# New 150 cm tall Ranitoneya vivarium



## Paskui (May 23, 2020)

Hi, everybody,

After almost 15 years I'm back in the hobby...preparing terrariums of 150 (height)x80 (length)x60 (depth). I’ll pulpas first photos...right now in phase only of planting, stabilization of parameters...in the middle of summer (Cadiz, SPAIN). I'm maintaining T maxima of 29,5 peak at noon, although the normal is around 28. We will see what ratios it will reach in winter to have everything under control before putting the frogs in. Advice accepted!!!


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## fishingguy12345 (Apr 7, 2019)

Hi, what species of Ranitomeya are you thinking about for the tank?

I have my Ranitomeya sirensis "Rio Pachitea yellow" in a tank that is (LxWxH) 30cmx45cmx90cm


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## Paskui (May 23, 2020)

Im thinking about ventrimaculata but im not sure. How many do you have in that tank?


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## Paskui (May 23, 2020)

https://share.icloud.com/photos/0mhbHl3FTsVVj8DDvef-0DMAg[/IMG]


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## Paskui (May 23, 2020)

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## fishingguy12345 (Apr 7, 2019)

Paskui said:


> Im thinking about ventrimaculata but im not sure. How many do you have in that tank?


I have 6 of them in that tank, based upon a recommendation from understory enterprises. 

Your tank looks really good!


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## Socratic Monologue (Apr 7, 2018)

fishingguy12345 said:


> I have 6 of them in that tank, based upon a recommendation from understory enterprises.


I had thought that your group of six could use a little more space, but I'm starting to reconsider. My original group of four that I have in an 18 x 18 x 24 is now about eight, and they are becoming noticably more bold; I'm curious to see how they act as the group size increases.

The only other change lately is that the ambient temp in my rep room has been higher than usual this summer (76F/24.5C) which may have something to do with it. @Paskui, 29.5C is pushing the upper end of temperatures, though.


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## Paskui (May 23, 2020)

Yeah I know. I’m only testing the tank. I don’t put the frogs till I could set the correct parameters. It will take months. Anyway it’s only a peak and the higher and maximum temp I’m reaching now (summer in south Spain) is around 27-28 at midday. Sorry for my English by the way.


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## fishingguy12345 (Apr 7, 2019)

Socratic Monologue said:


> I had thought that your group of six could use a little more space, but I'm starting to reconsider. My original group of four that I have in an 18 x 18 x 24 is now about eight, and they are becoming noticably more bold; I'm curious to see how they act as the group size increases.
> 
> The only other change lately is that the ambient temp in my rep room has been higher than usual this summer (76F/24.5C) which may have something to do with it. @Paskui, 29.5C is pushing the upper end of temperatures, though.


The advice from understory enterprises was that when a little more densely populated than people typically would do , that Ranitomeya sirensis seem to thrive, be more bold and have great group interactions.



Paskui said:


> Yeah I know. I’m only testing the tank. I don’t put the frogs till I could set the correct parameters. It will take months. Anyway it’s only a peak and the higher and maximum temp I’m reaching now (summer in south Spain) is around 27-28 at midday. Sorry for my English by the way.
> 
> 
> Enviado desde mi iPhone utilizando Tapatalk


You don't need to apologize for your English, it's better than a lot of people whose first language is English.


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## nick65 (Mar 7, 2005)

hi Paskui, 
it looks like an intersting project! 
how are you planning to light up the tank ? 150cm is quite tall..
best regards
nick


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## Paskui (May 23, 2020)

Right now testing a LED bar by Arcadia (34W) and two 25W bulbs into a Exoterra canopy.

Planted only (not all the plants I want, only to check if they are doing well) 2 weeks ago.











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## mikemakesapps (Mar 11, 2019)

Can you post a full picture of the tank? It sounds amazing! I would love to see it.


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## Paskui (May 23, 2020)

Here you have...using the correct order, it’s 80x60x150 cm (or 31,5x23,6x59 talking about inches).











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## fishingguy12345 (Apr 7, 2019)

I love the use of the negative space, and the shadows that result.


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## Paskui (May 23, 2020)

New pics...details. Plants look fine so I ordered more to add. Next week I’ll upload new ones...



















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## Paskui (May 23, 2020)

And now








working on handmade lianas, to put in the vivarium.


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## Paskui (May 23, 2020)

New picture...life goes on...an spontaneous sort of mushroom


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## Paskui (May 23, 2020)

Correct size


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## Paskui (May 23, 2020)

More pics...new spontaneous fungus. Tomorrow I we’ll receive more plants to continue with the project









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## Paskui (May 23, 2020)

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## whp (Feb 6, 2020)

Hello
The Arcadia (34 W), is that the Arcadia Jungle Dawn LED Bar?
And that is enough at a height of 150cm? Or how high is it inside, from the light to the floor?
Looks very bright, but photos can be deceiving. Do you have the possibility to measure how much LUX you have on the ground?
... and a great terrarium in which a lot of plants can still fit


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## Paskui (May 23, 2020)

whp said:


> Hello
> The Arcadia (34 W), is that the Arcadia Jungle Dawn LED Bar?
> And that is enough at a height of 150cm? Or how high is it inside, from the light to the floor?
> Looks very bright, but photos can be deceiving. Do you have the possibility to measure how much LUX you have on the ground?
> ... and a great terrarium in which a lot of plants can still fit



Definetly not. But right now I’m only testing parameters. Plants do well but not as I’d like. I use an extra Exo terra canopy with light bulbs but it’s impossible to add now. Temperature goes extremely high in this season. Anyway the Maranta, the Begonia listata and the Alocasia are thriving well and they’re there for around 1-2 months. However is astonishing the good light level of these leds.


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## Paskui (May 23, 2020)

I’ve divided the terrarium in 4 areas in order to measure temperatures. I’m keeping only the LED bar (34W) on by now.
The first area is at the top, close to the lights, about 10 cm below. I’m reaching, depending on the hour from 32 to 27 C.
The second area is about 40 cm below the lights. Here the T goes from 24 to 28 C.
The third one, about 70 cm below lights. 23,5 to 26,5 is the range here.
And the last one, the substrate (around 130 cm from lights). 23 to 25 C 
Even into each area I measured different T at the same time (there are shadows, places where light doesn’t incise, a few plants by now...) registering differences of almost 1,5 or 2 C.

These average T were measured on extremely hot summer days (25 C at night and 33 peaks at midday), lights on from 09:20 am to 20:00 pm and 3 mists (11 am 1’ 20’m, 15 pm 1’ 20’’ and 18 pm 45””).
Vents on 5 times a day (30’ each).


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## Paskui (May 23, 2020)

whp said:


> Hello
> The Arcadia (34 W), is that the Arcadia Jungle Dawn LED Bar?
> And that is enough at a height of 150cm? Or how high is it inside, from the light to the floor?
> Looks very bright, but photos can be deceiving. Do you have the possibility to measure how much LUX you have on the ground?
> ... and a great terrarium in which a lot of plants can still fit



I Guess LUX is not exactly a definitive parameter but I’ll try to get an app to do it. Normal range do u consider acceptable or you set in your vivariums?


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## whp (Feb 6, 2020)

Just forget about measuring the light.
I just couldn't imagine that a 34 W lamp would radiate a 150 cm terrarium like the one in the photo.
And as long as the plants are growing, everything is fine.
And leaves on the ground are also OK for the frogs and they don't need any light.
My 140x60x140 high terrarium has 3x 40W Arcadia Jungle Dawn Led Spot lighting that shines on the floor from the outside.
In the terrarium above there are 4 LED tubes a 19W, 2 LED strips a 33W, 1 LED spot 27W and 2 HQI from Reptiles Expert with 35W
Light down to the ground with plenty of shade for the frogs. All plants thrive and bloom, even on the ground. but with 360W light output


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## Paskui (May 23, 2020)

whp said:


> Just forget about measuring the light.
> I just couldn't imagine that a 34 W lamp would radiate a 150 cm terrarium like the one in the photo.
> And as long as the plants are growing, everything is fine.
> And leaves on the ground are also OK for the frogs and they don't need any light.
> ...



It’s not enough light I know. The correct situation (not definitely in summer) will be set using minimum another LED bar and the canopy by exoterra. Now, I’m testing only using the LED bar (34W) and (right now) adding a led bulb 100 W. Temperatures don’t reach dangerous peaks so it’s ok by now. Maybe is the set that I’ll adopt for summer hot periods.

Even so, the bottom plants are thriving relatively well. Here you can see the current aspect of the maranta mint (almost 2 months planted) and the Alocasia (about 2 weeks). I’m modifying the layout and I’m gonna add a handmade Liana and a big Mopani log to give attraction to the bottom and offer more possibilities to the frogs to climb from the bottom to upper stratus. I’ll upload pics ASAP



































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## whp (Feb 6, 2020)

It looks great, and it grows, perfectly


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## Paskui (May 23, 2020)

whp said:


> It looks great, and it grows, perfectly



Last one is marcgravia sintesii. Not at the bottom but only about 40 cm above.


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## Encyclia (Aug 23, 2013)

Do you have any pictures of older growth on that Marcgravia? That doesn't look like sintenisii to me. Just curious.

Mark

Edit, found a pic of the what I think of as sintenisii in this thread by gex23. Post #22.


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## Paskui (May 23, 2020)

Encyclia said:


> Do you have any pictures of older growth on that Marcgravia? That doesn't look like sintenisii to me. Just curious.
> 
> Mark
> 
> Edit, found a pic of the what I think of as sintenisii in this thread by gex23. Post #22.



Sorry but I have no more pictures. It’s really recent the planting. You can see the lighter new parts. 

What Marcgravia do you think it is?


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## Tijl (Feb 28, 2019)

Paskui said:


> Sorry but I have no more pictures. It’s really recent the planting. You can see the lighter new parts.
> 
> What Marcgravia do you think it is?
> 
> ...


That is not Sintenissi. The Marcgravia you have was released as 'Marcgravia' sp. green or sp. Peru on the european market a while aggo.


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## Paskui (May 23, 2020)

Tijl said:


> That is not Sintenissi. The Marcgravia you have was released as 'Marcgravia' sp. green or sp. Peru on the european market a while aggo.



Thanks. It makes sense to me. I wasn’t sure. I guess sintenisii has bigger leaves


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## Encyclia (Aug 23, 2013)

Paskui said:


> Thanks. It makes sense to me. I wasn’t sure. I guess sintenisii has bigger leaves
> 
> 
> Enviado desde mi iPhone utilizando Tapatalk


Yeah, bigger, more elongated leaves and new growth has a bit of reddish or pinkish look to it. Looks pretty different. Yours will probably look a bit different when it starts to attach to the background, but I don't think it will ever look like sintenisii 

Mark


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## Paskui (May 23, 2020)

Encyclia said:


> Yeah, bigger, more elongated leaves and new growth has a bit of reddish or pinkish look to it. Looks pretty different. Yours will probably look a bit different when it starts to attach to the background, but I don't think it will ever look like sintenisii
> 
> Mark



Yeah definitely not sinteniisi. I’m going to order it by the way because I need big leaved plants in order to cover more than now. The surface is really big.


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## Tijl (Feb 28, 2019)

M.Sintenissii on the left and probably the same Marcgravia you have on the right. Beneath that M. Sp 'Suriname'.



A lot of my Sintenissi color almost orange underneath the Skylights. The growtips always bright red or pink.


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## Paskui (May 23, 2020)

Tijl said:


> M.Sintenissii on the left and probably the same Marcgravia you have on the right. Beneath that M. Sp 'Suriname'.
> 
> 
> 
> A lot of my Sintenissi color almost orange underneath the Skylights. The growtips always bright red or pink.



Yes that’s my Marcgravia


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## Paskui (May 23, 2020)

As you can see, I’m going on with the tunning, adding things and making changes. I added a big Mopani log and some leaves in a first attemp. I guess it improved a lot the lay out and it will give more hides to the frogs and more possibilities to climb and reach upper layers.










What do you think?


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## Paskui (May 23, 2020)

Update...



































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## Paskui (May 23, 2020)

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## kimcmich (Jan 17, 2016)

Greetings,

Your viv is developing nicely - I am a proponent of more plants  My last viv was a very vertical setup and they are challenging situations for planting all the way down. As you've added more plants you've created much more shade for the lower plants - this will rob bromeliads of their colors and tight form (though they will still be good habitat for frogs).

Your viv also looks very dry. I think your frogs will need more moist conditions. If you want to have moss growth on your background you need to provide more constant moisture. Surface-growing plants like Marcgravia would also benefit. I use bare wood surfaces in the tank as my meter for moisture levels: The goal is for the wood to be just moist enough to be darkened by the moisture but not wet with moisture. This will be dry enough to discourage slimey biofilms but moist enough to encourage moss and creeping plants to slowly spread.

A drawback of more moisture, however, is that the Tillandsia sp which you have many of will not be so happy. Your current drier conditions are more suited to their liking than the wetter, more humid conditions frogs will prefer. You'll likely see some losses when things are kept more moist - especially any that stay wet and/or shaded.

The Alocasia sp is going to be a challenge to maintain. Its maximum size is too large to fit well in your viv and plants like Alocasia are difficult to keep small since they only produce a few leaves. I very much like the look of Alocasia - and usually Alocasia like viv conditions - but they grow too large to work long term in my experience.

Your substrate looks to have a fairly high component of sphagnum. That might retain excess moisture when you increase watering. A nice layer of leaves will provide frog hunting habitat and a drier surface for the frogs. More leaves (and I would suggest some smaller leaves like a live oak) would also be good for the frogs.

Good luck on picking your Ranitomeya - there are so many cool forms and species to choose from!


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## Paskui (May 23, 2020)

kimcmich said:


> Greetings,
> 
> Your viv is developing nicely - I am a proponent of more plants  My last viv was a very vertical setup and they are challenging situations for planting all the way down. As you've added more plants you've created much more shade for the lower plants - this will rob bromeliads of their colors and tight form (though they will still be good habitat for frogs).
> 
> ...



Thanks for your advices! Anyway the vivarium is really far from being ready. I’m just adding plants step by step in order to check their thriving and measuring that the conditions are correct.

I’m still working on that and I guess I’ll be much time with in. Im not in a hurry. I prefer doing things correct. I had another vivarium (500 liters) 15 years ago and I spent almost 7 months to stabilizing as I wanted. I kept a fantastic Azureus group for 5 years till I had to sell the stuff. 

So I know is not as wet as I’d like but not far away from I want. I prefer not excessively wet conditions all the time. It’s not correct for frogs. Peaks of 100-90% is good but not always. The pics I showed were always at the drier moment and ambient was around 75% at that moment. It’s not a problem right now. I’m dealing with temperature...that’s my problem. So I must be patient.

And....please tell me everything you consider in order to improve it!!










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## Paskui (May 23, 2020)

New plants...










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## Paskui (May 23, 2020)

Updated...better look, step by step.










































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## Paskui (May 23, 2020)

New update. The cissus amazónica is growing a lot.



























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## Leite02 (Jan 19, 2020)

¡Ostras! había pasado por alto tu hilo. ¡Hola Vecino!
Me encanta tu terrario!! 

I had overlooked your thread. Hello Neighbor!
I love your terrarium !!


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## Paskui (May 23, 2020)

Thanks! Nice to see spanish people!


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## Paskui (May 23, 2020)

General view and details.



























































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## Paskui (May 23, 2020)

New update: more plants (neoregelias). Everything working ok. Plants growing and temperatures now set about 24 C day and 21 night.



















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## Paskui (May 23, 2020)

Updated. More plants on soil...closer to frogs arrival 











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## Paskui (May 23, 2020)

And, finally, thinking about the frogs after a lot of months for stablish the terrarium. Suggestions?


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## Paskui (May 23, 2020)

And by the way, I put the exoterra canopy out and I installed 2 more 34W LED bar instead (serial installation) in order to increase productive light for plants and decrease hitting. It looks like everything is going better this way.


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## Paskui (May 23, 2020)

Finally the Liana ended. I guess it’s close to a real one...



















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## FroggerFrog (Jan 11, 2021)

You’re getting good growth! Can’t wait to see your frogs once you place them in here!


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## Paskui (May 23, 2020)

Thanks! It’s not being easy, it’s too much high so it’s difficult to keep growing substrate plants. I’m always making changes about lights, positions and misting. But everything goes right now. The marantha, pileas, Cryptanthus, alocasia are thriving well and I guess they are perfectly stablish. I’m trying to grow cover plants to climb the back. It’s the only gap by now, covering the low back parts of the vivarium.

Frogs will come when I’m able to guarantee perfect conditions. I guess in a couple of months when (I hope) those cover plants begin to climb.


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## fishingguy12345 (Apr 7, 2019)

I love how this tank looks. One of my favorites that I've seen on here.


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## Christine86 (Feb 4, 2021)

Paskui said:


> Thanks! It’s not being easy, it’s too much high so it’s difficult to keep growing substrate plants. I’m always making changes about lights, positions and misting. But everything goes right now. The marantha, pileas, Cryptanthus, alocasia are thriving well and I guess they are perfectly stablish. I’m trying to grow cover plants to climb the back. It’s the only gap by now, covering the low back parts of the vivarium.
> 
> Frogs will come when I’m able to guarantee perfect conditions. I guess in a couple of months when (I hope) those cover plants begin to climb.
> 
> ...


Maybe you can look for shade plants, like ferns and calathea.


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## Paskui (May 23, 2020)

Christine86 said:


> Maybe you can look for shade plants, like ferns and calathea.


Right thanks! I have a marantha mint thriving really well.


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## Paskui (May 23, 2020)

Updated...more neoregelias, 3 orquids and cover plants beginning to climb. Step by step...


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## Paskui (May 23, 2020)

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## Christine86 (Feb 4, 2021)

Looks great! And I'm feeling you for this climbing plants, same with my own climbing plants. They start to grow, but it will take some time to cover up the whole background. Patience, patience, patience ( not my strongest point )


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## Paskui (May 23, 2020)

And in the end...a Tillandsia blooming!










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## fishingguy12345 (Apr 7, 2019)

Gorgeous!


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## Paskui (May 23, 2020)

And finally, time for frogs. It’s been an almost 8 months maturation period and I guess everything is ok. 

My final decision: a group of imitator tarapoto. I had a good experience with a 4 group years ago in a smallest Viv so I’m trying again with this one (it’s a 160 gal viv). I must wait 3 weeks more, but in the way!!


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## Paskui (May 23, 2020)

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## Paskui (May 23, 2020)

Climbing plants (cissus f.e.) beginning to cover sides...next weeks, the frogs!!


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## Paskui (May 23, 2020)

Frogs are coming!!! (Not winter...)


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## eMCRay (Mar 24, 2020)

Very very nice! Love the southerns - beautiful thumbs and their green stands, even against green leaves. I'm sure they will be very happy darts in there!


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## Paskui (May 23, 2020)

Tarapoto not variabilis. This picture may be chase you...they are really more orange than you can see.











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## mikemakesapps (Mar 11, 2019)

Good luck! Tarapoto are great frogs. When you had a group of 4, was there any aggression between them? I keep mine in a pair, but imagine that they would become territorial if I introduced more. Maybe if you raise them up together as froglets they will be more peaceful?


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## Paskui (May 23, 2020)

It’s a 170 galons vivarium. It helps...


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## asteroids (Mar 20, 2021)

Do you know the name of the neoregelia in the middle at the top? it has a lot of yellow spots on it, it looks awesome!


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## eMCRay (Mar 24, 2020)

Paskui said:


> Tarapoto not variabilis. This picture may be chase you...they are really more orange than you can see.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Yep yep - Imis. What is your gender mix then? 2.2?


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## Paskui (May 23, 2020)

One of them is a male but they’re not sexed. We’ll see.


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## Paskui (May 23, 2020)

asteroids said:


> Do you know the name of the neoregelia in the middle at the top? it has a lot of yellow spots on it, it looks awesome!


It’s a red stripe one.


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## Paskui (May 23, 2020)

And finally…months later, the surprise! A small frog suddenly appeared. They’ve bred and I even noticed it.


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## Paskui (May 23, 2020)

And again breeding….


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## Paskui (May 23, 2020)




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