black Neon Tetras
7x Glowlight Tetras 2x Ottos 2x Ghost Shrimp 3x Spotted Corys 3x Panda Corys

Well... after talking to my son, he would like to keep the fish and forego frog ownership for now. While I was a little surprised, given how he loves frogs, I was also happy. It means he's grown attached to the fish and feels some sort of obligation to continue caring for them.

We plan to keep the tank the way it is and do regular water changes in hopes of keeping the PH levels where they should be. Time will tell.

Thank you for all your help, I do feel sad that Kermit had to sacrifice himself for our lack of knowledge and experience, though. At least now we know better for the future.

Our tank: 45 gallons
7x Cardinal Tetras 7x Black Neon Tetras
7x Glowlight Tetras 2x Ottos 2x Ghost Shrimp 3x Spotted Corys 3x Panda Corys

I am so sorry to hear about Kermit. Your tank would be perfect for frogs. They really go better in tanks without fish.
See:
http:allaboutfrogs.org/info/mypets/dwarfs.html

I hope this helps.