In addition or in exchange for the usual snails, many aquarists began to acquire more exotic inhabitants of aquariums - decorative frogs - to fish. If you are sure that you will be able to provide them with optimal living conditions, you can join the popular direction of aquarium art and get a couple of frogs.
Aquarium frogs - species
The most common varieties of aquarium frogs are smooth shportsevaya and dwarf hymenohirus. Outwardly, they differ in size, color, behavior, features of content. In pet stores, however, they are often kept in the same aquarium and, when sold, do not delve into differences and do not emphasize the species of this or that individual. Often this becomes the cause of subsequent problems when they are shared together.
Frog hymenohirus
If the frog has slender and long legs with membranes between the fingers, the muzzle is pointy, and the color is gray, then you have an aquarium frog called a hymenocirrus. She, becoming an adult, does not grow more than 4 cm. By nature and behavior, very calm, quiet and even slow. She does not hurry, she crawls on the bottom for a long time, climbs on rocks and other underwater objects, and sometimes stops and remains immobile for a long time.
These features, on the one hand, are an advantage when they are combined with fish: they do not cause problems, do not drive fish, damage plants and almost do not pollute the aquarium. On the other hand, such sluggish behavior often becomes the reason that they do not get food, especially if live and active fish live nearby. In a large aquarium these aquarium frogs will not be noticeable, hiding on the bottom among snags, plants and stones.
Aquarium spurgean frogs
The exact opposite of the hymenocircuits is the spur frogs. They are very active, they eat everything that they can only grab, tear plants, move stones and driftwood, dig in the ground. The color of wild spur frogs is grayish or olive, with spots. They are dense and large. Between the fingers they have no membranes, and the paws themselves are thick and not too long. If you need decorative frogs in the aquarium, pay attention to the albino sperm.
Shportse frog albino
These aquarium frogs, derived artificially for research, are very visible in the aquarium. The albino frog for the aquarium has a pink or white color, it has large expressive eyes and a rounded muzzle. It has an interesting feature to hang in the middle of the aquarium, which invariably attracts attention. The size of the sparse frog can reach 10-12 cm.
How many frogs live in the aquarium?
When observing all the most important conditions of detention, aquarium frogs live in captivity on average about 15 years. Hymenoids live less - about 5 years. If you want to achieve the longevity of your pets, you need to take into account that all of them, regardless of the species, are very sensitive to any changes in the environment and can suffer great stress from this and even get sick, although they are generally unpretentious animals.
How many years the frogs live in the aquarium directly depends also on what conditions of detention were in the pet store. Often wild spur frogs are transferred from natural reservoirs without observing the conditions of transportation and do not contribute to their adaptation in a new place. This can lead to various diseases, which, naturally, will shorten the duration of their life.
Frogs in the aquarium - contents
No matter how exotic the aquarium decorative frogs might seem, they are not too prone to conditions of detention. For shportsevyh the volume of the aquarium is needed a little more than for the hymenocircuits. If they are kept without fish, then enough aquarium for 20-30 liters, half full. Be sure to provide a cover or a grid for covering, so that frogs do not escape. From the equipment they need a compressor and a small internal filter . In additional lighting, there is no need for them.
The water temperature at which the content of our aquarium frogs will be comfortable should be at + 22-25 ° C. As for the chemical composition of the water, the spur frogs are completely unpretentious. And yet before pouring into the aquarium, water needs to be protected for 2-3 days. You need to change it once a week, replacing 20-25% of the volume. You can change the water and less often, starting from the degree of turbidity. Plants for shportsevyh need to be planted necessarily hard and only in pots, otherwise the frog will ruthlessly uproot them from the ground.
For one hymenocourse, 1-2 liters of water will suffice. Its temperature should not be below +24 ° C. A filter or compressor must always be present from the equipment. At the same time, it should not be too powerful to always have a corner with fixed (standing) water in the aquarium. For hymenohiruses at the bottom it is necessary to build shelters so that these fearful and quivering creatures could hide there. Unlike shportevyh, hymenohiruses like to protrude to the surface and bask under the lamp, therefore for them it is necessary to equip additional lighting.
Frogs in an aquarium with fish - compatibility
A wild spur-frog frog in an aquarium with fish will certainly cause a lot of problems. She will bite them, and those that are smaller and swallow at all. In addition, she will constantly raise the dregs, digging in the ground, spoil the plants and rearrange the scenery. In addition, this frog loves the conditions of a standing marsh, while fish prefer a good current and a constant supply of fresh water. The only positive moment from the joint residence of the shportsevoy frog with fish is the mucus that is released by it, which is curative for many diseases of fish.
Much easier is the case with hymenocircuits. They are quiet, because they get along well with the same quiet and unsustainable fish. Decorative frogs do not disturb the beauty of the aquarium and do not stick to other inhabitants. The only problem is to ensure that they get their portion of feed, because because of their slowness and fear they often do not keep up with the more agile fish and remain hungry.
How to care for aquarium frogs?
If you initially provided all the necessary conditions regarding the volume, water temperature and equipment, the frogs in the aquarium will feel fine. You will remain in time to change the water, plant plants, feed them, turn on the lights, if necessary. By the way, the feeding of aquarium frogs should be discussed in more detail.
What to feed aquarium frogs?
All kinds of aquarium frogs prefer live food. For larger shportsevyh it will be rain and flour worms, a large bloodworm, crickets, tadpoles, fry. You can not feed them with a pipe fryer. You can give them tweezers pieces of fish, meat (lean), liver, shrimp. The frequency of feeding is 2 times a week. Spurs frogs have a well developed sense of smell, so they eagerly throw themselves at food right away.
What the aquarium frogs eat is called the hymenohurus by their small size. Crickets and worms, they simply can not swallow, so they need to give a small bloodworm, live daphnia, finely chopped meat and fish. At the same time, they need to literally shake food right under their noses. Alternatively, you can train them to feed in the same place and on a certain signal. For example, tapping with tweezers, they should understand as an invitation "to the table."
How do aquarium frogs multiply?
Aquarium decorative and wild frogs reproduce, laying eggs. Shport frogs reproduce in wild conditions in the spring, in aquariums they can do this up to 4 times a year. Wanting to mate, the male produces characteristic sounds, the female responds to it. After, at night, within a few hours the female lays not one hundred eggs, the male immediately fertilizes them all. Hatch eggs after 5-6 days. The tadpole feeds on the principle of water filtration: it swallows the water with the mouth, and releases it through the gills. Complete metamorphosis of the tadpole into a frog takes 2.5-3 months.
Hymenohiruses do not have a very different reproductive process. It can be stimulated by raising the temperature of the water and increasing the level of illumination. The couple will describe the circles, the female at this time will be laying eggs. Their number is 50-200 pieces. They hatch after a couple of days. To feed them it is necessary Kolovratka and infusoria. Metamorphosis will occur in about a month.
What does caviar frogs look like?
To save the offspring, frogs should be better off from fertilization after spawning. In order not to confuse anything and to understand exactly what is before us, it is necessary to know what the caviar of ordinary and decorative aquarium frogs looks like:
- caviar of spur frogs;
- caviar of hymenohiruses.