Reptile & Amphibian Forums

In about 3 weeks I'm going to be getting my first dart frog. I've looked through the forum and have noticed a person with the screen name: slaytonp. I don't even know if they'll see this post but if they or anyone else who has a pretty elaborate water feature for their darts does read this can you please tell me the deepest that any of the water should be? I know that these frogs don't get really big, but i wanted to make it so that they'd have at least a depth of water to wade in. Any help would be appreciated, I'm trying to soak up as much info as possible.

Some people will claim that dart frogs will drown pretty readily, some claim that drowning only occurs when females fight, and still others will say that frogs that are sick will try and soak in the water and die from whatever was making them sick instead of actually drowning.

I have 6"-7" of water in my leuc tank and haven't lost a frog yet.

So, take in all the opinions and then do what works for you.
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Josh Willard
www.joshsfrogs.com

I have about 12 different set-ups for my darts, most of them have some sort of water feature from a paludarium that is a combination of aquarium/terrarium divided by glass, with water falls, etc. to Waterfalls with false bottom and shallow pools and streams. All are technically rather simple to build, although the paludarium took a lot of glass cutting and fitting. A couple of them are merely water bubbling through smooth rocks or small natural looking fountains. My auratus are one of those with no water features at all, but that's only because that's the way I designed it, not because I was worried about drowning.

Dart frogs can swim, albeit not usually on purpose. My galactonotus have fallen in the aquarium a couple of times and merely swim to the nearest egress and climb out. I've seen both leucs and imitators dive in water and stay under a long time. My D. castanioticus spend a lot of time in their rocky pool.

I think if you are worried about them drowning each other in a fight, they are less likely to do so in deeper water than more shallow. In deeper water, they would be forced to separate and swim, while in a moderately deep pool, (1-2 inches) they might be able to hold the losing frog under long enough to drown. and there are reports of this happening. I've never had a frog drown, but I don't have tincs, and my two azureus are a mated pair, so don't fight.

D. auratus are rather mellow. The females do some slapping, but they aren't as vicious as the lady tincs apparently can be.

I think all darts appreciate a waterway one way or another. If it's circulating and being aerated with either a false bottom and falls or some other circulating water, occasional water changes take care of any contamination problems. Lots of plants also help make a tank into a biologically recycling system, and help filter out wastes. You just don't want to provide them with a "stale" soak dish, which is what Pastor Josh pointed out. It also helps with humidity, moderating temperatures, and gives the frogs a choice of where to go if they are uncomfortable.

If you want some details on what has been successful for me, you can e-mail me at: slaytonp@atcnet.net I am certainly not the last word, don't know it all, by any means, but I've kept several species of darts with no losses other than escapes, one unknown, and one injury for over 5 years now without using any high-tech filters and various out-of-tank contraptions. I don't put this down, by any means. I'm just too stupid or untechnical to understand or bother with it, so have just done what works for me. Also, I have a lot of time, because I'm retired. I can hand mist, check everything daily, sump and change, turn lights on and off, because I have time to do it. I also spend a lot of time just watching the frogs and catching them doing something interesting. What works for me might not work for others with jobs and schedules. That may require more automation.
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Patty
Pahsimeroi, Idaho

4 D. auratus blue
5 D. galactonotus pumpkin orange splash back
5 D. imitator
6 D. leucomelas
4 D. pumilio Bastimentos
4 D. fantasticus
4 P. terribilis
4 D. reticulatus
4 D. castaneoticus
2 D. azureus
4 P vittatus