Adding more to an already established group

[gturmindright]

Okay, so I have three tricolors in a tank....I want to make it into a group of seven but I know if I just add four there might be problems. I plan to take the original three out and put them in temporary enclosures with the new ones (after my quarantining period). I figured I'd leave them together there for a couple of weeks. Meanwhile, I was going to maybe change a few things and add some more plants to the original tank. Finally, I was going to put all seven in there together. Is this going to work or are the original three going to reclaim their original territories. It is a 40 gallon, at least it started out as one before the 1" cork background and sides and the driftwood. Theres also two varieties of pothos, jewel orchid, raja begonia, about eight or nine broms, hoya curtisii and Dischidia ruscifolia. It is well planted but not grown in yet cause its still new.

[dragonfrog]

I wonder if they would have problems with each other being put together in a temporary setup? Even before you get to put them back in the original viv.

[gturmindright]

I wonder too. I'm hoping someone tried something like this before ya know. It's like yeah, I'd like to get the cure for cancer....but I want to be the 2ND one to try it.

[elmoisfive]

A couple of points of clarification may help guide the responses to your question. How old are your current three and the four new ones you plan on acquiring? Any idea of male/female ratio?

Bill

[gturmindright]

The three are 6 or 7 months old and the four are eight weeks out of the water.

[elmoisfive]

It's usually not a good idea to mix frogs that are mismatched in terms of size (age related in this case) as the smaller frogs can be easily intimidated by their larger cage mates. Better to allow the younger ones to catch up in size prior to mixing them all together.

Bill

[gturmindright]

at what age would u suggest?

[elmoisfive]

It all depends on how well they are growing...at 6-7 months your SIs should either already obtained or be close to adult size (at they do for me at that age). So with your younger group, you are looking at probably 3-5 months to give them a chance to gain similar size. Yeah it's a bit of a pain but I think you'll be glad you did in the long run.

You'll still want to watch the group dynamics after introduction.

Good luck.

Bill

[gturmindright]

Thats the whole reason I got four more. I had five, but then two escaped and didn't make it. After that, I didn't see the remaining three that much and I also didn't hear much calling anymore. It was really sad. I wanna say that they are mourning their friends but I think its because as a group they kind of feel more secure. Like a herd almost. Maybe I'm just imagining things.

[elmoisfive]

When they are young, tricolor froglets/juvis will show a tendency to hang out together....perhaps the safety in numbers idea is working there. However as they mature, you will likely find that the adults are not terribly interested in spending time together. Males will find their favorite places to call from and once breeding occurs, the males will defend the egg clutch from any intruders, even the female that laid them.

So I tend to think of tricolors as antisocial group frogs...I haven't seen any direct frog on frog aggression but my groups have plenty of space for each frog to have its own turf.

Bill