55 Gal size for Tincs ?

[Cer]

Hey everyone, my first ever dart frogs - the chocolate leucs, have been doing great. They've all grown a bit since August and are eating well. I'm now looking to expand my collection a little. I've replied to an add on craigslist for a free 55 gallon aquarium, but I'm willing to buy one if I don't get a response. My question is if I put in loads of plants and visual barriers, how many tincs could fit comfortably in the tank. My guess is 2 or 3, but I'm not to sure. Does anybody just buy sexed adults or do they buy a bunch of froglets and see how it goes? Thank you everyone for helping me set up my first tank and thanks in advance for help on my planned next one.

[Philsuma]

Welcome back Cer. Glad you are enjoying the Leucs.

A 55 is a good-sized tank and when planted / hardscaped correctly, has the potential for a lot of room. That said, most people keep Tincs in pairs or 2 males and 1 female due to the females wrestling and scraping quite a bit. I personally would recommend you stock that 55 with a female and 2 males. That ratio has always worked well for me.

Lots of people buy sexed adult tincs and even proven pairs, but expect to pay double or triple the price of a subadult - much more expensive the bigger and more proven they get.

[fieldsmith]

Since froglets are usually much cheaper, another option is to buy 5 or 6 froglets, grow them up, pair (or trio) them up, then sell the extras to recoup some of the cost.
EDIT: If you have the means, starting with a probable or proven pair/group would be great.

[Cer]

Thank you. Just for fun what's everyone's favorite tinc morph. I'm partial to giant matecho and partricias. Does anyone have any links to a good website for how to add a water feature. Now that I have some experience with keeping frogs I'm thinking of doing some of the tank ideas I was daunted by at first. Also just out of curiosity if there WAS any aggression between the frogs would a 55 be a big enough tank to provide refuge for all of them?

[Philsuma]

I like powder blues and azureus.

The size of the enclosure does not automatically mean it's large enough to help the frogs get away from each other and avoid prolonged stress. It's how you plant, hardscape and design it that makes all the difference.

Cocohuts for breeding as well as great hides.
Visual barriers like heavy plant growth, layers of large leaf litter or perhaps some wood feature, all serve to act as a screen so that when one of the frogs is out of visual /sight....it disappears for all intensive purposes and limits stress.

[Cer]

Would this tank also be good for phyllobates terribilis? I'm sorta stuck between the two. I'm only 13 and this is comin out of my pocket so I'm sorta thrown off by the price. I paid for my leucs with my money and the tank, but terribilis are a little more pricey. Thanks for your help

[frogfreak]

Sure would and since they are communal you are less likely to run into any issues with them.

I very much respect the fact that you are earning your own way! Kudos!

[Cer]

If I do go with terribilis I would go with the mints. Would anyone be selling those at one of the upcoming Hamburg shows? I don't have the tank yet. I have yet to find a 55 for under $100. Would 4-5 mints fit in a tank of this size?

[Philsuma]

Hamburg is hit or miss with "mint" froglets - and I assume with your smaller budget needs, that you'll be looking for froglets as opposed to older and more $$ ages.

When you are truly ready to go, you could place an advertisement here in the "Wanted" section and that may get you some good leads.

A "55" gallon glass enclosure was designed and measured for a fish tank and not a frog tank, so it's dimensions are more for fish to take advantage of the height, than most dart frogs, especialy terribilis which are a "terrestrial frog". They could be better suited to a "40 gallon" fish tank as that particular tank has a better footprint / more floor space I believe.

If you wait until a Petsmart or Petco tanks sale - they have them twice a year now, the tanks are a buck a gallon. So a 40 gallon tank for $40.00 is very nice.

Finally, if you do decide to go with the 55 gallon, I would recommend 3 terribilis, maximum for that size enclosure based on the slightly smaller floor footprint.

[Cer]

If I can't get ahold of some terribilis would a 40 breeder work for tincs? I've been looking on craigslist and a 40 is the only thing I can get ahold of. Thanks for all of the help

[Philsuma]

Yep...Tincs and Terribs are very similar in their enclosure needs.

[Cer]

Awesome, thanks for alll of the help you guys