How many Auratus in an 18 x18 x18.

[FrogFever]

I am in the market for some new darts. This time I'm going with an already sexed pair. I've already found the costa rican greens or a blue morph that are available. I just can't decide which one is more vivid! Any preference?
I've done hours of reading on these guys as well as other species and I feel like I have a good grasp on their traits and necessities. I just have a few questions, or rather clarifications to sort out.
I have an 18 x18 x18 exo terra tank which I got glass cut for the top. As far as I know the rule is a bare minimum 5 gallons per frog, or 10 gallons for the first frog and 5 gallons per each additional frog (depending on the species and age of course). The tanks volume is just over 25 gallons, so that would be 6 gallons per frog if I had 4. I was thinking of only getting just the pair, but then I figured there is so much more room (which I've greatly utilized imo). So if I got two pairs is that pushing it? Would that stress this species out as far as having comfortable living space? Or possibly inhibit one another from laying eggs?
Lets say 4 is too many... and I got just one extra adult with the pair. Would that be real pointful to do? Would the extra frog interfer with them?
I know they're not as territorial as tincs, but maybe he/she might get rejected by the pair?

Any advice at all is always appreciated and will help me determine what I decide to do.

Thanks a bunch

[MikeM670]

I am in the market for some new darts. This time I'm going with an already sexed pair. I've already found the costa rican greens or a blue morph that are available. I just can't decide which one is more vivid! Any preference?
I've done hours of reading on these guys as well as other species and I feel like I have a good grasp on their traits and necessities. I just have a few questions, or rather clarifications to sort out.
I have an 18 x18 x18 exo terra tank which I got glass cut for the top. As far as I know the rule is a bare minimum 5 gallons per frog, or 10 gallons for the first frog and 5 gallons per each additional frog (depending on the species and age of course). The tanks volume is just over 25 gallons, so that would be 6 gallons per frog if I had 4. I was thinking of only getting just the pair, but then I figured there is so much more room (which I've greatly utilized imo). So if I got two pairs is that pushing it? Would that stress this species out as far as having comfortable living space? Or possibly inhibit one another from laying eggs?
Lets say 4 is too many... and I got just one extra adult with the pair. Would that be real pointful to do? Would the extra frog interfer with them?
I know they're not as territorial as tincs, but maybe he/she might get rejected by the pair?

Any advice at all is always appreciated and will help me determine what I decide to do.

Thanks a bunch

While the 18x18x18 certainly seems large I think what you really need to look at is ground space available per frog. Auratus are generally ground dwelling so more roaming around space is important. That does not mean you couldn't create the needed space with that specific tank by creating terraces and such. I have 4 Dendrobates tinctorius 'Azureus' in a 55 gallon setup and that seems to work out fine. I would not go any smaller then that for a group that size. They are also rather large size frogs so you should consider that too.

[John]

I think Mike hit it on the head.

[FrogFever]

Thanks! I guess I'll just get the single pair for now and hopefully they will happily breed with all of the available space.
And it gives me another excuse to start the plans for my next project!

[FrogFever]

I've got a nice thirty gallon laying around that might make for a good group cage...
I've read that certain frogs do well in groups, but are they talking about for breeding purposes also? Or is it common practice to remove a pair of adults from a group population to their own cage to breed?

[bshmerlie]

Many species of darts are very territorial and aggressive so it is best to jest keep them in sexed pairs. However Auratus are considered one of the least aggressive darts that's why it is recommended that they do well in groups. But during breeding you could have one female eat another females eggs. That would even seem more likely in a smaller tank. My recommendation is start off with a single adult pair and give them a lot of leaf litter and some good egg laying sites. If after awhile you're not having any luck with them you could always add another pair. At that point if you have breeding success you could decide if you remove the non breeding pair, although maybe activity from one pair induces the other pair to get busy. If you see problems with egg eating just remove the non breeding pair.

[FrogFever]

There we go. Thanks Cheri!

[Kisa]

Great info as always Cheri and Mike.

Thanks for starting this thread! I am interested in getting a pair or two of auratus in the future for a 32 gallon I have as a temp tank for one of my White's right now and this info helped me a lot to figure out what I'm doing.

Thanks to everyone!