# Frogs & Toads > Aquatic Clawed Frogs >  Bloated ADF

## justin31love

Hey,


So 2 days ago, I while feeding i noticed that one of my ADFs looked bloated, so I stopped feeding him (but while i was feeding my other frog, he stole some of the bloodworms). Anyway, I didnt feed him last night, but he is still bloated, I am very worried for him and I am praying that it isn't dropsy. Also, he seems normal with activity level, but he seems to be spending a lot more time near the top and floating in his "zen" position. My other frog is completely fine. Any opinions or suggestions? thank you.


Here are some pictures:

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## Terry

I don't think there is any need for concern at this time. If the frog is experiencing any unusual swimming behavior or excessive bloating (looks like the Michelin man), then you will need to treat it. Bloating eventually will ruin the kidneys and the frog dies. Salt baths are a common method of treating bloating.

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## MadameGrenouille

Hello

your frog doesn't look bloated to me, if you are worried about your frog spending too much time floating on top of water, you may want to check your water parameters, ammonia and nitrites should be at zero, water should be around 77F. Hope this help

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## celticstarb

I agree that you frog doesn't look bloated.  From the pics, it looks like your frog may be a female. If that is the case, she may just be developing mature eggs. Some of my girls would get huge just before spawning.  They would often stay near the top or hidden in plants to avoid over amorous males until they were ready to release their eggs.

I agree with MadameGrenouille about water parameters.  If ever in doubt, test!  Every so often it's a good practice to take a water sample to your LFS to double check the accuracy of your test kit by comparing you results at home to the results at the fish store.  Many fish stores will test you water for free or a minimal charge.

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## justin31love

Thanks guys, so I have been fasting my frog for 2 days, so do you think I should start feeding her again?

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## celticstarb

I would feed her (?) sparingly.  If she is developing eggs and doesn't have the nutrition for them, then she might become malnourished.  Watch her for any other signs of stress and check the water parameters closely.  Maybe do a water change with water that is a few degrees cooler than the tank water.  If she is ready to breed, and assuming there is a male present, the cooler water should kick start spawning.  Of course, we shouldn't rule out illness, so keep a close eye on her.

I hope everything goes well and she perks up soon.

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justin31love

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## justin31love

Hey, so I am a bit freaked out, my frog is not literally floating and doing backflips in the water, I am not sure if this is intentional, or if she(?) can't control it. Has anyone seen this before? thanks

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## justin31love

There also seems to be a thin string coming out of its butt. ugh this is so stressful. Any help would be appreciated if anyone has experienced anything like this.

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## MadameGrenouille

It did happen to me,I saw one of my frog, being in a zen position at the bottom of the tank, slowly falling on her back, lay on her back for a while then got back on her feet like nothing happend, I would call that a normal behavior. If your frog stay on her back and can't strenghten up then there is a problem, how is she acting right now?

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## justin31love

Thanks! well now she has climbed onto my heater and is using her leg to prop herself up, so that her nose is above the water.

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## justin31love

Sorry, but she was floating on her back for a while and so I got her with my net ( she didnt fight it or anything like she used to, which scares me) and put her in a small container that my betta came in, with clean, dechlorinated water. And now she is still floating, but vertically. I now realized that such a small container can cause more stress, so I put her back in the tank and she continues to float around, right side up this time.

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## MadameGrenouille

Sorry not to have get back to you earlier, I might be wrong, it's really hard to tell why a frog suddenly start acting funny but something might be wrong with your water, either the parameters or the temperature. If everything is fine on that side, maybe you can get her a tall plant so she can rest on it, she would be closer to the water to take a breath

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## Jen

She is best in the smaller container with a ventilated lid. Only a small portion of water so that if she was to "stand" she wouldn't have to fully extend her legs to breath - this will save her any strain or wasted energy trying to get to the surface.   These frogs will not purposely stay in a plant or seek out a new higher level on purpose, it is usually found by accident while swimming around. 
Once they start losing the ability to right themselves in the water however it is usually not a good sign.

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## justin31love

Thanks guys, I had her in the container overnight and this morning she died. My other frog seems to be doing well, but do you guys think I should change all the water in the tank and clean everything? Could whatever this was be contagious possibly?

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## Jen

I would do a normal but slightly larger water change. 
To be honest, I avoid feeding bloodworms as there have been several instances of them contributing to bloating in frogs. In a barebottom or sand substrate tank you can try feeding live black worms (they will burrow into the gravel and die then rot in the tank) or feed a pelleted food (which is what I do for my own) such as HBH or Zoomed frog/tadpole bites. Or even the small size of the Reptomin floating sticks. 

Keep an eye on your remaining frog and wait before getting any buddies for him. If you do get more, make sure you quarantine at least 30 days (preferably 6 weeks)

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## justin31love

Thank you, I do have pellets, but when I drop them in the tank, they are so small compared to the gravel, and are similar in color, so I wonder if he can actually find them

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## Jen

Try getting a small dish (like used for hermit crabs) and put the pellets in there so there are easier to find and won't get stuck in the gravel to decompose. He will quickly learn where to go when he smells food if you feed in the dish every time.

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## MadameGrenouille

Sorry your frog didn't make it  :Frown:

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justin31love

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## celticstarb

Sorry to hear about you frog.

I know it doesn't help, but you did all you could.  Dwarf frog diseases are often difficult to diagnose. They are bred at farms in outdoor ponds, which means that they are essentially wild caught.  Then, to make matters worse, most pet shops have no idea how to keep them and feed them fish flakes and other fish foods that do not have adequate nutrition. Unfortunately, most pet shops won't take advice from their customers.

I agree with Jen about keeping an eye on your other frog for a while before getting him a friend.  Once you're sure he's ok, you will need to get another frog for him.  They are social creatures that need the company of other frogs for optimum health.  Just be sure to quarantine new frogs, as Jen suggested, before adding them to you tank.

I hope everything goes well for your frog.

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justin31love

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## justin31love

Thanks guys.  Do you think this may be caused by the fact that my tank is still in the process of cycling? Granted I change the water at least 50% every 2 days (3 days Max), and use SeaChem Prime but still. Could one frog be more sensitive to water parameters than the other?

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## celticstarb

That could definitely be a contributing factor.  You should do a daily or twice daily water change if the tank isn't cycled.  I you don't already have a test kit, then you should buy one ASAP.  Check for ammonia and nitrites in the morning and at night.  Since frogs have permeable skin, toxins in the water affect them quickly.

But if the other frog isn't showing signs of stress, then I would guess that there were other factors involved as well. Having a tank that isn't cycled probably stressed her enough that some pathogen took advantage of her lowered immune system.

Prime will bind ammonia, but only to a point.  And frogs are notoriously messy eaters which causes ammonia to build up quickly.

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justin31love

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## justin31love

Thanks! I will definitely be doing daily 50% water changes now. Also I have a liquid Ammonia test, but I will get the test kit for everything else soon. Although, I do have  a lot of trouble reading the tests because I am red/green colorblind, and cannot differentiate between the colors.

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## celticstarb

A friend of mine had the same issue with the test kits. He showed me how he reads the tests.  Instead of placing the testing vial next to the colors on the chart, he places it directly over the color chart. When he looks through the vial, the color box closest to the color of the test will "disappear."  It's not entirely accurate, but gives him a ballpark figure +/- 1ppm. If this doesn't work for you, send me a PM and I'll try to help out if I can.

Also, just a head's up, doing necessary daily water changes will slow down the cycle. So it may take several weeks more to fully cycle your tank.  You will also want to test your tap water for ammonia and nitrites about once a week to make sure your tap water isn't adding any toxins.

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## celticstarb

One more idea that will help a bit.  If your local fish store sells plants, try to find some floating plants such as duckweed or frogbit.  You can also float some water wisteria. These plants will help filter the tank.

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justin31love

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## justin31love

Thanks a lot, I will try that trick for the test kit, and I have water wisteria in my tank now. Will plants help filter the tank faster?

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## justin31love

And also, what is the expected set-up for a quarantine tank? I am in college, so I don't think i will be able to get much more than 1 or 2 gallons.

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## MadameGrenouille

yes, plants do help to cycle a tank, they filter your water by taking the waste in your tank as a nutriment, they kind of eat ammonia and nitrites to produce nitrates at the end(with the help of good bacterias) (nitrates are good when they are not too high), but the cycle can take a _while so your test quit will be your best friend while  cycling your tank. For a quarantine tank, a two gallons will be good, with a small filter, I had two adfs in quarantine, in a 1.5 gallons for a few months, I had to put a sponge on thefilter outlet because the waterflow was too strong_

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## celticstarb

Make sure to only use decorations that can be bleached and sterilized. Also keep the QT bare bottomed. I use 2 inch terra cotta pots to give them hiding places when in QT.
Personally, I use sponge filters in my QT, but any filter you can easily sterilize with bleach or by boiling will work. If you use bleach, rinse everything in tap water then soak in water with double chlorine remover. Set everything aside until it's completely dry. If you have live plants in your QT you can sterilize them with a 1:5 bleach solution for up to 3 minutes. At the 3 minute mark, rinse well with tap water and soak in water with chlorine remover. But, be cautious as some plants melt in bleach; so, some there might be some trial and error.

After your frogs are finished with their quarantine, break down the QT and sterilize everything.  Then, if you need to use it again at a later date, sterilize everything immediately before setting it up again.

Do daily water changes in the QT while in use. I know some people keep a cycled QT, but I worry about contamination.  Also, it is good practice to prepare your water the night before your water changes.  Add an airstone to the water and let set overnight. Check the temp and pH to make sure they match before adding it to the tank to prevent shock. I know it sounds like a lot of work, but it's only temporary and will be over before you know it.

I agree with MadameGrenouille that a 1-2 gallon aquarium will be fine.  I wouldn't go less than 1 gallon so your frogs won't get too stressed.

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## justin31love

Thanks. and would it be completely necessary to get a filter for the QT tank, with daily water changes?

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## MadameGrenouille

Maybe not with some daily water change, depending if you have 1 or 2 fogs in quarantine and how much you feed them.From my experience, I would add some filtration. I had two and water was not clear even after water change, that is why I got a filter, Elite filter for betta tank, a bit strong, that is why I put a sponge on the outlet, you should follow celtictarb's suggestion and get a sponge filter,they are  more adequate for adf's

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## justin31love

So I got 2 new frogs today and currently they are in a small critter container that is about 3 gallons. I don't have a filter, but I will be doing daily water changes. So, should I be doing 50% or full water changes daily? Also, I tested my water in my 5.5 gallon tank that I have been doing daily 50% water changes with and it had about 3.0 ppm nitrites, almost zero ammonia, and no nitrates. I then did a 50% water change. Do you guys think nitrates will appear soon?

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## celticstarb

For your QT, you should do at least 50% a day, but may have to do more depending on how much you are feeding.  Testing is the only way to be sure.

As far as your display tank goes, it is progressing as it should.  Hold off on water changes until you see nitrates (hopefully in a week or two).  Since there are no frogs in your tank, you will need to "feed" the bacteria. I use Dr. Tim's ammonium chloride, but others just throw in a pinch of fish food and wait for it to break down. Personally, I am not a fan of the fish food method.

I consider my tanks cycled when it can convert 2ppm ammonia down to nitrates within a 12 hour period.

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justin31love

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## justin31love

Thanks so much!. But also in my 5.5 gallon tank there is currently one frog by itself that I feed every other day. So should I do 50% changes every other day?

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## justin31love

Also, my "grand scheme" is to house my frogs in with a betta (who is very mild mannered). When I introduce to qt frongs and eventually the betta, I plan to use seachem stability. And I plan to be prepared for diligent water changes. If this is completely crazy then I will have to try to find something a bit larger, but maybe less than 10 gallons. ( I am in college)

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## celticstarb

The 3 frogs and a betta would be about the max bioload I would have in a 5.5 gallon tank.  Diligent water changes and some low light plants, such as anubias, should keep everything in order.

Sorry, I forgot you had a frog already in the tank.  So please ignore my earlier post about not doing the water changes.  He will add ammonia for the bacteria to thrive.  Just try to keep the nitrites down so he'll be ok.  Test daily and do a partial water change to keep it at 1ppm or less.  This will lengthen your cycle time, but necessary for your frogs comfort and health. They can take low levels of nitrites for short periods of time, but over the course of several days it may have harmful effects.

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## MadameGrenouille

If you would like to keep a Betta with your 3 frogs, I would get a 10 gallons, you never know, your betta can be nippy or as frogs do not have good eyesight they might nipped at the betta's tail thinking it's food, I would either get a 10 gallons for everybody or keep the 5.5 for the frogs and the 3 gallons for the Betta  :Smile:

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