# 90 gallon Red Trivvitatus build



## oddlot (Jun 28, 2010)

I went to the MADS meet this past weekend and picked up a trio of red trivs and their 90 gallon protean tank(Thanks George).We had to tear it down to lighten it up,so a rebuild was in order.

After getting home (Saturday around 8pm) I eagerly dove in.I started by cleaning and razor scraping the tank for the first few hours,then it was build on!Thankfully I was able to salvage the moss covered wood,parts of the background including the rock waterfall,even the rocks.George also hooked me up with a pile of plants and some I had gotten from other members.After pulling an all nighter I finished up Sunday afternoon. The pics will show how it looks now.The water feature is dry now,because I'm keeping them in a dry cycle.By the time the rainy season starts,the feature will be full and running,then hopefully,we'll have babies to go around.

I seeded the tank with a couple of types of springs,some orange and powder blue isos.I will update pics to follow how the tank grows in and to see how the frogs are loving their new home.


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## eos (Dec 6, 2008)

Nice Lou... I've always like trivs. Those are some nice specimen.


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## Gamble (Aug 1, 2010)

Looks awesome Lou.
Nice pickup.


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## mollbern (Feb 10, 2013)

Awesome looking frogs!


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## yours (Nov 11, 2007)

Awesome Lou -- I'm going to have to check out your collection in person one of these days, including these guys


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## ggazonas (May 11, 2008)

Looks great Lou, now i have a big hole in my wall that i need to fill.


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## oddlot (Jun 28, 2010)

ggazonas said:


> Looks great Lou, now i have a big hole in my wall that i need to fill.



I think you should make a large hole on the other side of the door and I'll take that monster tank too .That way you can have matching holes,except I blew my rear on the way home the other night,so I'll need time to fix my jeep first.This should give you enough time to start breaking it down for me 


Thanks everyone for the compliments!


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## hypostatic (Apr 25, 2011)

Oh man, these frogs are on my list. What are they like?? And more pics please


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## Judy S (Aug 29, 2010)

Can't believe you broke that beautiful tank down...and then transported it and reset it within 24 hours.....what an accomplishment. and tribute to all involved....props....and it was fascinating to watch....


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## Judy S (Aug 29, 2010)

by the way.....rear what????


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## oddlot (Jun 28, 2010)

Hypo,I will be posting pics as They pose for me and as the tank grows in and the water feature slowly fills.Keep an eye out for the updates.They are awesome so far,and bigger than most would think.Now I have to get green trivs,which I've wanted for some time too.

Judy,yeah it was a lot of work,but worth it.I didn't need to sleep that night anyway 

When I say rear,I'm referring to the rear axle/gears


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## oddlot (Jun 28, 2010)

These guys are getting bolder by the day.They just sat there and let me take these shots.Granted it was with the doors closed,but I loved the photo op and didn't know if they were going to bolt when I slid the door open.


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## whitethumb (Feb 5, 2011)

what kind of moss or liverwart is that in the 1st photo right above this comment? thanks lou


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## hypostatic (Apr 25, 2011)

Nice! how bold are these guys? Oh, and are they orange or red? I think I've read that there's a distinct orange and red morphs?


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## oddlot (Jun 28, 2010)

whitethumb said:


> what kind of moss or liverwart is that in the 1st photo right above this comment? thanks lou


Sorry,I don't know what kind of moss it is.It seems to be fluffing up a bit.I'll be sure to keep an eye on it and post pics of how it does over time.I can try and get a closer pic,either later or tomorrow if you'd like.



hypostatic said:


> Nice! how bold are these guys? Oh, and are they orange or red? I think I've read that there's a distinct orange and red morphs?



These guys are super bold,even more so after I mist.I heard them call for the first time today! Very cool and a little similar to my Black Bassleri.I think I heard two different type of calls from them today.The female was in the hut on the left side of the tank with a male,then the other male came out of the hut on the right side and hopped to the middle of the dry stream bed,called a couple of times,then she followed him to the other side and into his hut.

As far as the whole color thing,there is several thoughts on this.These were brought in as red trivs.There may be distinct colors,but if they come from the same area,they are the same and will breed in the wild.I won't know unless/until they breed what colors they will throw.I've been told they are the same frog,but I didn't collect them or bring them in so I have to go with what they came in as.


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## ggazonas (May 11, 2008)

oddlot said:


> I think you should make a large hole on the other side of the door and I'll take that monster tank too .That way you can have matching holes,except I blew my rear on the way home the other night,so I'll need time to fix my jeep first.This should give you enough time to start breaking it down for me
> 
> 
> Thanks everyone for the compliments!


That tank is not going anywheres....nice try though


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## oddlot (Jun 28, 2010)

Here's some closer pics of the moss.It almost looks like the moss growing on the rock is a little different,but maybe it's taking longer to fluff up.I'll take more pics as the tank grows in.


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## whitethumb (Feb 5, 2011)

nice! thanks lou


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## Judy S (Aug 29, 2010)

Lou...I love that: "Fluff up"....is that a horticultural term?


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## oddlot (Jun 28, 2010)

Judy S said:


> Lou...I love that: "Fluff up"....is that a horticultural term?


Haha,it's called Louoligy.


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## oddlot (Jun 28, 2010)

ggazonas said:


> That tank is not going anywheres....nice try though


Are you sure George? That would be a perfect spot for one of the parrot cages.


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## Judy S (Aug 29, 2010)

curious...how loud are they??? No...not the parrots...your frogs...


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## oddlot (Jun 28, 2010)

They have been calling up a storm.They have a couple different sounds.Not quite as loud as Terribilis.It's a very pleasant series of calls,which I love.


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## oddlot (Jun 28, 2010)

I was able to get some ridiculously close shots of one of the males.


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## oddlot (Jun 28, 2010)

I caught this guy serenading his lady friend.Sorry,I misted before the shots,but you get the picture.


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## Enlightened Rogue (Mar 21, 2006)

Lou, that red/orange coloring is awesome. Any Superpig or are they just that bright.
Beautiful.


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## oddlot (Jun 28, 2010)

Thanks,They are every bit that bright .I haven't given them superpig yet,but I am going to every once in a while.


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## Dendro Dave (Aug 2, 2005)

Rad... How many did you get (or did I miss it?)


As for the red vs orange debate...

I think from the old threads and research it was thought that basically the color just changed from green, to yellow, to orange, and then some orange/red and fairly red ones as you moved across the population range. 

So I think most of the yellow/orange, orange, and orange/red are fairly close to each other and possibly interbreeding. I don't know for sure, but I personally think if we want to get CB "red" trivs established in the hobby we should be breeding any frog that most would call "orange" to any frog some might call "red", since basically none of them have really solid locale info (Not even sure people have kept decent track of the import years like they did with pumilio), and they are likely the same population or at least close by. 


... That's my 2 cents  ...But if anyone else has better info, please share 


P.S. ...I'm jealous


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## oddlot (Jun 28, 2010)

I think I posted earlier,but if not it is a 2.1 (I wouldn't mind adding a couple down the line )

I thought about you when I posted this Dave.I know you've admired and posted about them quite a bit in the past.


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## oddlot (Jun 28, 2010)

I take back what I said earlier.They are louder than my Terribilis.


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## Enlightened Rogue (Mar 21, 2006)

oddlot said:


> I take back what I said earlier.They are louder than my Terribilis.


That`s just crazy Lou. My Terribilis are female so they`re pretty quite, but my Leucs are 
really loud. Would say louder than them?


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## Dendro Dave (Aug 2, 2005)

oddlot said:


> I take back what I said earlier.They are louder than my Terribilis.


I just watched some vids of green trivs calling (I assume the reds have a similar call)... Got the impression they'd be louder then the black bassleri I had, which were the loudest frog I've owned. Also the call is much more continuous. Makes sense they'd be louder being a bit larger then the black bassleri. The bassleri were loud enough to make it hard to get to sleep sometimes with the tank on the other side of the wall, so I think if I ever finally get some red trivs those guys may go in a back room 



oddlot said:


> I think I posted earlier,but if not it is a 2.1 (I wouldn't mind adding a couple down the line )
> 
> I thought about you when I posted this Dave.I know you've admired and posted about them quite a bit in the past.


Ya they've been on my list or awhile. I actually paid for some quite awhile back, but they all died before shipping due to some issue on the vendor's end. I was refunded, so no prob with the vendor, but was sad for the frogs, and about not getting the frogs 




oddlot said:


> Thanks,They are every bit that bright .I haven't given them superpig yet,but I am going to every once in a while.


Oh please do... and post pics!


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## oddlot (Jun 28, 2010)

I'd say, in my opinion,they are louder than leucs too.My Black Bassleri whisper in comparison  I've heard several calls from them.The one that proved me wrong is best described as long turkey call.Not the gobble part obviously,but the chirping part(more froggy though),and a good 10-20 seconds.I'd have to say the loudest frogs in my collection.

That's too bad Dave.I remember reading your threads about wanting them and having ordered them,but I didn't know they were lost before you got them.That sucks!I thought you had them this whole time.Hopefully I can find the trigger and get them going.If I do I'll hook you up with some.If anyone has bred them or has knowledge on possible triggers,please feel free to post.I've been keeping them on the dry side since I got them.I plan on slowly increasing the misting until the water feature fills and then,it's rainy season on! I need to do some research to find when the rainy season should start.


They got their first superpig punch last night.I'm going to try and add it to their rotation once a week,and of course,more pics to come.


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## Dendro Dave (Aug 2, 2005)

oddlot said:


> I'd say, in my opinion,they are louder than leucs too.My Black Bassleri whisper in comparison  I've heard several calls from them.The one that proved me wrong is best described as long turkey call.Not the gobble part obviously,but the chirping part(more froggy though),and a good 10-20 seconds.I'd have to say the loudest frogs in my collection.
> 
> That's too bad Dave.I remember reading your threads about wanting them and having ordered them,but I didn't know they were lost before you got them.That sucks!I thought you had them this whole time.Hopefully I can find the trigger and get them going.If I do I'll hook you up with some.If anyone has bred them or has knowledge on possible triggers,please feel free to post.I've been keeping them on the dry side since I got them.I plan on slowly increasing the misting until the water feature fills and then,it's rainy season on! I need to do some research to find when the rainy season should start.
> 
> ...


I had luecs before the ice storm that wiped out most of my collection, but I can't remember if they ever called. 99% of my hobby takes place online so If mine didn't call then I've never heard a luec call in real life  ...Actually almost 10 years in the hobby and I don't even know If I'm saying half the names of these frogs right, because I've never heard them said out loud... I really need to get out more 

As for my would be trivs... Ya, it was a bummer. Something happened while the guy was gone for the weekend, like maybe a power outage, or maybe they came in sick since they were WC... I'm not sure, but as someone who woke up to an ice storm and a house full of frogicicles, I'm all to aware that sometimes things just go horribly wrong out of the blue  ...So I didn't make a big deal about not getting them. 

Sounds like you've got a good plan. There is the standard nugget of folk wisdom about running water for them and related frogs. Maybe try adding some small wax, phoenix worms or even termites if you can get ahold of them . Maybe the combination of a high fat content feeder, and high calcium feeder will get them feeling fit enough to get froggy 

I think it is just a matter of getting the right horny frogs into the right hands. Maybe these guys are picky about sex ratios and/or mate selection. Lack of popularity and/or people not buying large enough groups might be part of the issue. 

Josh's frogs has a nice write up on trivs...
https://www.joshsfrogs.com/catalog/blog/2012/12/epipedobates-trivittatus-care-sheet/

And I'll definitely hit you up if you have some luck


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## oddlot (Jun 28, 2010)

Thanks Dave,My setup seems similar except mine has a waterfall spilling into my stream(or it will when the rains come )I should email Josh and see if they dry cycle them or not.I'm itching to get the water feature full,but have been sticking to my plan.I'll let you know if they get going.I may try and source some more in the future.I wouldn't mind a couple more in the group.


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## Dendro Dave (Aug 2, 2005)

oddlot said:


> Thanks Dave,My setup seems similar except mine has a waterfall spilling into my stream(or it will when the rains come )I should email Josh and see if they dry cycle them or not.I'm itching to get the water feature full,but have been sticking to my plan.I'll let you know if they get going.I may try and source some more in the future.I wouldn't mind a couple more in the group.


I think it is a good plan, then the pond filling about the time they are nice and settled in may spark something. 

DFC has some Tads available. I think they are the only source for CB red trivs unless some random person out there has some luck.


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## oddlot (Jun 28, 2010)

Dendro Dave said:


> DFC has some Tads available. I think they are the only source for CB red trivs unless some random person out there has some luck.


I personally wouldn't buy anything from them,but I was curious on how much they are getting for them,so I looked.$40 per tad plus another $40 for shipping.All I have to say is no way,and I better get these guys going if they are getting that much per tad!


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## Dendro Dave (Aug 2, 2005)

oddlot said:


> I personally wouldn't buy anything from them, but I was curious on how much they are getting for them,so I looked.$40 per tad plus another $40 for shipping.All I have to say is no way,and I better get these guys going if they are getting that much per tad!


Ya, the options are kinda limited for CB trivs... I'd wanna know what kinda morph out rate they are getting, because I haven't seen any red triv froglets offered on the site in awhile. To be fair, I haven't been checking regularly though, but I'd assume they hold some back to raise instead of selling all the tads. I suppose it is possible if they only had a few, they might have sold any actual frogs at a show before they got a chance to add them to the website.

But if only a tiny percentage of them are morphing out (if any), then that definitely isn't worth $40 each. So that would be my first question to them if I was thinking about buying.

Since the options are limited for CB red trivs, I might consider it for 10-25 dollars each, but I couldn't do 40 unless I was pretty sure 75% or more of them would likely morph and make it to adult age. I'd rather buy a WC group then risk that much on tads. There are few species I'd be willing to pay 30+ for tads. 

I suspect as winter ends and more imports come in, we'll probably see a few batches of Red trivs offered. So that might be an option if you wanna add to your group.


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## oddlot (Jun 28, 2010)

Slowly bringing up the water level.There is about 1 1/2" ~ starting to build up(from the bottom glass not the rocks)


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## oddlot (Jun 28, 2010)

Maybe romance is in the air  He was singing to her for a bit.


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## jckee1 (Mar 22, 2011)

Looking good Lou! Good luck with them.

Sent from my ADR6300 using Tapatalk 2


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## oddlot (Jun 28, 2010)

Thanks Jim,Fingers crossed.


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## Matecho (Dec 16, 2013)

What plant is that with the really big leaves?


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## oddlot (Jun 28, 2010)

The dark green almost black with white stripes that the triv was sitting on calling?That is a Black Velvet Alocasia.


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## Enlightened Rogue (Mar 21, 2006)

Lou, the coloring on those is spectacular. I forgot if you are using Superpig.


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## oddlot (Jun 28, 2010)

I started recently about once a week.I would think I should notice a difference In a month or two if I do.I may try and find some Naturose.They are a darker Orangey color than in the pics as it is.


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## oddlot (Jun 28, 2010)

Update:

I fed heavy and misted extra heavy a couple of days ago and found some interesting action going on.The three of them were bouncing off of each other (for lack of a better description). They sometimes looked like they were wrestling or fighting and other times,they were more gentle.I'm hoping it was breeding activity.If it was it was pretty rough.Here are some pics.































































These are just some of the pics.It lasted for quite some time and they didn't mind me being there so much.What do you guys think?


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## oddlot (Jun 28, 2010)

Oh I forgot to post the best pic.........


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## Dendrobait (May 29, 2005)

These are amazing frogs!

Is that costus malortieanus in there with them too btw?


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## tarbo96 (Jan 12, 2006)

Awesome! I git my three in but they are still young.


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## harrisbt (Feb 19, 2013)

Wow! Your set of photos put these guys on my wish list. Would love to see a video of what frogs bouncing off one another looks like.


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## Dendro Dave (Aug 2, 2005)

awesome, sign me up for some if I'm not broke when they are all grow'd up


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## oddlot (Jun 28, 2010)

harrisbt said:


> Wow! Your set of photos put these guys on my wish list. Would love to see a video of what frogs bouncing off one another looks like.


Thanks,yeah they are awesome frogs.

I wish I had some type of video camera.It was pretty interesting to watch.They would kind of jump on each other then somersault off of each other.I thought they were fighting until I realized All three were in on it.I thought I remembered reading that amereega were rough with each other when they breed so I just watched for a while.

Dendrobait;Is that costus malortieanus in there with them too btw? 

I have Monocostus Uniflorus in there,but the one I think you're talking about I had gotten from a buddy of mine as clippings.The best I know about them is that they are a type of ginger that grows in a spiral as it gets taller.



Dendro Dave said:


> awesome, sign me up for some if I'm not broke when they are all grow'd up


Hopefully they will be good and grow well.Either way they must be happy.At quick glance,I counted about 30 eggs and they are decent size.I don't know where she put them all.


Here is a shot of the frog guarding the clutch

















Here's a cool shot of the guarding from a different angle


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## oddlot (Jun 28, 2010)

I turned on the waterfall today.I'm still playing with how I want the water to flow down the rock.This first pics are when the water was moving tighter to the rock.They quickly investigated to check out the new feature and were seemingly frolicking in it like kids on a hot summer day in a sprinkler.
































These are with the water bouncing off the rocks and giving it more action.They are also from the other direction


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## rigel10 (Jun 1, 2012)

How natural it looks this glimpse of your viv! Congrats for the eggs


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## Dendro Dave (Aug 2, 2005)

Are the eggs looking to be viable/fertilized?


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## tarbo96 (Jan 12, 2006)

Very nice. I am hoping out of my three I have at least a 1.1. Mine are still quite shy. How long till they were bouncing around?


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## Dendro Dave (Aug 2, 2005)

Looks like Online Store - www.CarolinaDartFrogs.com might have 1 red triv available if anyone wants to add to their group.


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## tarbo96 (Jan 12, 2006)

So does snakes on sunrise in Florida.


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## tarbo96 (Jan 12, 2006)

Not trying to hijack your thread, but here is a pic of one of my guys.


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## epiphytes etc. (Nov 22, 2010)

My azureiventris always did that squabbling, bouncing thing too, and they were all males.


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## oddlot (Jun 28, 2010)

rigel10 said:


> How natural it looks this glimpse of your viv! Congrats for the eggs


Thanks,that's what I was going for.I hoped the frogs would feel the same way and feel comfortable.I think they do.



Dendro Dave said:


> Are the eggs looking to be viable/fertilized?


Unfortunately it doesn't look like they are,but at least they're trying.Hopefully they'll get it right soon.




tarbo96 said:


> Very nice. I am hoping out of my three I have at least a 1.1. Mine are still quite shy. How long till they were bouncing around?


From what I understand,they take a while to mature.I think I read somewhere it can take up to two years before they may breed.



Dendro Dave said:


> Looks like Online Store - www.CarolinaDartFrogs.com might have 1 red triv available if anyone wants to add to their group.


Thanks for the heads up.If I had the extra cash,I would have considered it and started another group with it.The way I look at it is,they are happy enough that they are starting to breed,so I don't want to change the dynamics of the group.




tarbo96 said:


> Not trying to hijack your thread, but here is a pic of one of my guys.


It's ok this time 



epiphytes etc. said:


> My azureiventris always did that squabbling, bouncing thing too, and they were all males.


That was a concern of mine until I found the eggs.


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## oddlot (Jun 28, 2010)

Here's a pic of one of them contemplating the other side of the stream









From his view








Off for a little dip








And a shed








I wish the last one came out better,it almost looks like it's talking.


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## 4oggz (Apr 20, 2014)

I really like the one from his perspective. What a place to call home.


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## oddlot (Jun 28, 2010)

Thanks,I thought that was a really cool shot too.The funny thing is,I was on the fence on whether or not to delete the pic,but the more I looked at it the more I liked it.

And another pic,just because.This one was climbing up the side of the waterfall wall.

Edit: for some reason the pic wasn't transferred,but here it is.


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## davispm (Apr 28, 2014)

Looks good! I have been searching for some for a while now. I have only found them at one place, it's a local shop for a adult male. They are asking $125. Price seems a little high. What do you think?


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## oddlot (Jun 28, 2010)

That's about the going rate for captive bred if you can find them and I've seen them brought in recently for about the same price,maybe a little less(W/C).


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## oddlot (Jun 28, 2010)

I was able to get an awesome shot earlier and wanted to share.


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## notEZbeingGREEN (Sep 17, 2012)

Hey Lou,
Any new developments with these frogs/viv/breeding?
How about some more pics, at least(lol)!?!


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## JeroenH (Aug 20, 2014)

Great looking tank! The frogs look superb!

I have a question about 2 plants



oddlot said:


> Here's a pic of one of them contemplating the other side of the stream
> And a shed
> 
> 
> ...


Can someone tell me the name of the bright green plant behind the Trivitatus? And the name of the greyish plant (with the red underside) in front of the cocohut?

Thanks a bunch!


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## InvertaHerp (Mar 4, 2013)

Gorgeous frogs, gorgeous viv. I really want some trivs, but I prefer the greens, I know Understory has them, just hope they aren't an arm and a leg.


Great thread!


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## Julio (Oct 8, 2007)

pretty awsome Lou!!


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## oddlot (Jun 28, 2010)

notEZbeingGREEN said:


> Hey Lou,
> Any new developments with these frogs/viv/breeding?
> How about some more pics, at least(lol)!?!


I haven't found anymore eggs since the last clutch and have been driving out to NY a bit so I haven't had them in breeding mode.I will see what kind of shots I can get when I get back to NJ.



JeroenH said:


> Great looking tank! The frogs look superb!
> 
> I have a question about 2 plants
> 
> ...


Thanks for the compliments guys.


The green plant right next to the triv is a type of ginger that grows in a spiral type of habit.The other plant, Unfortunately I don't remember what it is. 

The greens are on my must have list when I can afford them. I love these guys too though.


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