I am brand new to the forum so I would like to say hi to all. I have been reading all of the posts and have really learned alot and I thank you for that. I am so glad that the best reptile guy in the state of Missouri, in my opinion, told me about this site.
I completed (well, got to the point of it being frog ready, I am never done, always doing little things along the way) my 58 gallon tank and my frogs, all fat, sassy and happy, are adjusting very well to their new home. Right now I have their huts on deli lids while I wait for the petri dishes to be delivered. I decided on a false bottom. I have a self contained waterfall and a second pump that runs a stream that branches off in two directions meeting up at a small pond. On the outlet tube from the stream pump I attached a long piece of air tubing and rolled it up, I did this for two reasons, first, when it is coiled up I have the tip of it hanging into the waterfall and this keeps a very small steady stream of water going to the waterfall reservoir so that I don't have to refill it on a constant basis and second, when I uncoil it, it will reach up and out of the tank and I place the end of it in a watering can spout and I can drain water from the false bottom and in turn use the removed water for my house plants that love it.
We attached the cork bark to a piece of plexiglass so that we could work on it and fill in the gaps without having to mess with the entire tank. This was held into place with a bit of aquarium sealant.
Black Jungle probably loves me, I have been an ordering fool
I got 4 blue D. auratus, 3 D. leucomelas and 2 D. Red galactonotus. Whenever they sleep they usually pair up, a red and a yellow, a blue and yellow on so on. I got them all at the same time from Patrick N.
This leads to my first and second question.
Normally I have been feeding them in the early evening.
1) Is there a preference to feeding times, or a benefit to one time over another?
This morning when I got up everyone was up and moving about so I decided to feed them while they were all up and out. I always distribute the coated fruitflies across the entire tank to give everyone a fair chance and to avoid any fighting (they have not had any fights) for food. After a bit of eating, one of my galactonotus got on top of one of the leucomelas and was moving just as if mating, with his bottom doing the moving. This happened twice within a couple of seconds and then nothing more all day. I do have a red and yellow that sleep together every night but I am not sure if it is these two, it is hard to see in their little cubby hole. The leucomelas did not struggle or try to get away.
2) My question is this, could they have just been playing around, or maybe just going through the motions of, well, you know how animals will go through the mating motions even though they are not mating, or was this an act of aggression that I should be concerned about. Patrick told me that they are all between the ages of 3 & 5 months old.
(Please don't think that I am going into the issue of any kind of cross breeding, Patrick and I already discussed that)
3) I have a couple of Bromeliads that I got at a local nursery. I have no idea what their name is, they have green leaves with a red "feather" flower. I am sure just a common one, but it was all I could find, I have since ordered some. Anyway, they just don't seem to hold water in the center like I think they should. Can anyone recommend a particular one that will really hold water well in the center and not get big, preferably with leaves a color other than just green, maybe red, or variegated. (not too picky am I
4) I would like to get some feedback on photos of my setup. I have a website that I will be putting all of my photos. Is it ok to just post my website page address for others to view my photos or do I need to load them here?
5) Please don't think that I am stupid for this one. I understand that at the bottom of people's posts they list the frog's etc. that they have but I don't understand the numbers like 1.0 0.1 0.03 and so on.
I will just finish by saying that I also have 14 Firebelly Toads, 6 adults that I have had for 10 years and 8-3 year olds that I raised from eggs, in a 75 gallon tank, a 35 gallon aquarium with a variety of Tetras, Guppies and one really gigantic Plecostomus. Two Betas that my daughter got tired of, a chocolate dappled miniature Dachshund, a mixed breed cat, a green canary that is the best singer I have ever had and a water garden full of large goldfish.
Well that is about it, that is all the questions I can think of at the moment. I am sorry for such a long post.
I really appreciate any help on my questions.
Thanks so much.
Rhonda
