# Smallest species of dart frog?



## bareR (Mar 14, 2008)

im youg and will be moving around over the next few years so im looking in to starting a 5.5 gallon viv, which would be easy to transport. im doing some research, about if it would be possibly to find a dart frog or mantela species that is small enough to be comfortable in the 5.5. a few species i have heard of are Imitator, The Splashback Poison.... if anybody has input id appreciate it.


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## arielelf (May 23, 2007)

Wow, that size is too small for any species. A 10gal would be the bare minimum for a pair of Imi's. Plus a 10gal is not too hard to transport, especially if you use LECA for your drainage layer instead of gravel. I think that a splash back Galact would need even more space since they get fairly large.


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## evolvstll (Feb 17, 2007)

arielelf said:


> A 10gal would be the bare minimum for a pair of Imi's. Plus a 10gal is not too hard to transport, especially if you use LECA for your drainage layer instead of gravel. .


galacs can do well in a group setting, even in a 1.2 ratio. They are similar in size to a standard leuc when adult size (1 3/4"). 

How often are you talking about moving? How far? Any disruption can stress a frog like a move. I can say it may be analogous to a non home owner/renter obtaining a dog. At the time it may seem like a good idea. What happens to the animal when you move and they do not allow animals. Not saying not to enter the hobby just yet, just give it some more thought. There are individuals which keep breeding pairs of tincs in a 10 gallon though. You may even look into getting the 12x12x18 exoterra if you are interested in smaller frogs like intermedius. Again just give it some thought.


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## oldlady25715 (Nov 17, 2007)

Look at some small exoterras (tanks). Their design is much more suitable for darts than a 5 gal. 

Also the smaller the tank the faster the temp and humidity can change so be careful.


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## KeroKero (Jun 13, 2004)

If you're going to move a lot, I ask you back away slowly and think about it some more... I just got out of the "moving every 6 months" college part of my life, and will honestly say trying to keep frogs was the worst thing I could have done. The only thing that saved my collection was moving them into a lab and then into an apartment - each time they were not moved for over a year and I was local enough to care for them over vacations so they didn't need to be moved. I lost frogs every time I moved, even when I thought I had everything covered... just the stress. PDFs and Mantellas are hardy as get out in an established environment, but the stress of even moving them with the same tank is not good.

As for size... don't do anything smaller than a 10g (and even that is rather small for most)... and bigger is always better. In europe it seems the accepted smallest tank size is more like 33 gallons... There is no frog I could recomend that would have good quality of life in a 5.5g when they have individual ranges that on the small size can be a few square feet.


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