If you have an aquarium will guppies, then you might be interested in adding frogs to it. However, a common concern with adding frogs to a tank with guppies is whether the frogs will eat the guppies.
Fortunately, frogs rarely eat guppies. Frogs prefer eating insects and mosquito larvae, so your guppies will be safe if you decide to add a frog to the tank.
There are other more pressing concerns if you decide to add a frog to your guppy tank, though. The rest of this article will cover those concerns.
Guppies and Frogs in the Same Tank
Guppies and frogs work great in the same tank. Remember, guppies and frogs live together in nature, so they are certainly compatible at the same water temperature and pH level.
That already makes it easy for them to share the same tank.
The good thing is that frogs do not need large tanks. I once had an African Dwarf Frog in my 10 gallon guppy tank – the frog did perfectly fine. It mostly hung out at the bottom of the tank unless it was going to the top of the tank to breathe.
You will run into one problem if you have a large amount of guppies, though. The swarm of guppies will eat all the food before it can fall to the bottom of the tank for the frog.
However, it’s not too big of a concern because some food will always drip to the bottom for the frog to eat. In my case, my frog would also eat any mosquito larvae or insects unfortunate enough to get stuck in the tank.
What Frog Is Best With Guppies?
The African Dwarf Frog is the best frog to add to your guppy tank. This frog is hardy and extremely easy to raise.
They eat bloodworms. But, in my experience, the frog will not eat much. You can drop a bloodworm directly in front of the frog and it will not eat.
The reason is simple:
African Dwarf Frogs do not move around much, so they do not need much food. This is also a downside because these frogs are a little boring. I thought mine was dead for a few days because I couldn’t find it!
But they do add a little more character to your tank and make it more of a complete tank.
Do African Dwarf Frogs Eat Guppies?
African Dwarf frogs do not eat adult guppies. They may eat guppy fry that swim directly in front of their mouth, but that is rare. In fact, African Dwarf frogs do not really seem to eat or do much of anything.
They just sit at the bottom of the tank unless they go to the surface to breathe. These frogs are not active hunters – the hunting strategy for an African Dwarf frog is to sit at the bottom of the tank and wait for food to float directly in front of its mouth.
So, an African Dwarf frog might eat the occasional guppy fry. Thankfully, there will likely be hundreds of guppy fry in your tank, which makes the impact of the African Dwarf frog eating the occasional guppy fry minimal.
That’s good.
In my experience, you will probably struggle to feed your African Dwarf frog, but it won’t seem to die. These frogs do not need much food to live because they barely exert any energy.
Do Guppies Eat Frogs?
No, guppies do not eat frogs. Guppies only eat food that can fit in their mouth, and no frog species is small enough to fit in a guppy’s mouth.
To further add to this point, guppies rarely eat other fish. But they will eat their offspring on occasion.
Again, guppy offspring are small enough to fit in an adult guppy’s mouth, so this should not be surprising.
The one caveat to this point is if the frog dies and the body is not removed. I suppose the guppies will pick at the frog carcass if you do not have any snails or other bottom feeders.
Do Guppies Eat Tadpoles?
Yes, guppies will eat small tadpoles and frog eggs. They do not eat large tadpoles because large tadpoles are about the size of a guppy.
You can avoid this problem by ensuring that your guppies are always well fed. A well fed guppy will not eat a small tadpole.
Another way to stop this is by separating your tadpoles and guppies. However, this is not fully necessary because you will likely have such a large number of tadpoles that it is unlikely your guppies will eat all your tadpoles. Your guppies might eat a few tadpoles in the first week of the tadpole’s life, though.
Do Tadpoles Eat Guppies?
No, tadpoles do not eat guppies. Tadpoles are far too small to eat a guppy. I suppose a large tadpole might eat a very small guppy fry, but this is likely rare.
Tadpoles prefer eating insects, algae, small bits of plant matter, and insect larvae. They tend to avoid eating fish, but a guppy fry could be mistaken for mosquito larvae by a tadpole.
Anyway, I would not really worry about a tadpole eating a small guppy fry. This is especially true if you keep your tadpoles well-fed.
Summary
That covers everything you need to know about frogs eating guppies.
Frogs do not eat guppies. But guppies will sometimes eat tadpoles if the tadpoles are small and the guppies are hungry.
Personally, I wouldn’t worry about having frogs and guppies in the same tank. The only problem is the bioload from some frogs – frogs give off a lot of waste!