10 African Dwarf Frog Tank Mates: A Complete Guide 2024

In the below guide, we will have a look at the overview of African dwarf frogs. We will also discuss several species which you can select as the tank mate of African dwarf frogs. In the end, we will be discussing some common questions about tank mates of African dwarf frogs which people normally ask. 

African Dwarf Frog Overview

African dwarf frog

They reside in Africa’s rivers and streams in their natural environment. These fascinating creatures breathe through their lungs. In addition, these tropical frogs appreciate warm water and are well-connected with various other freshwater species. These frogs are affordable, impressive, and don’t require much care.

Appearance

These little frogs come in a variety of colors and sizes ranging from olive to brown. You would find some white spots on the forelegs of male African Dwarf frogs. These spots help in differentiating them from female African Dwarf frogs. As adults, both males and females barely reach a height of 3 inches.

Lifespan 

As far as the lifespan of African Dwarf frogs is concerned, they live for at least five years. But there could be some exceptions when they die before their average lifespan. It could be due to proper water conditions and improper diet. However, if cared for well and provided a good environment, some can even live a long life of more than five years.

Tank Size

If you want to keep your African Dwarf frog with other frogs or fish, you’ll need at least a 20-gallon tank. Otherwise, a tank of 10 gallons would be enough to keep your one or two African Dwarf frogs. Just follow a simple rule: the bigger the size of the tank, the better it would be.

Diet

When your African Dwarf frog is young, it is advised to feed it once a day. When it reaches the age of maturity, you should not feed much. These frogs have little teeth. Therefore, it is better to provide them with easy food to consume. 

You can also feed your frogfish fry, mosquito larvae, blood worms, brine prawns, krill, and worms many times a week. It is also suggested to add a beef heart in their diet to add some flavor. But make sure you don’t overfeed, and give only once a month as beef heart contains a lot of fat. 

Compatible Tank Mate Requirements 

Compact Size

Since African Dwarf frogs have a small size, we would recommend adding only those frogs or fish that are small. This is because bigger tank mates can harm your frog and even eat it. Therefore, it is suggested to add a tank mate with a length of 3 inches or less.

Calm Behavior

Don’t only go small and choose any frog or fish as a tankmate for your African Dwarf frog. This is because a small sink mate can even harm your frog if it has an aggressive nature. 

Therefore, you should choose the tank mates very carefully, considering their size and behavior. We would suggest choosing a small, peaceful, non-aggressive frog or fish.

10 Compatible African Dwarf Frog Tank Mates 

#1 Guppy 

guppy

The first best friend for your African Dwarf frogs can be a Guppy. They are fairly easy to maintain, particularly for beginners. They prefer to eat both algae and plants since they are omnivores. It closely resembles the African dwarf frog due to its basic requirements.

Growth Rate

Though the growth rate differs from species to species, normally, you would find that guppies attain their maximum length within six months. 

Max Height

Male guppies are 1.5-1.8 inches in length, whereas female guppies attain plenty of 2.2.5 inches. But some guppies are even bigger, around 3-3.5 inches.

Light Demands

Each day, your Guppy should get a constant supply of light for 8-10 hours.

Difficulty

Beginner fish keeps will find guppies to be quite easy to care for. 

#2 Bamboo Shrimp

Bamboo Shrimp

Whenever you keep any shrimp with the dwarf frogs, there are possibilities that the frogs can eat it. But risk. The bamboo shrimp is a noteworthy exception. It has an extremely big size that your African Dwarf frog would be able to eat. Therefore, you can keep bamboo shrimp as your dwarf frog tank mate. 

Growth Rate

Bamboo shrimp can reach their maximum length within two years. Therefore, it implies it has a moderate growth rate.

Max Height

The maximum height of a bamboo shrimp is around 2-2.5 inches. 

Light Demands

It’s perfectly favorable to use standard aquarium lights for bamboo shrimps. 

Difficulty:

Extremely easy-care level. 

#3 Platy

Platy

Platies are very active and peaceful. But you can face a problem with keeping these species with frogs. When you would put the food in the tank, they would come quickly and eat the whole food before your dwarf frog gets a chance. 

Growth Rate

Platies take around four months to reach their maximum size. 

Max Height

Platelets can grow up to 7.0 centimeters in length.

Light Demands

Platies prefer to live in dim light as they don’t like bright light.

Difficulty

They’re really easy to care for. Therefore, a beginner can also keep. 

#4 Corydoras

corydoras

Corydoras have a similar nature as Guppy. Corydoras are too attractive due to their variety of vivid and brilliant colors and designs. Since they are active, they enjoy walking around the tank. Nonetheless, corydoras are relatively particular about not disturbing their tank mates. 

Growth Rate

They have an extremely fast-growing rate as they can attain a marketable length within three months.

Max Height

Corydoras can range from 1 inch to 2.5 inches in length, depending on the species.

Light Demands

Corydoras prefers to live in a tank with low light.

Difficulty

Corydoras are suitable for all levels of aquarists, from beginners to masters. 

#5 Endlers

Endlers

Endlers are highly active fish, especially when keeping both a male and female Endler in the same tank. Female Endlers are more aggressive than male Endlers. Therefore, we would advise you to keep a group of around 3-4 female Endlers to avoid bullying.

Growth Rate

They have an extremely fast rate of growth. For example, a male can become an adult within 3-5 weeks, whereas a female takes eight weeks to reach maturity.

Max Height

Their maximum height is 1.8 inches. However, there are very rare cases when a female dwarf frog attains a length of 2 inches.

Light Demands

Endlers require a constant supply of light for 8-10 hours.  

Difficulty

To care for Endler’s livebearers, you don’t need to be a skilled aquarist. However, beginner and expert fish producers face the same challenges.

# 6 Betta Fish

Betta Fish

Betta fish can show aggression towards other bettas of the same size. But there is no harm in keeping your dwarf frog with the betta fish. It would be a great match for keeping both of them in the same tank.  

Growth Rate

Bettas take around seven months to become fully mature regarding their growth rate. 

Max Height

The typical length reaches around 2.25 inches when the betta is fully grown. If you provide better care, your betta can become bigger.   

Light Demands

Bettas require 9-12 hours of light and 11-16 hours of darkness. So you can switch off the lights before going to bed.

Difficulty

Bettas are not much hard to care for. They just want you to meet their lighting requirements.

#7 Rummy Nose Tetra

Rummy Nose Tetra

Rummy Nose Tetras have a very small, peaceful, and calm nature. Neither do they like to disturb others nor like to get disturbed by others? It is advised not to add tankmates with a big mouth as they can eat your tetra.  

Growth Rate

Their growth rate is very slow. However, they attain a length of one-fourth within two months.

Max Height:

The maximum height of a Rummy Nose Tetra ranges from 1 to 1.5 inches. But, of course, if your fish gets good and proper care, it can grow larger. 

Light Demands:

No serious requirement for light because sunlight would be enough. But if you want, you can add a dim light for your tetra.

Difficulty:

Sometimes it can be difficult to take care of the Rummy Nose Tetra.

#8  Black Skirt Tetra

Black Skirt Tetra

Black Skirt Tetra and Rummy Nose Tetra are both similar. Black Skirt Tetra is also small and peaceful. But can sometimes become aggressive. So it would be a nice choice to keep it with your dwarf frog as it doesn’t like to disturb its tank mates.

Growth Rate

The Black skirt Tetras normally has a strong growth rate that ranges from 0.12 to 0.20 percent.

Max Height

The black skirt tetra is a little fish that grows to around two inches in length.

Light Demands

 It’s advised to use low light in your Black Skirt Tetra tank. 

Difficulty

Black Skirt Tetra requires an easy care level.  

#9 Danios

Danios

Danios come in a variety of colors and types. They have vertical stripes all over their bodies, making them look unique from other fishes. It is advised not to keep Danios with slow-moving fishes as they start showing aggression and, Depending on the species, cite other fishes’ fins.

Growth Rate

Danios grow 1 inch larger after every 4 months.

Max Height

Generally, a danio attains a maximum height of 2 inches. If you keep your danios in a large tank, they would attain more height.

Light Demands

Danios prefer to live in artificial lights as it helps in increasing their size. Therefore, it is advised to provide a 12 hours constant supply of light every day.

Difficulty

Not difficult to care for. Just require a proper environment to live in with a nutritional diet.

#10 Honey Gourami

Honey Gourami

Honey Gourami is peaceful, non-aggressive, and playful. Gourami likes to be active the whole day. If it doesn’t get anyone to play with, it would become stressed. It enjoys swimming slowly. Male Gourami have an aggressive nature in comparison to a female Gourami. Therefore, we would suggest keeping only female Gourami with your dwarf frog. You should avoid male Gourami and keep it in a separate tank. 

Growth Rate

They have an extremely fast rate of growth. It can attain its maximum length within just three months.

Max Height

Honey Gourami can grow up to 5.5 cm (2.2 inches) in length. 

Light Demands

They require many floating plants as their hiding spots where they can hide. They would also require a low-level illumination to stay secured in the tank. 

Difficulty

It’s not difficult to care for a Honey Gourami. Therefore, adding it to your dwarf frog tank would be a nicer option. It’s also simple to feed them because they’ll eat almost anything you throw at them.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ’s)

Can I Hold My African Dwarf Frog?

We would suggest you not even think about holding your African Dwarf frogs. It is also advised not to keep your dwarf frog out of the tank for more than 10 minutes. Though they have a delicate appearance, holding a dwarf frog can even break their bones. Especially when you don’t know the proper technique of holding or mistakenly pull them too hard.

How Many African Dwarf Frogs Should Be Kept Together?

We suggest you keep around three to five African Dwarf frogs in a tank.  African dwarf frogs are gregarious species. Therefore, they prefer to live and play in groups of at least three to five African dwarf frogs. You should make sure that the tank is not overcrowded and should have at least 2 gallons of water. 

Can You Put African Dwarf Frogs With Betta Fish?

African dwarf frogs have a peaceful and calm nature. However, you should remember that it has nothing to do with your dwarf frogs as they are quite friendly. It would completely depend on the behavior of other fish or frogs. 

As far as betta fish is concerned, it too is peaceful, just like a dwarf frog. Therefore, it would be a great choice to keep a betta with your dwarf frog together in the same tank.

Can African Dwarf Frogs Live With Molly?

As discussed earlier, it depends on other fish, not on the dwarf frog. As dwarf frogs have peaceful nature, therefore, they should be kept with calm fish or frogs. But when it comes to Molly, it can become aggressive sometimes. But it would impact your dwarf frog as molly has an extremely small size. So if Molly once just thought of distressing your frog, it won’t be able to influence or damage your frog.  

Do African Dwarf Frogs Eat Snails?

Yes! Snails are one of the parts of the African dwarf frogs’ diet. Insects, snails, larvae, worms, and fish are some of the favorite foods of African dwarf frogs. It does not imply that you would not be able to keep a snail and dwarf frog together in a tank. However, you should know that dwarf frogs only eat small snails that can enter their mouths.

Wrapping Up

African dwarf frogs are very peaceful. Therefore, they don’t require much care. But you should make sure that they get good water conditions, a nutritional diet, and most importantly, good tank mates. In the above guide, we have discussed ten tank mates, which you can keep with your African dwarf frogs. After reading this guide, we hope you understand the consequences of keeping an African dwarf frog. You can also read our article on ideal Jack Dempsey tank mates.

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