African Dwarf Frogs and Fertilizers

[SpiritLiefe]

I have some African Dwarf frogs and have been on a support facebook group. There are a few things I need to run by the greater hive mind that is the internet. 

1. Are plant fertilizers safe for ADFs? I would assume it is the same as shrimp and snails since they are sensitive to copper. But people in this group seem to be blindly following a single herpetologist member/admin and I haven't seen any evidence provided. 

2. Unrelated, but I figured if you know about fertilizer you might also know about the other disputed, yet unresearched, airstones causing gas bubble disease. 

If you have any info I would love to hear it.

 

[KBOzzie59]

I know for a fact that Easy Green is safe for them, it has not harmed any of ours (been using it for over a year now).

 

As for gas bubble disease.  I'm pretty certain an air stone will not supersaturate.  I know @Cory did some testing a while back. 

"Gas bubble disease (GBD), a non-infectious, environmentally/physically induced trauma, is caused by an increase in the dissolved gas pressure above the ambient air pressure (supersaturation)." 

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/9289892/

[SpiritLiefe]

I had an argument with moderator on a fb group over this. Those nutrients are found naturally in the water but he swore up and down that I was killing my frogs by slowly poisoning then even though I was dosing correctly and using shrimp safe fertilizers. I understand why you would tell people new to aquariums to avoid using fertilizer and to test for deficiencies and specifically raise those nutrients. But he was swearing off all fertilizers. Then he started posting wild studies about massive concentrations of toxins due to agricultural runoff. After reviewing them I knew he was just posting and not understanding what he was posting. Eventually he kicked me from the group for questioning what he said and demanding evidence then rebuking his "evidence." They're the sort of group that does admin worship rather than reason and science. They refer to the files then the guy who posted the files says explicitly that "I'm not expert." Then the group still swears by his word and as someone who enjoys actual science it wasn't enough for me. 

I just needed to confirm that it doesn't kill frogs just by correct usage for peace of mind. 

This group also swore up and down that air stones caused gas bubble disease but everything I found on gas bubble disease indicated that gas exchange was necessary to remove the gases from the water and that's breaking the surface tension was essential to that as far as I'm concerned that sounds exactly like air stone. The admin kept saying that but never provided any evidence. 

All this being said I will not be rejoining the group there's nothing they're saying that I haven't already heard of and researched myself now. 

[Ben_RF]

So I have used a variety of plant fertilizers with adf for over a decade with no problems.  Currently I am using the liquid fertilizer by Aquarium Co Op.

Big warning here though, do not use liquid co2 with african dwarf frogs.  I have killed some of mine and seen friends kill theirs with it in the past.  The absorb the poisonous liquid co2 into themselves and soon after they end up dead.  I have found peroxide is a good alternative just fyi if you need to kill algae.  

[Ben_RF]

Just thought about a time I overdid it on iron, and well the adf in that breeding tank didn't do so great but they did survive.  So maybe be cautious about overdosing micronutrients?  Plus to much iron also will cause algae issues. 

[SpiritLiefe]

I had no intention of using anything but micronutrients in modest dosages to benefit the plants. No liquid carbon. I generally don't use anything I can't prove is safe with the critters I'm using it with either. Especially because ADFs can be so sensitive. Overdoing it with anything is generally bad.

[Maggie]

I've done a small bit of research on gas bubble disease. It is not cause by airstones. It is caused by excess air being trapped in water by pressure and temperature, such as through city water pipes. The colder and higher pressure it is, the more gas it will hold. The gas bubble disease scholarly article that I looked at was from the State of Alaska and related to commercial fishes held in ponds, where very large water changes are done sometimes. I've never seen it discussed it other than as a possible cause of death, but not a definitive one. Most people with lots of aquariums on here use the python right from the sink without issue. I age mine in jugs for various reasons including to remove the excess gas. I also use airstones (sponge filters) in every tank. 

[ccurtis]

In regards to African dwarf frogs and ferts, I use aquarium coop easy green, aquarium coop root tabs, and API Leaf Zone currently with no issues to them. I have also used seachem root tabs and there were no issues.  

[Jodi]

I just had 3 adf die today and the only thing I did different was add api co2 booster. I had been using seachem flourish and other seachem products but my plants are looking less then great so I decided to get liquid co2 booster and it was a mistake. 

[Ben_RF]

I am so sorry to hear that @Jodi, liquid carbon ( glutaraldehyde ) is often absorbed quickly by ADF.  Even small amounts of it will often lead to organ failure for ADF.

[Jodi]

Just now, Ben_RF said:

I am so sorry to hear that @Jodi, liquid carbon ( glutaraldehyde ) is often absorbed quickly by ADF.  Even small amounts of it will often lead to organ failure for ADF.

Thanks. I am very saddened by their loss. I had no idea when I decided to try it. I now know but it still hurts that I lost them from me being ignorant to the fact liquid co2 is deadly to this species.