Popular Amphibians. Philippe De Vosjoli
Water changes stabilize the composition of the water, add minerals and trace elements, and remove fecal matter and plant debris from the aquarium floor.
As a general rule, every one to two weeks, siphon and replace 25 to 50 percent of the tank water. During siphoning, make sure to remove the biological waste that accumulates on the tank floor. The standard method for changing water is to remove it using an aquarium siphon and 5-gallon bucket.
Do not start a siphon using your mouth. There is a high risk of bacterial and parasitic infections because you can’t avoid taking in the fouled water from the end of the siphon tube, and you may accidentally swallow it.
Siphons with hand pumps are sold at aquarium stores. Manual boat bilge pumps (which are very effective) and industrial wet-dry vacuum cleaners (being careful not to wet electrical parts or to accidentally suction frogs or newts) are also very effective.
Remember to dechlorinate the replacement water. This means buying a chlorine remover at a store that sells aquarium supplies or allowing water to sit in a container for at least twenty-four hours prior to use. In areas where chloramine (a compound of nitrogen and chlorine) is used to treat your water, a dechloraminator, also available from pet stores, should be added to the water. If you keep larval amphibians, leave replacement water in a bucket or tub for at least twenty-four hours before use to let dissolved gasses to dissipate.
Every one to two weeks, clean out filters and/or replace filter media and scrape algae off the sides using a single-edge razor or an algae-scraping tool. Also remove or prune overgrown or dead plants. Wipe dust off the tank cover and the unplugged fluorescent bulb, and clean stains and dirt off the outside of the tank. You can safely use window cleaner such as Windex on the outside glass.
If properly set up and maintained, planted tanks last for years, possibly more than a decade, without requiring a full disassembly, cleaning, and reassembly. I keep several 1.5-gallon setups, heavily planted and stocked with underwater frogs and floating frogs, that are three years old and look better than ever. My larger axolotl and newt setups are going into their fourth year and look the best they ever have.
CHAPTER 4
WATER
If you plan to keep amphibians, water quality is one of the most important aspects of care. The ability to absorb water and a variety of water-soluble substances through their skin makes amphibians particularly sensitive to water quality and water-dissolved toxins. Larval forms, in particular, have especially fine epithelial (outer surface) skin, making them extremely sensitive to water chemistry and dissolved substances.
For example, water with high levels of chlorine destroys the fine gills of small amphibian larvae, damages their skin, and often kills them. Toxins such as ammonia, nitrites, cleaning compounds, and disinfectants pass through the skin and kill both adults and larval amphibians. High levels of dissolved gasses also penetrate the skin of tadpoles or larval salamanders and can lead to the formation of gas bubbles in their bodies that can kill them. Thousands of amphibians die annually because of improper or poor water conditions.
As you can see, the importance of water quality cannot be overemphasized. If you consistently have problems keeping amphibians alive, check the water quality first.
Aerosols and Pesticide Strips
Certain amphibians die when exposed to chemicals in aerosol forms, including cleaning compounds and hair sprays. Insecticidal pest strips (used by reptile keepers for treating mites) affect amphibians, and, when used in close quarters, might kill frogs and salamanders.
Detecting Water Problems
Amphibians in life-threatening water conditions show clear behaviors that things are not right. Life-threatening conditions include water that is too warm, too acidic, too hard, or too high in ammonia, nitrites, or toxins. The most obvious sign of distress is the animal’s frantic struggle to escape the life-threatening environment. Many amphibians in life-threatening water swim at the surface of the aquarium and attempt to access a land area. You also might see spastic twitching, leg extensions, and panicked darting or swimming. If you see these signs, immediately remove your amphibians and replace the water (not from the same source).
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