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once again i somehow managed to kill off an african dwarf frog. I have a 20 gallon tank understocked with peacefull inhabitants.
ph=7 ammonia=0 nitrate=0 temp=75 F tapwater=treated
no problems and no clue.
my first two frogs lasted for a couple of months. the healthy one got eaten alive by a snail (i'm not joking, it does happed). the second one started looking like it was shedding. there was some spots that looked dull and loose looking. the frog at first acted normally but in a couple days didn't move so much and just looked unhappy. a couple days more and it was dead. the petstore person told me it was an unexplained problem with frogs -that some are o.k. and some succumb to this same problem. i finally got one more frog, and although i'm sure he's just begging to be eaten by my apple snail he's been healthy for 4+ mo. 4 weeks ago i got him a tank mate but this new one recently succumbed in my quarantine tank with the same unknown illness.
every other fish is completely healthy and i've had no other problems for almost a year. why oh why has my little frogs died. I want to get another one but i'm afraid she'll die too. any suggestions or experiences anyone?

nitrate=0

Are you sure nitrate is zero? Check your test kit very carefully and make sure it says NitrAte and not nitrIte. Also if it helps Nitrate = NO3, NitrIte = NO2. Unless you have a really heavily planted tank it would really surprise me if your nitrate levels were that low. What brand of test kits are you using? Also what kind of maintenance do you do on the tank? How much water change do you do and how often, how much of the gravel do you vacuum, how often do you clean the filters, etc.

Also you said you have peaceful inhabitants, could you list them please so I can get an idea of the stocking level of the tank?

I have kept African Dwarf Frogs and I've found they can be very sensitive to water quality but they are usually fairly hardy. They are also very sluggish and lazy by nature so they get picked on by their tank mates a lot of the time. To be honest I think if that many of them are dying in your tank I would suggest either a water quality issue or that they are being harassed by the fish. Another option could be that they are having trouble competing for food.

To be honest even though they're very cute, I think they're much better off in their own small tank, about 5 gallons is a good size but you can do anything over about 2 gallons as long as you keep it very clean for them. One reason I like to keep them alone is because they don't seem to be very smart when it comes to feeding time. It takes them FOREVER (mine were usually a minimum of 30 mins to eat) to find their food and eat it and IME by the time they do that it's already been eaten by the fish unless they're kept alone! I have also tried keeping them with a betta, unfortunately the betta decided that frog legs would make a tasty snack one day and I found the frog missing a limb. So after keeping them for a few years when I was younger I really think it's much better to keep them alone. Their needs are really different from fishes' and you can care for them a lot better in their own little tank.

If you like them a lot, you can get a decent 2 gallon tank from somewhere like petsmart for about $20 (look for the ones that are supposed to be for goldfish - they are terrible goldfish homes but great for frogs and bettas!)

[link=I like these, click here]http://www.petsmart.com/global/product_detail.jsp?PRODUCT%3C%3Eprd_id=845524441807849&FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=2534374302030056&ASSORTMENT%3C%3East_id=2534374302023693&bmUID=1124433939741" style="COLOR: #36af30[/link]

Bigger is always better, you might be able to find a 5 gallon glass tank and small sponge filter for even cheaper - say $10 for both if you really look hard. In a 5 gallon tank you can keep maybe 4 frogs, in a 2 gallon I wouldn't keep more than 1-2.

That petsmart kit comes with a filter and everything. Decorate it as you like, just make sure you leave some room at the top to float something for them to climb on. Then just pick up 1-2 frogs. For food they _love_ frozen bloodworms and brine shrimp, sinking frog pellet should be ok (mine always ate it but some people say they won't accept it.....whatever you do just make sure they are eating), it HAS to sink or they won't eat it. You'll need to do 50% water changes weekly on a tank this size to keep water quality in check. Just to be safe I would use a water conditioner like Prime that detoxifies ammonia because the tank is so small. You don't really need a heater for them as long as the temperature in your house is pretty stable and doesn't drop below about 68-70F.

If you've been buying all of the frogs from the same store you might want to see if you can find somewhere else to buy them.

Frogs rule.

For more info, I like this article:

[link=http://www.petplace.com/articles/artShow.asp?artID=4770]http://www.petplace.com/articles/artShow.asp?artID=4770" style="COLOR: #36af30[/link]

Sorry, NitrITE = 0 It is made by aquarium pharmaceticals and is less than a year old. I do not have a nitrate tester. is it possible to have a nitrate prob without it showing up in the ammonia or nitrite testers first?
I do 20% water changes every 2 weeks. and 40% approx every 2 mo. gravel is vacuumed very well, and I make sure to remove the decorations once a month to clean every inch. filter cartriges are usually rinsed or changed every cleaning with a complete scrubbing down of the entire filter every cartrige change. I have a penquine mini.
Inhabitants in my 20 gallon are as follows.
1 dwarf gourami
1 simese fighting fish
3 glowlight tetra's
1 apple snail (2"
1 small zebra snail
2 ghost shrimp
1 bumblebee goby
0 real plants
No fish is harrassing the frogs. I've watched carefully for this. In fact I've watched my current frog keep all inhabitants away from his food many times and even chase the fish for no reason.
My frogs are fed frozen bloodworms approx every 5 days in an area the other fish cannot get at easily. all my frogs eat bottom-feeder pellets or even flaked food. I watch for my frogs eating to make sure they're getting enough and keep an eye out for shrunken bellies (with frogs and a picky goby this is very important)
My last frog (last casualty) was a heavy eater and would eat anything and everything. I've caught him eating too much on 3 separate occations (big big belly) could this be a problem ? Is it possible when they eat "non-froggy" foods this could hurt them?
I already use a water conditioner and the frogs have come from different stores. :%)

er, let me clear up something.
My first frog died in the 20 gallon, my second and most recent casualty happened in my 5 gallon quarating tank. cleaning in the 5 gallon is done about every 1.5 weeks with a 50% water change. everything else is the same.
the inhabitans in my quaratine tank are:
1 african dwarf frog
1 peppered (paleatus) corry
0 live plants
0 gravel
same temp, ph and nitrite.
10 gallon whisper filter.
full aeration
tank has been set up for about 3 mo. and is fully cycled.
water is left standing for a min. 24 hours before used.
o.k i think that's it. Thanks for the help trystianity.