[fishingguy12345]

Hi everyone, I'm looking to pick up some Ameerega pepperi "yellow/gold" , and am looking for a bit of setup advice since information on these is pretty limited.

Questions:
1. how "jumpy" are they? Should I have more open space to allow for the jumping?

2. Water feature/pond/etc. is this a requirement for successful breeding/keeping? If it's required, can this be accomplished by having a fairly deep water bowl/dish or does it need water movement?

3. Tank size: I have two tanks that I'm working on right now: a 39x19x19" Atasuki (I know it's an odd size) and a 36x18x18" exo terra. I'm leaning toward using the longer tank for these due to the jumping factor. Is that size going to be sufficient for a trio?

Here's how the tank is currently scaped:

@Encyclia @Red Beard

Thoughts?

 

[Encyclia]

I have to say that while I have experience with pepperi, I have not kept yellow/gold so I will defer everything I say to Red Beard.

1) Yeah, mine are jumpier than my other dart frogs. I think the more space they have, the better. HOWEVER, the froglets, at least are very jittery and don't like to be out in the open much. I know you aren't designing for froglets, here, but my tank has a mixture of open areas and plenty of places they can get out of sight. My female hangs for a lot of the day front and center where I feed. The male is usually out of sight until it's breeding time then he hangs around the hut. So, I would say to have a mixture of open areas and areas where they can hide themselves. I am betting if they have the option to hide, they won't do it as often.


1b) Looking at the pictures, I think you could use a bit more stuff to hide behind. The leaf litter will help, for sure, but my tank has a lot of large hardscape that they can hide behind and they can't be seen from any angle. I think having these large areas where they can get out of sight makes it so they don't feel the need to hide. They know it's there and can get out of sight if they want to. There are also a lot of visual breaks in the tank. My pair will scrap occasionally and I have lots of ability for them to get out of each other's way. Maybe that's why the male stays out of sight so often. He just knows they are going to bicker ;-)

2) This is a hard one for me to answer because I have never tested the converse. All I can say is I have a moving water feature in my tank and my Abiseo breed regularly. I have never tried it without. Maybe I should try someday just shutting the pump off and see if they still breed. I am really trying to produce as many offspring as I can right now (which still isn't that many), so it maybe a while until I can try it out.

3) Longer is probably better, though there isn't much difference there. I started out with a trio, but one of the females wasted away and died not long after I got them. They were housed together when Kevin Hoff had them, so I am not sure what happened. Regardless, I now have a pair in 90 gallon. They seem to do fine. I don't know much about group dynamics in these guys because I have only ever had the pair and I don't know of anyone else with a female, so I couldn't really add to my group. Maybe a trio would work, but a pair will almost certainly work.

I hope you are successful in keeping these guys! Let me know if you have further questions and I can make some more stuff up ;-)

Mark

 

[fishingguy12345]

Thanks Mark.
The tank is still growing in and I'm still adding some more hardscape/plants.

On each of the ends there's a spot where the frogs can get inside a cork semi-tube, and have spots where they can't be seen at all. I also have 5 coco huts to put in when it's closer to being finished.

If I think of any more questions I'll ask them here.

 

[fishingguy12345]

Here's the other tank I'm working on:

You can't tell from the picture but there are 3-4 Fittonia veerschaffeltii behind the cork ledge , and some small ones at the front left as well. I'm planning a few more plants in this one on the right hand side
Thoughts?

 

[RobJersey]

I keep orange heads.. they are very jumpy and appreciate a lot of hiding spots.. I find mine 9/10 times in film canisters that I randomly have placed on their sides all over their viv. If seen out in the open they tend to dash for the nearest cover if I move around.

My water feature is just a small recess with a pump sending water up to a mini waterfall. I keep a pair in a 20 long.

 

[fishingguy12345]

I keep orange heads.. they are very jumpy and appreciate a lot of hiding spots.. I find mine 9/10 times in film canisters that I randomly have placed on their sides all over their viv. If seen out in the open they tend to dash for the nearest cover if I move around.



My water feature is just a small recess with a pump sending water up to a mini waterfall. I keep a pair in a 20 long.

Thanks! I have a number of Bell cups and other pods that I'll be adding along with a think leaf litter layer.

 

[EricM]

I used to have the orange ones back when they were first offered. They are pretty shy frogs so if you give them tons of hiding opportunities they should be out more. Mine laid in the coco hut and transported the tads to a water bowl. I used to remove them and raise separately. I use shallow plastic sweater boxes filterd with sponge filter powered by airpump, with java fern, java moss and indian almond leaves. Try to catch them once they pop back legs, they drown easy. Mine were seasonal breeders, only a few clutches a year, but around 20 eggs per clutch. The males will call during dawn/dusk hours, they would go back and forth with the trivittas.

Good luck with them

 

[Jarhead_2016]

I know they are not yellow/gold, but my abiseo are always out in the open i have a large treestump style feature in the center with a waterfall on the far end and a large ammount of leaf litter. The more hides available, the more they tend to be out and about. My abiseo from back in 09 did breed in a tank with no running water, but YMMV.

 

[fishingguy12345]

Thanks everybody for the tips/advice

 

[Encyclia]

Good stuff in here! Rob, are you breeding your Orange Heads? That good stuff, Eric. It really sounds like your oranges are a lot more hide-y than my Abiseo. My male hides a lot more than the female, but she is almost always out around where I feed them. In general, my experience is similar to Scott's, though, where I see my guys a lot. Also, I wanted to say that I don't believe my Abiseo interact with the fake stream in their tank hardly at all. This doesn't mean that it isn't a factor in their inclination to breed, but it does mean that it wouldn't be necessary to have a moving water feature for any sort of daily behavior associated with the frogs. Finally, my Abiseo don't seem to be seasonal breeders. They have been dropping a clutch every 6 weeks or so for quite a while. At some point, I will probably have to shut off the pump for my water feature, remove their hut, and give them a break. I have been pushing them more than I would ordinarily want to just because I want to get as many offspring out to as many people as possible while they are capable of breeding.

Mark

 

[Boondoggle]

I have oranges and they are extremely jumpy and they appreciate lots of cover. They sleep out in the open, but otherwise I rarely see them.

 

[ggazonas]

I keep yellow/gold. They can be a little jumpy but if you provide enough cover they’ll stay out in the open more. I have two groups and mine typically stay visible until I open the doors. Other than that I can observe them without them disappearing

 

[Encyclia]

George, are you having luck breeding them? I would be curious what your experience has been. Also, my Abiseo are the same way. They have a ton of cover and I see them most of the time. They don't hop away when they are seen, either.

Mark

 

[fishingguy12345]

Thanks guys!
I'm extremely excited to get these frogs soon! Only a couple more weeks