How to choose? frog personality advice...

[flynmnky]

Hey everybody! New here and have decided I'd like to venture into the world of dart frogs. Have been reading, reading, reading....

I have an ex-reef tank, 75 gallon, built into the wall of my house, with a 55g sump, I'd like to convert for dart frogs.

I'm trying to decide on the best species for me. I am well used to technical tanks, having been a coral reef keeper for a long time. I am looking for a frog that can be kept in groups, brightly colored, and most importantly ACTIVE and BOLD. I really want to watch these guys play! and not in the middle of the night!

Have been looking at D. Leucomelas or D. Auratus, and Epipedobates anthonyi
D. tinctorius are beautiful, but cannot be kept in groups??

I really like red, because I feel like they would be so visible in a heavily green planted tank, hence E. anthonyi included. I'd really like to stick to groups instead of pairs in a tank that large.

What do you guys think? Can those of you who have kept these guys fill me in on their personalities? Is there anything else I should take a hard look at that fits my criteria?

And finally, am I short changing myself by only considering grouped frogs? Would a pair be just as fascinating to keep? Thanks so much for your thoughts!
~Elizabeth

[Pluke]

First off I wanna say welcome to the forums.

Now.. I have never kept Dart Frogs, but I've done a lot of looking and reading about them enough to know some stuff since I plan on getting some one of these days. Personally, if it was me, if I had a big tank like you have I'd want to get a group as well. I don't know how certain species that are considered "pair" species would do in a group in a larger aquarium so I can't comment on that. I think you missed a pretty cool frog that does good in groups and that's the Phyllobates Terribilis.. They do great in groups and are one of the boldest of all darts. Plus you can hear them calling, some dart frogs you can't really hear calling, like a lot of, if not all Tincs. Which I found really disappointing when I found out.

Here is a pic of a Phyllobates terribilis 'Orange' | Josh's Frogs

They may only have one color but they look pretty amazing, IMO. The other Phyllobates I hear do good in groups too and are also very cool.

I'm sure some people with actual experience with dart frogs will dime in soon, I just wanted to throw that in there. Good luck with finding the perfect frogs for you.

[flynmnky]

Hey thanks! I hadn't seen the orange ones, and had looked at those but had decided against them because they ones I had seen were just plain green. Really want something that is easy to find in there, since the tank is so large and tiny frog hunting can really take a lot of out of my "spying" time! :-)

I'll add them onto my list and keep doing my research! Thanks so much for your quick reply. This is gonna be fun!!

[Pluke]

No problem. Glad I could help.

The Terribilis are pretty big I think, I've never actually seen one in person so I couldn't tell ya how big they get. There are other ones that are like Mint colored, yellow with green legs, maybe another I'm not sure. When I first started looking at darts tincs were my favorites then the more I looked at the phyllobates they really started to grow on me. I really like Fine Spot Leucs too. Which I also hear do great in groups and have a really cool call.

Dendrobates leucomelas 'Fine Spot' | Josh's Frogs

I swear I'm not advertising for josh, haha. They just have the best pictures and price ideas. I know another guy who breeds the fine spots I'll send you a link to his youtube page.

[flynmnky]

The Leucs are pretty high up on my list... seem fun and active, fairly hardy, sourced pretty easily...

[Billy Oscar Burrows]

If you seem to take a liking to red frogs, why not try Epipedobates Tricolor, which I hear live extremely well in groups.
Phantasmal poison frog - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[Geo]

Great idea for a thread. A lot of folks who walk into a pet shop never consider the psychological profile of the creature they want to purchase. IE the local pet shop here will sell anything to anyone without giving any level of education to the purchaser. There are certain species of amphibians who can be easily handled and who don't mind a great deal the human handler and will suffer little stress. Then there are other species that are timid, shy and easily stressed. They may be the type of pet that should be given a decent home and observed but not handled too often. The person getting the animal needs to keep in mind the level of interaction that is good / not good for the critter and respect that or they may end up with a very stressed out, unhealthy and eventually dead critter.