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Serving the Dart Frog Community Since 2004...

community tank questions... HELP!
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community tank questions... HELP!
#1
i'm relatively new to the dart frog thing,
and i want to make sure that i'm doing things right.
i wanted to know the basic rules of thumb
when it comes to community tanks.
i've been getting some conflicting info
about mixing species of dendrobates.
some of the vendors at my local swap meets tell me that mixing
species is okay as long as they're similar sizes
and you make sure that there's plenty of hiding places.
others tell me that mixing tincs, azureus and leucomelas frogs is okay
because azureus have been reclassified as tincs
and the leucs are bold enough to compete or food.
yet others tell me that any real kind of mixing is a bad idea
and even tinc morphs should be separated.
my local pet store has a tank with adult azureus and blue auratus
and they appear to be living in harmony.
as well as a community tank of juvenile leucs, azeurus, tincs, auratus
and galactonotus and they seem to be doing quite well.
sorry if this topic has been touched upon before,
but i did a pretty thorough search before posting
and wasn't able to come up with anything too definitive.
any and all opinions are appreciated,
thanks in advance.
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#2
Hi tom the fisherman,
welcome to the hobby.
Community tanks are ok for tropical fish, not recommended for dart frogs.

Pet shops will do a lot of things that are not in the best interest of the animals. Keep in mind that the animals the pet shop has are there on a turn around basis, in and out, usually not for a long term situation.

I would suggest picking a morph, preferably one that will do well in a group such as leucomelas, auratus, or galactonnotus, or some of the phylobates, and doing a group of one of these morph, not one of each.

The number of frogs you can comfortably house will be determined by the size of your enclosure.
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#3
i think that most dart people agree with cindy...one morph per enclosure.
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#4
Mixing species in general in the herp hobby is generally frowned upon.
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#5
thanks for the replies guys.
being new to the hobby i actually started a community tank,
and was having trouble with some of the species.
the tank included 2 d. azureus,
2 d. leucomelas, 2 d. tinctorius
and 2 d. auratus.

in particular, i was having an impossible time
keeping the azureus alive.
they seemed healthy and were all eating well,
but none of them made it.
one apparently drowned in about an inch and a half of water,
a replacement went into shock and never came out.
and two others stopped eating one day and died the next.
upon inspection of their little bodies i could find no cause of death. Sad
i also had one shy auratus (who was also eating) not make it.
the tincs seemed to do well, as did the leucs.

i have since scaled my tank back
and now have a 20 gal. enclosure with
0.0.5 juvenile dendrobates leucomelas.

thanks for the advice guys!! Big Grin
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#6
Quote:others tell me that mixing tincs, azureus and leucomelas frogs is okay because azureus have been reclassified as tincs

Incorrect. Yes, all of those frogs belong to the tinc group, but that's the primary reason that you shouldn't mix them. They can all produce viable hybrid offspring, and as you have already found out, mixed species tanks can go wrong very quickly.
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