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Day 65

Finally finished setting up the new froglet tank today! Despite the setbacks yesterday, almost everything went as planned today. To start today's herpetological activities, I brought both filters to the sink for cleaning. Since the froglet filter hadn't been used in a year, I simply used hot sink water. This was not an option for the main filter due too the fact that the most important function of a filter is not to remove solid waste (if it was, you could just get by with a net and a gravel vac) but to maintain water quality, which it does by developing beneficial colonies of bacteria that feed on ammonia and nitrite, which are both very toxic to aquatic animals such as African Clawed Frogs.

In order to maintain the colonies of good bacteria and not cause a cycle (a period in which the filter must reestablish the colonies of beneficial bacteria), that would result in ammonia and nitrite spikes, it's best to not use tap water but water from the aquarium that's been separated into a bucket. (Unfortunately, during this procedure I dropped the plastic 3 gallon tank I was going to use to store the water, it still works for now despite the crack in the side but I won't be able to use the tank I kept my first two frogs in when I was first given them for anything more than dry storage. Not much of a financial loss, but a tremendous sentimental one).

In order to kickstart the cycling process for the new froglet tank, I used half of the old filter sponges (after cutting them to size), transferred a container of the biological media that contains the highest concentration of beneficial bacteria in the filter, and dipped every component in the aquarium water just to be sure. In addition to the extra two gallons of water I transferred from the main aquarium to the froglet tank, there's a good chance I may avoid a cycle altogether (in order to avoid causing a cycle in the main tank, its also important to make sure to not remove more than half of the filter media during any one maintenance session every month or two).

For size reference, this is Scout, their father next to the bridge.

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