So I installed some new power compact flourescent hoods on a 10g tank where I'm keeping 5 auratus froglets. A few days ago someone messed with my space heater and lights on the dart frog tank. When I got home I noticed the thermometer in the tank read 90 degrees (it's one of those stick on floating ones used for aquariums). I freaked out and opened the tank and quickly opened some windows to cool the room. I was sure they'd all died or would end up brain damaged but they all seemed fine and were looking for food as usual. My question is: Would that event cause them any problems in the future? I do notice them sometimes snapping repeatedly at something to eat it while I see nothing there, it makes me think they have brain damage due to the hot temps, though they could've done it before when I didn't observe them as much. I haven't seen anything out of the ordinary since, they all come out for feed whenever I approach.
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Dart frog tank reached 90 degrees!
Replies (2)
I am not an "expert", but I wouldn't worry about it too much. I do have a pair of D. auratus (my first and only dart frogs so far), and have read a fair amount about them. They are one of the species that likes temps a bit warmer than most (high 70's and low 80's, not 90). Given that fact, the fact that they seem reasonably healthy after the event and the very high probability that not every inch of the terrarium was the same temp as where the thermometer was, I would expect they will do fine.
Good thing you found the situation when you did and took prompt action. A 10 gallon is pretty small for compact florescents (IMO) so you may want to watch it really closely to make sure they don't overheat the tank--especially as warm weather comes on if the space isn't air conditioned. If you want that much light for the plants in the tank, you may want to raise the lights above the tank a fair amount and/or add some fans to help keep the temp in the low 80's at the high point of the day.
Good luck. Which "morph" do you have? Mine are the Panama Blues. I love them, but they are SHY. I am lucky to get several glimpses of them each week.
Sorry for not getting back to you. My frogs never showed any symptoms of heat stress or anything once I reduced the temperatures. I have blue/black auratus.
