Ugh. So I have two Fire Belly Toads. Roughly two weeks after I first brought them home, I found a white foam forming in their tank. It’s not really strange looking, and at first I thought it might just be water foam. but it didn’t pop or go away, and when I poked at it with a plastic spoon, it stuck to the spoon and the sides of the glass and the rocks, and the frogs if they got in it. The first time this happened the frogs looked extremely ill, and knowing they’re highly sensitive to chemicals, it really got me worried. I’d had baby powder in my hair earlier ( don’t ask ) and thought maybe some had fallen in; so I took them out and thoroughly scrubbed the tank and everything in it, added in a filter, then placed them back in. I have a Tetrafana WaterFall Filter that’s supposed to be changed every two weeks or so; but because my Fire Bellies are so small I usually let them go about a month. after the first month, I couldn’t convince my dad it needed to be changed, so it took about another week, at which point the foam re-appeared. from that I figured this is simply something it forms when the enclosure starts to get too dirty. but after cleaning it, the foam’s come back and it’s been less than a week. I don’t know what it is or if it’s harmful to them, and I can’t figure out where it’s coming from, but my parents aren’t going to let me clean the whole enclosure every few days, :/
has anyone ever had this issue before, or any idea how to fix it?
It’s a ten gallon, two Fire Bellies that are apparently small for their species, a large TetraFauna WaterFall Filter, a few plastic plants that all came from the fish and aquarium areas and SHOULD be safe, some decorative plastic beads ( again from the aquarium area ), some glass stones I’m hoping to build up enough of to eventually make up all of the bottom ( from the aquariums section too ), and some rocks from outside in the yard. these rocks have been boiled, multiple times, and boiled with vinegar, or which ever it was they said to use >.<" to make sure they don't contain limestone ( they should have dissolved ). but I'm wondering if they may contain limestone in really small amounts, and I'm not sure if that could cause foaming when released….. I dust the crickets which sometimes drop in the water, but it's with the brown kind of Calcium Dust that doesn't contain D3 so it shouldn't cause white foam. I do partial cleanings but as it's been less than a week this shouldn't be the issue,
and I use a fishing net to separate them during feeding and a plastic spoon to keep the crickets from drowning when the Fire Bellies shove them under the water after missing. I only use these once and then throw them out. I use plastic gloves SOMETIMES when arranging the tank, but they're supposed to be latex and powder free and I've never found any on my hands. and because our house temperatures are incredibly inconsistent we keep them in the upstairs bathroom, which generally stays pretty warm. since my brother is now in college that bathroom's never really used except for showers, and soap and shampoo are the only things used in there, as I hand scrub everything myself in that room to avoid chemicals getting into their cage. the glass gets fogged up from the water and I was considering if the steam could be carrying the shampoo, but this doesn't seem all that likely. there's also a strange coating on the glass like you'd expect to see if someone dumped a powder in it, but I scrubbed it thuroughly and short of scraping it away with your nail one tiny bit at a time, it looks like it's pretty permanent, so I think it's just natural discoloration and mess. any ideas? :/